Zumba Fitness

I went to Zumba yesterday….

| cheriarmour

With the gorgeous Loretta Bates.  I got there super early, jumped on the treadmill (cause I’m still streaking), and then went to reclaim my spot in class.  I said hi to a few folks, and did my usual pre-class ritual.  Don’t be obnoxious or draw attention to myself because it’s rude to do that when you’re a teacher in another teacher’s class.

When the grumbling started.  

It was a chick behind me, and I think she was mad because I “took her spot” in class.  Because we have assigned seating.  And this is middle school.

I tried to ignore her.  And she made it a point to tell everyone around her, loudly, that “SOME PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THE RULES.”

I roasted the entire class.  What was I gonna say to her?  I had it all pictured in my head.

Youre-a-Mean-Girl-In-Mean-Girls-Janis-Quote-Gif

I was gonna turn around, and tell that girl, in her blue shirt where she could go.  That she was mean, that she was evil, and that if she wanted the spot, she could take it cause I’m not an idiot, and I don’t care. Here’s what actually ended up happening.

I went and grabbed my stuff after class.  I kind of stared her down, and she was being silly with her friends.  Damnit!  I couldn’t very well approach her when she had her army around her.  So like a creep, I waited for her friends to kind of wander off to approach her.

And here’s what I said.

“I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t trying to block your way.  Cause I heard you grumbling back there.”

It wasn’t quite ‘Mean Girls’ style, but her smile froze on her face.  She’d wanted me to hear, but she certainly didn’t want me to approach her about it.

“That’s okay!” she stuttered.

And that was it.

But on the real folks.  It’s almost January.  Get to your fitness classes early, these folks are serious out there.

From my vantage point….

| cheriarmour

So I teach group fitness.  Which I’m sure you know if you’ve been around for a while cause I’m a dork and I love it.

I love it.  I knew from the moment I stepped into Koh Herlong’s Zumba class that I would love it.  My eyes would well up at a particularly beautiful song when I started like in 2003.  And that carried into teaching.  I’m obsessed.  When I hear a good salsa, I’ll Shazam it.   I love to salsa out on Thursday nights.  And I take every rare opportunity to choreograph something cool for my students.

The first thing people usually say to me when I offer them an invite to class? “Oh my word, I’m so embarrassed, I can’t dance worth a lick!”

Hohkay, calm down.  If I cared, or anyone else did for that matter how you danced, I’da quit long ago.

I will always maintain that we, as fitness instructors, we don’t make fun of our students.  Ever.  We just don’t.  Even if a student does something hysterical, I would jump off a cliff if I was giggling so hard that they thought I was making fun of them and then they never came back to class.  That said, there’s like a distinct 4 people who come to every class.

  1. The person who hides out in the back row, and thinks I can’t see them in the mirror.  I can see you I can see you.  Also, I walk around A LOT so I see you.  Even when you giggled when I dropped it low.  I saw that.
  2. The person who stands at the window and stares in.  Come in!  (Or leave, cause you makin me nervous.)
  3. The guy whose wife forced him to come.  I’m sorry.  As a bonus you get to stare at a lot of butts. If that’s what you’re into.
  4. The woman who’s bound to become an instructor herself.  This chick usually brings me to tears.  This girl comes every single week.  She knows your routines.  She picks up quickly on new ones.  She comes with a friend.  She comes by herself.  And when she catches your eye, you accidentally burst into tears, cause you know that was you a few years ago.  I’ve heard.
  5. The overachiever.   I love this girl.  She usually has a sexual outfit to wear.  She coordinates.  Does she know what’s going on in class?  Nope.  And she doesn’t really care.   She stand there, on the front row, and she don’t care who sees.  She loves to dance/step/lift weights/whatever, and what the teacher is doing doesn’t concern her. Because she’s dancing to the music of her mind.  Go head, do your thang.

So do we notice this stuff?  Yes, absolutely.  Are we going to make fun of you and tell you not to come back?  Absolutely not.  Look for whatever class speaks to you, and before you know it, you’ll be a total workout out fiend – whatever your workout of choice may be.

I teach Zumba on the side – Blind Item.

| cheriarmour

And truth be told, had I never started teaching Zumba, I’d certainly not be as sexy as I am today.

Okay, I kid, I kid, but Zumba, coupled with my stint at a teacher at a weight-loss camp super ignited my passion for fitness.  And I’ve been teaching since then (by then, I mean, like early 2010).

So anyhoo, I teach at this place.  And I don’t want to say the name of the place, because I’d like to remain gainfully employed.  And the place is beautiful.  Beautifully maintained facilities, great staff, and generally, a wonderful place to work.

Recently, at this place, I’ve run into some trouble, screwed the pooch, if you will.

I think I’ve been labeled as the gym’s troublemaker, because recently, every single time I teach, I get a filthy look from the attendants, and usually, once a class, one of them storms into the room, wildly making the “TURN IT DOWN” motion with his fingers.  It’s gotten to the point that usually, I’ll spy one of them coming, my heart rate will increase, I will dissolve into a nervous giggle (in front of the class,) until I’m told to turn it down.

I’m a Pavlovian Experiment, now every time I see the attendants in their uniforms, I begin to giggle, and I’ve started playing this game called “How Long Til I Get Yelled At Today?”

I’m a rebel y’all.  This fitness game is so real.

I went to a pole fitness class. My review.

| cheriarmour

So we know that exercise is important for everyone, right?  But how to we get everyone addicted to it (in a healthy way, not a scary way), like, how do we get folks started?  I think you have to take what you really enjoy, and use that to jump you into working out.  Am I making sense?

Case in point.  I started going to Zumba classes with my younger sister when I was like 16.  I was instantly hooked.  We went every Tuesday afternoon that we could.  And I fell off of the Zumba boat when I went to college.  Toward the end of college, when I started feeling a little self-conscious about my body (I wasn’t working out or eating well at all)  I picked up going to classes again, and decided that I was going to get licensed.  And the decision to get licensed completely changed the trajectory of my life.  Zumba was my “gateway drug,” and I explored different class formats that I may not have even considered.  I yoga, I run, I run, I run, I cycle, I zumba, I dance, I lift, and I wouldn’t have begun to do any of it without Zumba.    

Pole fitness is the same for a lot of women.

I teach off-the-pole classes at a local pole fitness studio, Aradia Fitness in Cary, NC.  On this particular day last week, I was supposed to teach a Zumba class, and it was a perfect storm.  My classes are normally pretty packed, but no one showed up.  Not a soul.  It happens.  I’m not offended.  Heather, an extremely experienced pole dancer and teacher, invited me to stay at the studio and jump in on her Pole 1 class, an intro of sorts to pole fitness.  I was apprehensive.  I don’t know how to do any of that stuff, and what if the other girls laughed at me and told their friends that their Zumba instructor had transformed into a buffalo and crashed around the room, breathing heavily, and sweating all over everything?  But I figured it was nice of Heather to invite me, and instead of being a weirdo, I’d take her up.

First things first?  Heather is an incredible teacher.  I’m gonna toot my own horn here.  I’m a good teacher.  And it’s only because I learned from the absolute best.  I had Koh Herlong, I had Lindsay Gilvin, I had Austin Samples.  All great teachers.  Good teachers recognize it in others.  Heather had it.  We started with a cute warm-up, and as the class progressed, the workout turned a little more sexy.  Sexy walks, hip circles, hamstring stretches.  We took it to the floor.  Push-ups, more hip-flexor warm-ups, warm ups for our wrists, for our necks.  It was funny, everything Heather did and taught looked really sexy, especially when she did it, but everything had a purpose.

Next, we got on the poles.

Aradia

We started with a little dance, and each move was cued by Heather. Then, we did some pole work. Spins, climbs, and even some more advanced work. My poor knees were so banged up, but on the pole, my arms, my quads, and my legs were getting an awesome workout.  And the next day, my abs, my arms, and my legs were sore.  In a great way.

So my review?  If you’re having trouble getting motivated?  And you have the funds?  Try a pole fitness class.  It’s a great confidence builder.  Unlike other group fitness classes, there are no mirrors in the studios, and the classes are much smaller.  Where some of my classes have held upwards of 100 people, there were  about 6 of us girls, which allowed for individual time with the teacher, and if you’re feeling awkward, you don’t have to stare at yourself in the mirror.  Heather, speaking of, was so talented, and obviously had benefited from her time in pole fitness.  She was jacked!

So this place gets at A+ from me.  Facility is gorgeous, classes are great, and I felt so pretty after!  And if you’re feeling apprehensive, like you feel like you’re just going to some skanky stripping class, think again.  Every single move in the class had a purpose.  There wasn’t a dance, there wasn’t a spin, there wasn’t a move that didn’t have a specific purpose, which I only picked up on because I teach.  But to the untrained bod, you may just think you’re dancing around.  And hey, if you can burn calories just thinking you’re dancing around with 6 of your friends around a pole, then more power to your workout, right?

 

How do you track your distance/mileage as you’re running for Haiti, Cherisse?

| cheriarmour

At this point, you’re probably watching my distance ratchet up, and you’re all “Omg I’m gonna have to pay Cheri so much money for Haiti!” Yeah, sorry not sorry.  It’s for a good cause!  But are you wondering how I’m so accurately keeping tabs on my distance and mileage, to the tenth of the mile?  Yep, probably.

So when I first started running, I was tracking my distance and mileage with http://www.mapmyrun.com/my_home/  This is a decent tool, but unless you’re running all the tangents, it can totally skew your mileage.  It’s still an awesome, awesome tool, especially if you’re trying to map out a specific distance with no route in mind.  If you know, for example, you have a 14-miler coming up (hello, Sunday morning!), it’s good to figure out how you’re going to make 14 miles happen.

Here’s the real deal way I keep track of my mileage.

Garmin 610

Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the Garmin 610.  Garmin is the same company that does the GPS in your car, so they harnessed the power of the GPS, and stuck it in a more accessible form, a watch, for runners, swimmers, and triathletes to use.  Pretty smart, huh? I was given this watch as a gift for my 25th birthday.  I actually cried when I got it.  It would have been a little bit of a hardship for me to buy it for myself, and it was so thoughtful to get this as a gift.

Whether you’re just starting out, or running your 88th ultra marathon, you can benefit from a Garmin, whether it’s the FR10, the 210, or the 610 (my personal favs that we carry).  Up on the top, 610 in particular will display total distance, followed by total time, and then followed by pace, all pretty important tools when you’re training for any race, and the 10 and 210 will do the same, even though the displays are a little different.  They run between like $130 and $400, so you have to decide what you can make work for your budget.  But remember, it’s a pretty significant piece of machinery.  Even if you go with the super fancy one, it’s not something that you’re planning on replacing every other month – these babies will last a while.  So if you’re training for a 5k, 10k, or maybe even a full, and you’re tired of deciphering a mapping tool, or bringing your iPhone on every run, consider a pretty small investment on a very powerful piece of machinery.

This is what I do in my secret life….

| cheriarmour

When I’m not raising funds for Haiti, or working at the local running specialty shop, I teach Zumba.

I stumbled upon it when I was like 16, and I was hooked (thank you, Koh Herlong!)

I think I’m pretty good at it…my classes seem to like me, anyways. Anyhoo, this past weekend was our Holiday party, so the antlers got another workout.

Zumba!These are my Zumba friends, whom I love SO dearly. Nora, Erin, Me, Adis, and Kathy! (Nora is a fellow runner – hopefully she’ll make a repeat appearance in this blog – as long as I’ve been running, she’s been my total inspiration)