Move over taebo, here comes the zumba!

I have a seven-year-old niece named Helena (we call her Baba) who can give the Sex Bomb Dancers a run for their money. She moves so fluidly and gracefully for someone her age, making it seem like she has no bones in her body. So flexible is she that she can almost tie herself into a knot, if that is at all possible. In town recently for a short visit, Helena, together with siblings Ivana and Gio, taught my two-year-old Juliana the "Spaghetti Dance," which seems to be the dance craze of the toddler set now – among other dance steps, that is.

In between documenting their dance moves with a handheld videocam, Baba did something that looked very much like a salsa step to me. I asked her to do it again and again and she must have grown tired of repeating it because she finally told me, "Zumba ‘yan, Tita Lucy." Apparently, she lifted the dance step from her mom’s exercise video.

Well, two days ago, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail. My cousin-in-law Mavs, Baba’s mom, sent me my very own copy of the Zumba workout video. Of course, Juliana and I tried it out immediately and it is wonderful, not to mention a lot of fun.

I’ve done aerobics and Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo before, got hooked on them and, as is the norm when I keep on doing the same kind of exercise for the longest time, grew tired of the whole routine. But I know myself well enough to say that this Zumba thing is something I won’t mind doing for a long, long time to come.

If you enjoy dancing, this is the perfect workout tape for you. If you have two left feet, you can try it out all the same and it will serve as a refreshing addition to your library of workout videos. What I have is the Zumba Advanced version, which probably means there is a basic version, but upon trying it out I found it relatively easy to follow the steps. It is challenging – I couldn’t get everything perfectly the first time but the more you get sucked in the groove the more you dance to it.

Led by Beto, a young man who looks, dances and talks like a Puerto Rican to me, Zumba is an exciting workout video that makes use of a variety of South American dances – rumba, salsa, and calypso included. I guess its appeal stems from the fact that you actually don’t feel like you are working out because the normal aerobic steps that are designed to work on the butt and the legs, for example, are camouflaged and/or incorporated in the dance steps. You end getting soaked in sweat but you are far from being bored because it’s a constant challenge to try to keep up with the quality of dancing Beto and company do. The day after you first try the workout, you actually feel some muscles throbbing in parts of the body you didn’t even realize were being worked out in the first place!

So get ready to Zumba! Yes, there are fitness gyms and countless dance/aerobic classes out there but having an exercise video handy at home is perfect for those days when you’re stuck at home either because you have no ride or are simply too lazy to go to the gym. Now, there is no excuse not to get fit. With the all the choices available to us, getting and staying fit has never been this easy. As with any fitness program, always remember that getting started is the only difficult part. Once you’re in the groove of things, not only will you look good, the feeling of wellness that comes along with it is enough inspiration for you to keep on going. So put on those trainers and dance your way to a better you!