Zumba Fitness in Kahului Maui

When my friend Lucy invited me to a special Thanksgiving Day Zumba class this morning I didn't know what I was getting in for except that I had to drag myself out of bed bleary eyed at 6:30 to be at her house in Wailuku at 7:30. After a protein shake to sustain us, we piled into her van but not before she had lent me a special skirt that she said I must wear during the class. The skirt looked something like belly dancer attire, with coin shaped silver bangles all over it. In a daze I tied it around my middle and I guess was all set to wiggle my hips and jingle.

As we made our way to the YMCA, Lucy filled me in on what Zumba was all about. Apparently celebrity fitness trainer "Beto" Perez stumbled on the concept of a fitness approach inspired by Latin music. The story goes that one day he arrived at his class, and realized he had forgotten his music, so he settled for some latin tapes that were handy. He improvised the whole class based on traditional latin dances such as the salsa, cha cha and merengue. From this idea, Zumba, a new revolutionary fitness program was born. Some entrepreneurs started a company that promoted a global Zumba fitness philosophy and voila, it is now here on Maui. Instructors have to take a qualifying course and learn all the universal Zumba steps and dances.
The room was crowded, mainly because it was a special Thanksgiving class and anyone could go as long as they donated canned goods to the food bank.

As Lucy and I crammed ourselves into a corner at the back of the room, the music started up and I desperately tried to follow the steps without hitting the person next to me. We did dance after dance and what a work out it was, with quick breaks for a drink and a much needed hasty wipe off with a towel. I have to say that I was enjoying myself so much and realized that as long as I was moving it didn't really matter if I missed a step or turned the wrong way. I was getting EXERCISE. I have to admit though, that it was a relief when the teacher announced that it was cool down time.

After class Lucy introduced me to the instructor Jean Nagata-Sevilla, who is the Health and Wellness Director at the Maui Family YMCA.

I found out that Zumba is one of many different classes that are offered there, including water aerobics, different types of Yoga, Pilates, Body Sculpting, Power Step, Cardio/Sculpt and more. If you are on a Maui vacation and miss your weekly exercise you can drop in for just $10.00 and if you know someone already in the class you can go 3 times as their guest for free.  Please watch the fun video I took of the class below.

Zumba classes are held Monday and Wednesday 7:00 - 8:00 AM and 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, Thursday 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM and 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM, and Friday 8:00 - 9:00 AM and 5:30 to 6:30 PM.

For more information visit the YMCA Website

Make your base for Zumba at a Maui Vacation Rental