Zumba? Pft... Yeah, Right!

My first Zumba classes were at Fitness19, then Right Stuff in Campbell.

For a good chunk of my 20s, I was able to keep off all the weight I had put on from senior year in high school through my early college years. I did this through maintenance and casual cardio at the gym.

I always enjoyed going to bars and clubs with my friends and dancing. Zumba came into my life at a time when all my lady friends were having babies and we weren’t going out nearly as much anymore. Hanging out shifted from dancing until 2 AM to watching Twilight and reality TV at their houses while they tended to their kids.

One day Jey and I were at the gym together — which honestly was a rare thing. We always get on each other’s nerves when we work out together.

Jey wanted to go into a Zumba class.

Meanwhile, I was on the elliptical and took one look through the glass windows, saw all the women — at least a decade, maybe two decades older than me — dancing around and immediately thought:

Hell no.

Jey insisted, so I went in.

Of course I was lost and completely uncoordinated. There seemed to be a sequence and flow to everything and everyone somehow knew what was happening except me. Jey seemed to be enjoying himself.

I was fully prepared to walk right back out.

But Joyce, the instructor, made it a point to walk over to me mid-class during a moment when she knew everyone had a grip on the choreography and danced alongside me to make me feel welcome.

That small interaction was enough to convince me to come back the following week.

Eventually Jey fell off and then it was just me showing up every week, arriving early to fight for that damn spot.

I went from being shy in the back of the room to becoming a little Zumba diva in the front row.

Through Zumba, I was able to get the dancing bug out of my system that would normally be filled with late nights out while simultaneously staying in shape.

I became hooked.

That eventually led me down the path of becoming an instructor myself. I originally said I’d do it casually or maybe just sub for Joyce and Lilia here and there.

But inevitably, the bug bit me and I wanted my own class.

First came Fitness 19 (then Right Stuff). Then City Sports. Then Milpitas Sports Center and Villa Sport. Then Crunch. Then 24 Hour Fitness. Then 49erFit — before the pandemic put a screeching halt to all of that.

When the pandemic hit, many of my students followed me online and we got through that strange period together through regular Zoom classes.

Through Zumba, I was reminded yet again that change can be a really good thing.

Fear of other people’s opinions can stop you from making some incredible decisions or experiencing some amazing moments if you simply stay open-minded.

More importantly, I learned that fitness did not have to feel like punishment.

And while my goals in fitness look a little different today than they did back then, I can say without hesitation that if I had never walked through those double doors to dance with Joyce and her class, I would not be the fitness professional I am today.