I am a bit of a slow mover on Saturday mornings, so I got to class during the middle of the first song. I scurried into the pool. I felt bad at first, but I soon realized that people come and go during the entire workout. Maybe water workouts are more casual?
After the first song ended, the woman in front of me turned around and said "you're too tall," and pointed towards the exit. This was alarming. I did not know there were height restrictions for Aqua Zumba! The woman to my right must have seen the panic on my face because she translated the very blunt message. "She means you should move to the deep end of the pool because you're tall. You want your arms under water so that you get a good workout." This made way more sense than flailing around in water up to my waist...which was what I did for the first song. I waded down to the 5 ft section of the pool, and shit got real. Aqua Zumba was no joke!
Felicia, the lovely gal who translated the height instructions, seemed to be a part of a group of regulars. Felicia and her fellow aqua gals instructed me to get in the middle of their circle in the water. I felt both protected and terrified.
The instructor stood outside of the pool at the front of the room. I never gave any thought to the fact that the instructor would have to be outside of the pool in order for us to see what she was doing. I am not sure if it was because the acoustics were bad, but the instructor did not say much, she just howled. Literally, she howled like a wolf. When she howled, the class was supposed to respond with a howl (or so it seemed).
I followed Felicia's lead. She knew the entire soundtrack. There was a little Latin fusion, but there were also a lot of water-themed songs. We heard a little "Ice, Ice, Baby," "Pontune," and "Wipeout," among others. Luckily, just like regular Zumba, Pitbull made an appearance (thank goodness).
Like a regular Zumba class, there was also some random person having a party for one. However, in a plot twist, she was in the front of the room. You can really only see a person's head in AquaZumba, so you would think the class would hide someone doing their own thing, but when someone flails their arms in and out of the water and faces the opposite direction, the cat is out of the bag.
The workout was much harder than I anticipated. You do the same movements as you do in a Zumba class, but underwater (the name of the class is not hiding anything). The resistance from the water makes everything more intense. About 45 minutes into the class, you use water weights. Felicia and her posse insisted that I use the big weights. I don't know if they thought I needed to beef up, or if they thought I was super strong (I am assuming the former). The weights that you use are constantly attempting to float to the top of the water, which makes for a surprising workout. For example, bicep curls really do more of a triceps workout because the weights are constantly pulling up, and you are really pulling down. Additionally, your core gets a great workout because you are using everything to keep the weights under the water.
The cool down did not involve much, but that was fine. Interestingly, the instructor meowed during the cool down, which was a first. A few people meowed back. I decided that I was going to tap out after a few howls.
Adding water did not improve my dancing skills, but no one could see my moves, so that was a plus! I am definitely returning to AquaZumba, and not because I am pretty sure I was initiated into some kind of water workout gang. AquaZumba gave me a great workout without some of the strain I can sometimes feel in my elbows or other body parts when doing weightlifting work.
I felt like the class focused mainly on the upper-body, but that could have just been the set list for that particular class. After a week of only running, it was nice to give my legs a great. Plus, I think like a lot of women, I tend to do more cardiovascular workouts and neglect arm work. The instructor might focus on the lower body during her Monday class (which Felicia instructed me to attend).
Shape Magazine estimates that you can burn up to 700 calories doing AquaZumba. http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/8-low-impact-workouts-still-burn-major-calories/slide/3 Assuming this really is the average, please keep in mind there are a lot of variables that go into determining your calorie burn. I will assume AquaZumba burns a nice amount of calories, and I know it also offers a great toning workout. A win-win.
Felicia told me that AquaZumba was the reason that she joined our gym. I really liked hearing this because I have never asked anyone why they have chosen a gym. I think I will probably start asking that question when I try out new classes/gyms.
Of note, I was not going to wander into a class and take pictures of a bunch of women that I have never met in their bathing suits, so I took a picture of the empty pool. To stick with the water theme, I just added some pictures of water from my travels to Costa Rica and Greece. The End.
