Hip shaking and shoulder shimmying aren’t the moves many correlate with exercising, but with Zumba, a Latin rhythm-inspired workout program offered at the RPAC, students are dancing their way to fitness.

Alberto Perez, a Colombian dance teacher, accidentally founded the workout craze in 1986. Perez forgot the music for his aerobic class, so he compromised and used the Latin salsa tapes he happened to have in his car, according to the Zumba.com website.

Zumba Fitness, whose motto is “Ditch the workout. Join the party,” has spread across the nation, and the RPAC joined in on the aerobics program last summer.

Unlike many of the other fitness classes the RPAC offers, Zumba is a trademarked company, meaning Zumba instructors have to be trained through the company itself. Training takes a day and costs $225 to $285.

The only reason the RPAC started teaching Zumba was because an OSU student fitness instructor was already trained in the program, said Jennifer Peters, the program manager of Fitness Services and Programs at the RPAC, and a certified Zumba instructor.

“Our department has an in-house training program for all of our instructors and we typically don’t support companies you have to pay into to teach the class,” she said.

Peters, the sole instructor of Zumba at the RPAC, incorporates Latin, African and Greek rhythms into her classes and tries to make the class educational as well.

“It’s fun to learn new rhythms that you might not have grown up with,” she said. “It’s a way to unite people through dance.”

Although one Zumba instructor might teach the class differently than the next, classes are aimed to teach dances that are easy to catch on to, and most instructors use 10 to 12 songs with varied rhythms throughout a class period.

Many group fitness classes are based on a steady beat, but Zumba explores different rhythms, music and movements, all within one class.

“I keep going back to Zumba because it’s a really fun change of pace and it doesn’t even feel like I’m working out,” said Kara Pflueger, a fourth-year in strategic communications who started taking fitness classes at the RPAC this quarter.

Zumba requires more hip movement than a standard group exercise class, and there is more isolation of certain areas of the body.

Because of the salsa-like movements, Zumba is known to be a strong core workout. It will challenge the body to move in ways it might not be used to, Peters said.

Zumba at the RPAC is meant to be a moderately difficult workout class. Although the moves might be new to many people, there is no need to have a dance background because the dances aren’t
intricately choreographed, and students don’t have to worry about doing things correctly, Peters said.

The RPAC fitness program has seen success throughout the year from the Zumba program. Many new students are joining the program, sticking with it and seeing results.

“Success stories could be a result of students who were inactive before, and now they’re active, but if Zumba was the motivator for them to become active, that’s still a great connection in their ability to change their body,” Peters said.

Pflueger said she struggled to keep up with Peters during her first class, but after two weeks, her coordination and stamina have improved, and her legs, arms and core muscles feel leaner.

But not all students return for a second Zumba class.

Whitney Dunlap, a third-year in international relations and diplomacy and strategic communications, went to the class once and realized it wasn’t for her.

“I’ve already learned a lot of basic salsa and meringue moves, so the class wasn’t challenging enough for me to go back again,” she said. “I prefer my dance workouts to be more individualized and I didn’t like the dance rhythms in the class — they seemed offbeat.”

Zumba has inspired many new dance-fitness based classes at the RPAC, such as the “Shake It” class. Because the Zumba trend generated interest in dance aerobics, it helped the RPAC fitness program grow and expand, Peters said.

Coordinated or not, the basic message of Zumba is to get people to move in ways they have fun with.

“Anyone can do it, all you need is music, open space and a desire to dance,” Pflueger said. “People seem to really enjoy it, so it’s worth giving it a try.”

The RPAC will continue to teach Zumba next year if new student instructors join and are already Zumba-trained, or if current instructors are willing to get trained on their own time and money.

“We always hope to continue to teach Zumba as long as we have instructors capable of teaching,” Peters said. “Our intention is to always keep some type of dance class on the schedule.”

Students can purchase a $50 quarterly pass at the RPAC to participate in fitness classes or they can pay $5 per class. Zumba takes place from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. Mondays and from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays.