Zum.ba Fit.ness

I've kinda gotten sucked into the Zumba craze. My gym recently started offering classes that mix Zumba fitness with machine intervals.

At first I was a bit skeptical. "We're supposed to move WHAT like HOW?"

Having never seen Zumba in action before (ok besides the infomercials late at night) and knowing there is not a single drop of Latin blood in my body, I was somewhat reluctant. However, fortunately for us, the Zumba instructor that we have is a hoot! Tania breaks down the moves into easy to digest segments and then puts them together to create a dance choreographed to a shake-yer-booty soundtrack. We all do the moves, laugh with each other, and generally have a great time. It's definitely the change that I needed in my workout.

There's one song that I perpetually have in my head at all times now, thanks to Zumba. The video below shows some of the moves that Tania taught us.... albeit in a much more polished form.

New week, new Curves

After a week of not going to the gym following the closing of the Trabuco Curves, I was really feeling lethargic. It didn't help that I spent a lot of the weekend watching football too. So tonight I went to the next closest Curves, the one in Rancho Santa Margarita, in the hopes that I'm not some sort of curse that causes gyms to go bankrupt and close down. After all, this will be my 3rd gym in 11 months.

Upon pulling into the parking lot, Shelly, who I've known since last October when we joined the Ladera club, came running out to my car to give me a hug. She's already joined here and was wondering what happened to me. When I got inside, another Ladera member, Penny, was there and I was very happy to see her too. It was just nice to see familiar faces! One good thing is that this club actually a few minutes closer to my apartment since there's a bit of a short cut to take. The other plus side is that they are using the Smart Curves equipment that have a little machine attached to each piece of equipment to measure your workout. The display has a meter that is red if you're not working hard enough, yellow if you're doing average, and green if you're meeting your target goals. It also counts down the reps for you. At the end of your session, you can log into the computer and it will show you which muscles you worked and how many calories you burned. It seems pretty high-tech. In any case, I'm feeling that this will be (another) good start to reaching my fitness goals. And, on nights I'm feeling like a happy hour, there's Daily's Sports Grill right next door!

RIP Trabuco Curves

You may remember how I lamented that my local Curves here in Ladera was closing back in May. I was sad, not only for the owner Lori who was closing her business, but because there were many members who were not going to transfer to Lori's other club in RSM (10-15 mins away). I went ahead and transferred for all the reasons I mentioned previously and really enjoyed seeing some of the old faces from Ladera as well as meeting new faces from RSM. I had been going there since June. Unfortunately there was to be more bad news! Lori and her partner-in-business, Kathie, could no longer support the RSM club through this recession and they were forced to close too. With the downturn in the economy, luxuries like eating out and gym memberships are often the first places people cut back. I feel so bad for them since this was their baby for over 5 years. Yesterday morning was the last day the club was open and the staff threw a little farewell party with champagne, scones, biscuits, and other treats. Many members brought flowers for Lori and Kathie.

Last night, there was a staff party at this local restaurant called Rose Canyon Cantina. Lori was kind enough to invite me along as well and we had a great time! It's hard to say when I will see them again, so it's kind of a sad day for me.

Change is not always good

So I found out tonight that my gym is closing down. Just the latest casualty in the falling economy. I'm pretty bummed because:

a) the gym was literally across the street from me
b) always full of friendly faces
c) brand new and clean
d) directly on my way home from work
e) fun to go to as a buffer from work/home

I was offered a discounted membership at the owner's other location in RSM, so I will probably take her up on it, but it's definitely out of my way. I don't know who I feel bad for the most, me for losing such a convenience and a part of my daily routine, the owner for not being able to fulfill her dream of maintaining this club, or all the members who won't be able to transfer to the other club in RSM. As bizarre as it might sound, over the last 9 months I've really grown attached to some of the people who work out there with me.