Posts: 1,223
1/26/12 11:11 P

YES! and move your arms, shoulders, ribs, squeeze the shoulder blades together when raising up those arms, engage the stomach muscles, hips can shimmy. Really, no one is looking. Everyone is concentrating on following as well as they can. Enjoy the feel of the movement. :)

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Posts: 219
1/26/12 10:58 P

I agree with THESANEONE and RNCMOM4. The more you attend Zumba classes the easier it becomes to follow and give yourself more of a workout. The other thing you will learn to do for yourself is modify. For those hip hop instructors - I don't like all the high impact moves they tend to do so I keep mine low to the ground with a lot of step touching. BTW, one good way to kick up the sweat factor is to engage your muscles more. Actively engaging the muscles you are moving even when you are just learning the steps will increase your heart rate which in turn kicks up the calorie burn. Have fun! Enjoy the party!

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1/24/12 9:46 P

THESANEONE is right. I didn't sweating a lot when I first started. I've been going to class since September and I sweat a lot now, but there are certain days depending on which instructor I have and what routines they do. Sometimes it is slower paced but I still feel like I had a great workout even if I am not dripping sweat. Just enjoy it and find the right fit for you. I enjoy having different instructors because of their differences.

Posts: 1,223
1/24/12 6:15 P

Please have some patience with yourself. Unless you are somewhat of a dancer, and are good at picking up movement, I don't think you'd be sweating like they say the first time. Zumba is repetitive to give you the opportunity to pick up the moves. Watch for some of the steps in the warm up songs. It takes several times with the same choreography to be on target with the moves and the teacher but it is quite possible. When the basics become familiar, you will move with more energy and enjoy it even more. But I'd like to encourage you to try different teachers in your area. Everyone is a bit different and each venue will be as well. When you find the place you like, stick with it a while. Some teachers are more dancey, some use too much hip hop, some look like aerobis classes from the 80's and 90's. Find the right place for yourself. When you're having fun, that's when you'll know it's right.
Good luck, Beth

current weight: 125.0

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1/24/12 5:34 P

Yesterday was my first Zumba class and I had fun. I got mixed up on the moves a bit. what shocked me was that everyone says they sweat so much and I didn't sweat at all. Maybe I just wasn't working hard enough. The fast paced was fun but they didn't really break down the moves so i was relying on the people around me. I definitely think they could have broken them down a bit more, I'm going to try again probably with a different instructor (one works MWF the other TTh and i'm more likely to go on a T or Th).

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