Diablo Fit: Dancing into Shape

The Zumba craze hits the East Bay at San Ramon's 24-Hour Fitness.

Zumba. It’s an unlikely duo: half aerobics, half Latin dance—and now it's apparently the next big craze.

24-Hour Fitness Club Super Sport in San Ramon is already holding multiple classes each week to accommodate the high demand for the program. And with about 80 to 100 people taking the class at a time, it’s the club’s most popular emerging fitness program to date.

“What you find is that our classes are absolutely packed because people can be really successful, they can get a good work out, and they can have a ton of fun,” says 24-Hour’s Group Fitness Vice President Ingrid Owen. “In fact, we’re having a hard enough time trying to find enough instructors for additional classes.”

Internationally, Zumba boasts 20,000-plus trained instructors, a number it has grown to in only 10 years since it was brought to the United States. Zumba creator and celebrity fitness trainer “Beto” Perez happened upon the concept in the mid 90’s when, by accident, he’d forgotten his aerobics music and was forced to improvise with a his own Latin and Merengue tapes. Since then Zumba has spread all across the United States and all over Latin America.

Owen credits the popularity of Zumba to its ability to appeal a wide demographic of people and because of how easily the workouts can be tailored to the individual. Looking at the age differences in the classes, the wide appeal couldn’t be more apparent. Owen says that they’ll have young adults to age 85 plus.

“What’s happening across our chain is that were moving [the classes] out of the aerobics rooms and into our basketball courts because hundreds of people are showing up,” says Owen.

Amelia Said, 24-Hour Fitness’ Zumba instructor, said that once she began teaching Zumba classes, she loved it so much that it was all she wanted to do after that. Putting aside her former work as a personal trainer, she now teaches primarily Zumba.

“I like teaching these classes because I can communicate with a lot of different people who have different ages, nationalities, and fitness levels,” Said says.

Another distinctive quality she attributes her love of Zumba toward is the sheer health and fitness benefits it provides her participants. A few class members have told her that her class has helped them to overcome depression while others are simply happy with the extra energy they get being fit.

“You have people coming to you and saying they lost 20 pounds or dropped three dress sizes, and it gives people an outlet that everybody needs sometimes to release that everyday stress,” says Said.

Said also points out that another reason Zumba is so popular is the fact that it’s an all-in-one workout. The total body conditioning affords participants the opportunity to work their legs and upper body while also getting cardio fitness and toning muscles.

Owen herself is big fan of the classes and says that she tries to attend as much as she possibly can. “Anybody can do it. Everybody should try it. It’s just a fabulous way to get fit,” she says.

For more information on Zumba classes, visit 24hourfitness.com, and for more information on Zumba check out Amelia’s Zumba Web site at zumbacity.com.

 

Got a good health & fitness tip or story idea? E-Mail us at fit@maildiablo.com.

 

Posted at 12:42 PM in Best Of Editor Picks | Permalink