~WoRkOuT Wednesday!!~

Good morning! 
Have you ever wanted to try a new workout, but were nervous, or scared? I totally have, and sometimes it's hard to commit without having support or someone to do it with you. The workout that I had this feeling with was Zumba. 

When I started Zumba a little over a year ago, I wanted to shake my thang! and get my groove on, but no one would go with me, so I put on my brave face and I went. Thank god I went too because I LOVE Zumba! You feel sexy, and kind of goofy (at first, when you are learning the moves) and you can shake it and get into the music. You feel like you are free and you dance like nobody is watching!!  

So I dare you to go out and find something new that you have NEVER tired and Try it!!! : )  The next workout that I want to try for the first time ever is Yoga! so stay tuned! ;)

Zumba lovers credit the dance craze with freer inhibitions, sharper minds -- and tighter abs.

"It changes your body better than body sculpting," says McCalister. "Since I've started teaching Zumba, I've lost inches. My body has slimmed down. I've had to replace all my fitness clothes."

Though Bogan says she's always been a "gym rat," she admits to being uncoordinated. "I never had great balance," but since practicing Zumba, she says, "I can stand on one foot as long as I need to."

Bogan says learning the new dances is great mental exercise, as well: "I'd rather do this than Suduko."

Exercise physiologist Nicole Gunning invites a Zumba instructor monthly to teach her Adventure Boot Camp students in Morris County, N.J.

As with any cardiovascular workout, says Gunning, the benefits of Zumba can include calorie burn, increased aerobic threshold, more stamina, increased bone density, improved balance and muscle tone, less body fat, and lower blood pressure.

"It's a decent cardio workout as long as you're OK with letting yourself go," says Gunning. "You have to be uninhibited to get the most benefit out of the workout."

Perez says Zumba fanatics come for more than the calorie burn, however.

"Zumba is more of a philosophy," says Perez. "Sometimes people go for therapy, sometimes they go for social connections, sometimes they love to dance and there's no time. Zumba is the perfect excuse."

More at...

ZUMBA Info - Web MD