When the rectangular white box arrived I was a happy chappy, I never get anything in the post and when I do its usually speeding fines or credit card bills. I had a huge cartoon bubble hovering above my head with an image of my tight thighs, bulging biceps and toned abs. Perfect.
Although my stomach rumbled I quickly opened the box like a kid at Christmas, inside was a total body transformation guide. Right I said resolutely, this will be my Bible for the next two weeks; I will eat, sleep and think Zumba. To get me started the guide contained training tips, a stretch guide, a fat loss programme and much more. The pack also contained 4 DVDs and two big green batons that could have been mistaken for a couple of grown-up baby rattles.
The 4 DVDs were enticingly labelled……
- Basics and 20 minute express (20 mins..no sweat..well actually hopefully so!)
- Cardio party (I love a party….party on!)
- Sculpt and tone (my body is a temple, my body is a temple)
- Live! And flat abs (Flat Abs? I want rippling Abs)
The packs not only came in English but also Dutch, Spanish, French and Italian. I quickly chose the English version, languages was never my forte, let’s hope Zumba is!
So let’s get to it….Pre party process included making sure that my flat was empty, I closed all the curtains and dimmed the lights, I wasn’t sure how bad I was going to be at this and I didn’t want any witnesses (however I did phone my Mum and ask her to call and check on me in an hour or 2! I’ve not done that since college)
Basics and 20 minute express
I was wondering how on earth I was going to cope with the quick moves and the fast music but the DVD took me through each step and the basics of them, very slowly. Some might argue too slowly but at least it was thorough, I was confident within minutes. The steps were simplified and really easy to manage. I can now declare I’m an expert in the ‘booty circle’ and the ‘diamond step.’
The DVD started with an introduction to the creator of Zumba which gave it a great personal touch. The presenters went through the routines enough times to get the hang of them. There were also handy hints throughout the DVD such as, ‘the higher your hands, the more calories you burn’ which I considered helpful and informative. I was aware how ridiculous I looked, I hadn’t taken dance lessons since I was 10 years old but I didn’t care, I was enjoying myself.
The steps were introduced which helped associate moves with their name. Marching between steps was encouraged which was a great way to keep moving whilst slowing the heart rate- at some points it was needed!
The 20 minute DVD was broken down into four sets of five minutes and concentrated on different dances which gave the workout variety and kept it interesting.
By Sunday morning, the medical staff had apparently treated over 3,000 people for heat stroke and sunburn – I thankfully was not one of them. Back to the point of this blog post though!
