In search of a fun workout, I attended my first Zumba class.

It was an hour-long workout with fast Latin-music. I talked my 16-year-old daughter into going with me.

The timing was perfect. My youngest daughter had basketball practice, and I would have had to hang out in Houghton Lake for an hour waiting for her anyway. Instead of sitting in my car, I went to Zumba.

It was in a gym at a Catholic school. There were more people than I expected, and they were all shapes and sizes. I didn’t feel out of place, and the people were excited to be there. It looks like a great group.

I was pretty happy with my performance. I was worried I would be hopelessly lost trying to do the moves, but I was able to keep up pretty well. I had a bit of trouble when there were complicated arm/leg combos. Still, out of the hour-long workout, I was only lost twice. And even when lost, I was able to do at least the arms or at least the legs although both went a bit beyond me. I know that if I continue going, I won’t have a problem catching on to the complicated moves.

I was worried that I was not going to be able to keep up, but I didn’t need a break at all. I did take a sip of water a couple of times in between songs, but I was ready to go when the next dance started.

It is a lot of hip-shaking.

Overall, I felt very happy with how well I kept up. I felt like I did even better than I did back in the 80s when I tried Aerobics.

I plan on going back to Zumba. I might also try a couple of other instructors in different areas.

I won’t be able to go next week since there aren’t classes because of Thanksgiving. After that, I plan to go at least once a week. This particular class is offered twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays). I may go twice a week, but it will depend on what my kids’ after school schedule is like as well.

If you haven’t tried Zumba, I recommend it.