New Zumba class coming to Health for Life

Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Zumba Instructor Kathleen Hinrichs (far left) leads a class at Mercy Health For Life fitness center. Hinrichs recently received certification in Zumba, a lively dance exercise course.(Submitted Photo)

With the new year right around the corner, Mercy Health for Life will offer an official Zumba class starting in January.

The teacher is a familiar face -- Fort Scott Community College Director of Public Relations Kathleen Hinrichs.

The fitness center has been, and will continue, to offer Move It classes, which are Zumba-like.

Zumba is a high-energy workout set to Latin and international beats, a news release said. Hinrichs said people like it because it doesn't seem like they're exercising. They're dancing with their friends.

A full eight-week session of Zumba starts Jan. 4 at Health for Life. Hours are 5:15 p.m.-6 p.m. and the class will go over the basic steps in Zumba Fitness, such as salsa, merengue, cumbia and reggaeton. Registration is going on now, the release said.

Since 2001, the popularity of Zumba has soared, the release said. Zumba and other dance workouts ranked ninth in the American College of Sports Medicine's recent survey of 2,620 health and fitness professionals worldwide predicting top fitness trends for 2012.

"What I hear from people and what I've read online, you feel like you're having fun. ... Time goes a lot faster. ... You leave sweating and tired. It's not like running for 45 minutes on a treadmill which gets a little tedious," she said.

Hinrichs added she pushes herself to do the more advanced moves, but will show students they can do less strenuous motions.

"You're not being judged. We want them to use the correct form so they're doing it safely. Other than that, it's wide open as to what they want to do. It's all about having fun and moving," she said.

Hinrichs, who was dance team sponsor for two years at FSCC, began teaching Move It classes in November. She was certified to teach Zumba in November after taking an all-day class in Omaha.

"It's an entire day. It starts at 8 in the morning and goes until 6 o'clock at night -- 80 percent of the time doing the choreography and moving around," Hinrichs said. There was a short break, but "it was really a full day. I was pretty exhausted."

The Zumba class came about because many people had requested it. A four-week mini session is going on now and once the official name was put to it, it seemed to attract more people.

"Last Monday, we had 18 in the class," Hinrichs said. "... We're certainly getting a lot more participants, and that's a lot of fun. We've got one or two girls in middle school up to a few ladies who are in their 60s. It's really for everyone."

"I'm really excited for January when we can actually do all eight weeks," she added. "That will be a lot of fun."

Hinrichs will still teach Move It classes, featuring Zumba moves with a little more hip-hop, from 5:15-6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Health For Life.

"I have a group of regulars," she said. "They really enjoy that one, too. We do more squats; we do a lot of spot workouts; it's still done to music and is dance fitness. ... A lot of my regulars do Zumba, too, because they want to work out four days a week."

Hinrichs has taught jazz and hip-hop dance classes and took modern dance while attending Missouri State University in Springfield where she took a degree in mass media production.

Rich Wallace, a personal trainer who also teaches classes at Health for Life, said just from watching the class a little Zumba takes you in all different directions from your usual aerobics or step classes. He noted it should also help you reach your target heart rate.

Cost for the eight-week class is $28 for Health for Life members and $52 for non-members of Health for Life. To register or for more information, call (620) 223-7073.