Going to college in Maine means dealing with cold weather for a majority of the time I am on campus. When the weather first became cold, I found it nearly impossible to motivate myself to walk all the way to the gym. It’s not that I no longer wanted to work out; I did. It’s just that the colder and less attractive the weather became, the less likely I was to go to the gym.

Recently, Zumba has become my new fitness activity; and things have changed. To my excitement, I found that Colby offers Zumba classes on Wednesdays in the evening. Despite being relatively new to the Zumba craze, holding my own Zumba sessions in the common room of my dorm with a few friends led me to continuing it and going to my first Zumba class last Wednesday.

In this short amount of time, I have found four main reasons why I love Zumba and why you should consider it if it is not already a regular part of your workouts.

1. Classes are Held Once a Week

My biggest problem with devoting myself to a varsity sport was the large amount of time it would take from my day. With Zumba on Wednesday, my day is relatively calm. I have two morning classes, time for lunch and homework in between, and then Zumba before dinner. That’s an example of a perfect day, if you ask me. Being that it’s only once a week, I won’t get sick of it (because I always have something to look forward to).

2. It Gives Anyone the Chance to Break Out Into Dance

There are not many places on campus where randomly busting out dance moves would be seen as acceptable. At Zumba, you can let loose and have a great time along with the other 20 or so people in the room. The music is upbeat and caters to a wide variety of music genre interests.

3. You Can Participate with Friends!

Zumba is a group activity! Running on the treadmill or running laps around the track are primarily individual-focused. While you can walk to the gym with friends, you can be split as everyone gets into their individual routine and tunes in to their own workout playlists, whereas with Zumba, everyone lines up and dances to the same music with the same dance moves. Nothing is more encouraging than working out for an hour with friends.

4. You Get a Workout Without Feeling as if You Worked Out.

This is by far the biggest appeal of Zumba. There is nothing better than dancing to upbeat music for an hour and burning off so many calories at once. Before you know it, the hour is up and Zumba is done for the week. To me, this method of working out is a lot of easier and a whole lot more fun!