The energy is infectious as Divya Dileep, Zumba instructor at Gold’s Gym, Vellayambalam, leads an eclectic group of fitness enthusiasts through the day’s routine. Here a box-step, there a few squats, jumps, twirls, lunges, a few quick sways of the hips… all to the tune of peppy Latin American dance rhythms; easy enough movements that have her ‘students’ shouting and clapping in sheer exhilaration as they burn the calories. It’s the same story across the road at Niruja Fitness Paradise as young Anjali Jaindhan leads her Zumba students through an energetic routine, which looks more like a high energy dance party than an aerobics class.
With a tagline like ‘Ditch the workout, join the party’ it’s hardly surprising that many fitness enthusiasts in the city are now shaking a leg to Zumba, an exercise regimen created by dancer and choreographer Alberto Perez in Colombia in the 1990s and now followed by some 15 million people in 180 countries. And it’s not just upwardly mobile youngsters keyed into the latest fitness trends who are finding the Latin American dance-based cardio workout an enjoyable exercise. From celebrities and doctors to techies, lawyers and school students, Zumba has become a fad with men and women of all ages in the city. Moreover, it’s now become a fitness routine for the whole family.
Sameer Anzar, 45, CEO of Technopark-based Quintessence Technologies, has been tapping his toes to Zumba for about a year and a half now. “It’s energising, addictive, challenging and most of all, fun. I started Zumba on a lark and it was so interesting and exciting, the energy so high, that I have not been able to stop! After observing how much I enjoy the fitness routine, my daughter Zahiba, a class nine student of L’ecole Chempaka, has now joined the class. She in turn is pushing my wife, Nishana, to also sign up for it,” he explains.
Education entrepreneur Kalyani Vallath, meanwhile, has been tapping her feet to Zumba for around five months now. “For the one hour I do Zumba, every alternate weekday, I let my inhibitions go and simply move to the beats. It gives the mind such a big release. It’s not only about weight loss – I have lost a few kilos since I started the exercise – but my very character has undergone a transformation. I’ve lost my reticence and become more open,” says Dr. Kalyani.
Zumba also gets the thumbs up from singer-actor Vidhu Pratap and his wife Deepthi. “It is very much a group exercise and therein is its charm. It sure beats the monotonous huffing and puffing on the treadmill by ourselves any day. That the exercise is in dance form makes it all the more interesting, especially because we love to dance,” says Vidhu.
Engineering student and Bharatanatyam dancer Dharini Suresh and Nandini R., a student of Holy Angels’ Convent, also enjoy Zumba because it’s essentially dance; only the moves are inspired by Latin American dance forms such as salsa, belly dance, samba, merengue, tango, soca, mambo, cumbia, flamenco, rumba, cha cha cha, and quebradita, with a bit of hip-hop, Bhangra, Bollywood, reggae and the likes thrown in, set to world music. “But you don’t really have to know how to dance to do Zumba. You need to just go with the flow and take the cue from the instructor. It’s a real good exercise that makes you sweat a lot and feel quite fit. You burn calories by the dozen without even realising it,” they say.
According to Zumba HQ (www.zumba.com), there are 24 Zumba classes available in the city every week, taken by licensed instructors, meaning people who have completed the ZIN (Zumba Instructors Network) international certification. There are some eight such instructors in the city, according to Divya.
The instructors, obviously, play a central role in the fitness fad’s success. “We are instructors but we are also motivators who energise and inspire people to be fit and healthy,” says Divya, a software developer by day, who along with instructors, Arun Kumar and Arun R.V., was the first to introduce Zumba to the city (at Talwakars gym, Kuravankonam) a couple of years ago. “The best thing about Zumba is that it is a full body workout that strengthens tones, builds endurance and increases flexibility. Think of it as the next level of an aerobics routine. In a one-hour high intensity session a participant can burn between 1,000 to 1,300 calories!” adds the 26-year-old. Every one hour workout is usually divided into 12 to 14 songs, beginning with a warm-up set and ending with a cool down session. The intensity of the workout is usually well paced, with highs followed by lows, with short breaks, in between. “It’s sort of like interval training but more effective,” explains Divya.
Anjali explains further: “Each move is targeted at a specific area of the body, isolating arms, legs, abs, glutes for strengthening. For example, belly dance moves are meant to tone abs, glutes, thighs and shape the waistline too. Hip hop is intended to firm and tone abs, while salsa is an energetic cardio work out in itself... all disguised as fun and entertainment”
Anjali is a former nationally-ranked junior tennis champion, who at 19 years of age now trains over 80 people in Zumba, including a 67-year-old! Her brother Anirudh is also an instructor and her parents are Zumba enthusiasts.
“As it is a group exercise, Zumba fosters a spirit of kinship. I have come to see my students as my second family,” adds Anjali.
