Advertisement The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior is hooked on Zumba, the new and popular fitness craze that is a hot fusion of Latin dance and floor aerobics in an intense high-energy, low-impact workout.
“It’s so much fun, it’s a great workout, you’re sweating and you don’t know how hard you’re working,” Weyer said.
“I’m a reserved dancer, but Zumba gets you to open up, outside your comfort zone,” she said. “You put your own flavor in it and you can make it as hard as you want. The hour just flies by.”
Weyer is one of the newcomers in Tammy Zee’s Zumba class this summer at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Zee became a certified Zumba instructor last year after a friend, Lisa Rudrud, fitness director at the Winona, Minn., YMCA, offered the first Zumba classes in the area.
Now Zumba classes are being offered at UW-L, the La Crosse YMCA and several other places in the area.
Rudrud, who lives in La Crosse, said she wanted to bring something new and fresh to her fitness programs. “No one was doing it here, and where everyone was doing it, it was successful,” she said.
She said Zumba is like being at a party. As an exercise, people are not jumping up and down and jarring their joints. “It’s not intimidating because you don’t have to look like you’re auditioning for ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” Rudrud said. “You move your body to the music, and the music is so much fun.
“I think Zumba is here to stay and could open doors to more dance-style fitness classes,” she said.
Zee started offering classes at UW-L last fall, and Zumba has become the most popular aerobics class. In the fall, she will have eight Zumba classes at UW-L.
“The music is infectious and creates a fun atmosphere, which feeds off each other,” Zee said. “It’s dancing, it’s aerobics, it’s a great workout.”
Zee said she personally likes Zumba because it has helped strengthen her core and improve her back condition.
“Zumba improves flexibility and strength, range of motion and cardiovascular fitness,” Zee said. “It does all this while you are having fun.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in fitness,” she said. “It’s not a flash in the pan. It’s already been around since 1995 but finally getting to the La Crosse area.”
Zumba was invented in Colombia in the 1990s when aerobics instructor Beto Perez forgot his music and had to use the salsa tapes he had in his car. Zumba came to the United States in 1999.
The moves are Latin-inspired, sometimes sexy and even fun to watch.
Last week, Zee led her beginners through an hour-long workout with reggae, salsa, samba, cumbia, merengue, flamenco, belly dancing and tango dance moves. She began with a warm-up, threw stretches in the middle of the workout and ended with a cool-down and Pilates.
“These moves will help you on the dance floor,” Zee told her students. “It’s low impact, but you can feel the intensity.
“You can’t shake it at work, so we shake it here,” she said.
Tracy Noyes, 43, a marketing specialist in UW-L’s continuing education office, said she runs and bikes but was looking for something new in fitness.
“Zumba is fun and easy, and I don’t watch the clock when I do it,” Noyes said. “It’s a good workout, and I like that it’s completely different.”
Kedibonye Carpenter, a UW-L graduate assistant from South Africa, said the Latin moves are similar to the dance moves of her home country.
“I love the movement and the beat,” Carpenter said. “It’s fun and a wonderful workout, and it’s all about health.”
Kirsten Hendrickson, a 23-year-old UW-L graduate student in clinical exercise physiology, said Zumba is a lot more fun than any fitness workout she has ever done.
“This is more open and out there, and I’m less less inhibited,” said Hendrickson, sweat dripping off her face.
“I was skeptical it was a good workout until I did it,” she said. “It’s moderate to high intensity, and it’s interval training.”
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com, or (608) 791-8227.
ZUMBA CLASSES
Zumba classes are offered at the YMCA, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University and several other locations in the La Crosse area. Also check at your local fitness centers. You can go to zumba.com to find certified instructors offering zumba classes near you.
This summer, Tammy Zee is offering two classes at UW-L and one class in La Crescent. Through La Crescent Community Education, Zee has a class open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Healthy Community Partnership building in La Crescent. For the La Crescent class, call (507) 895-5150.
