In February 2011 I signed up at Fitness 19…only the 2nd gym membership I had ever had in my life. Seeing that I was an athlete throughout my life I never had to “work out”…life just included it. Playing 4 years of collegiate water polo made it so that I could eat what I wanted, work out with my team and remain skinny. Well…we ALL know what happens when “real life” starts. We continue eating the way we were and we stop working out…hence we gain weight! Boo. So after having Owen and gaining over 50lbs, losing ALL of that weight with my cancer diagnosis but then gaining 15 points during chemotherapy…I decided I needed to do SOMETHING since I was finally healthy again. I walked into a “Zumba” class one random evening that February. Totally not sure what I was getting myself into…but thought HELL lets give it a go!
Wow…that night changed my life!! I danced, smiled, shook my ass, laughed, and had SUCH an awesome time sweating those calories off. I came home from the gym and told the hubs that I never needed a “girls night out dancing” again…I’d be doing it with strangers 2-3 times a week at the gym…and sober! haha I found a knew thing that I loved doing…and it was Zumba. Kim Jenkins teaches one hell of a Zumba class, and it was her class that I walked into that night…it so fun and you work your butt off!! She has opened my eyes to a way of actually ENJOYING working out as an adult! Her motivation, inspiration and love for Zumba has spread to MANY people. She has tons of followers AND she has inspired a handful of women to actually go out and become instructors themselves.
Since attending Kim's classes at Fitness 19 I have ventured out…as I call myself, I’m a bit of a Zumba Whore…I get around! I take Zumba classes at 3 different gyms/studios…with about 3-4 different instructors. All of them are amazing and I enjoy each one in their own special way! I don’t discriminate…a good Zumba instructor is a good Zumba instructor! Now that being said…there are MANY different styles…and of course some instructors are better than others…BUT when you find a few good ones your HOOKED!
Since I LOVE Zumba I started a new unit with my high schoolers last year. We did a Zumba/P90x unit using the videos. I team teach this unit with one of my co-workers…we break the kids up and each day they get a taste of some Zumba (from videos) and P90x and Insanity (from videos). Last year the students seemed to like it…I had a broken foot so it just PAINED me to have to sit and watch the kids follow along without being able to get up and shake it with them. Kim volunteered herself for one of my classes at the end of the unit…and the girls loved it.
So THIS year I thought…we needed a “Grand Opening” to the unit. So…I asked a few of my fav Zumba girls if they were interested in volunteering in my class!! It was a HUGE success!!!
Day ONE was Kim Jenkins….
And Nicole Forbes…our little energizer bunny!
Day TWO was Lily Perez-Martinez…
And Lori Russell…
I was so excited for my students to get to experience a real life Zumba class with an AWESOME instructor. All four women TOTALLY rocked it!! I was happy that I have some amazing Zumba Friends that were willing to come in the last two days…I feel blessed!! The kids loved it…they even were spreading the word around campus and I have had NUMEROUS other students come up and ask if they could do Zumba too! I’m hoping some of these students found a spark and maybe start attending Zumba at a local gym or studio somewhere!
Here is a quick video of the last two days…so so so much fun!!
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