Cheri Armour, a member of the Elon University Class of 2009, will be instructing Zumba Madness on campus. Zumba allows both avid athletes and half-hearted exercisers to have fun while working on their fitness and health.
Elon held Zumba Madness around the same time last year – at the beginning of Black History Month.
“Type II diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and high blood pressure are some of the issues that tend to plague the black community,” Armour said
Zumba Madness promotes a healthy lifestyle for African-American citizens because they generally have a higher rate of obesity. But this fitness event is open to anyone ready to dance enough to work up a sweat.
“Zumba is important to me because it changed my outlook on working out and I think it can do the same for other people,” Armour said. “I started doing Zumba when I was about 16 and from then on, I had a love-love relationship with health and working out.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of all Americans are obese. Events like Zumba Madness can help people get on their feet, stay healthy and avoid gaining weight.
Campus Recreation actively promotes Zumba with two students, senior Christine Mavraganis and junior Jill Graczyk teaching Zumba classes.
“Zumba is a serious cardiovascular workout that goes by very quickly,” Mavraganis said. “I try to keep my routines fun and updated so participants enjoy coming to class. It’s a great class if you are trying to shed a couple extra pounds or get into better shape.”
Instructors everywhere seem to agree on the benefits of fitness dancing, especially for people who do not enjoy traditional workouts on machines or strenuous outdoor activity.
“It’s recommended that everyone does at least 60 minutes [of cardiovascular exercise] a day and Zumba can do that for you and it barely feels like working out,” Armour said.
The event is open to both genders, but Armour said males can be too embarrassed to participate. When she taught a Zumba class at North Carolina State University, Armour had a group of men participate every week and one ended up teaching his own class.
Armour said she feels like she came out of the womb singing and dancing.
“Zumba gives me a chance to do all of these and be physically active while leading other people, and I really love that,” she said.