OKAY. Let’s pretend a murderer stuck a gun to my head and said, “You have to either take a Jazzercise or a Zumba class.” First of all, I’d think this person was a pretty terrible murderer. Secondly, I’d think, “Screw YOU, murderer! I’m gonna take BOTH!” Which is exactly what I did. (Full disclosure: There was never a murderer involved.)
Now, I’ve taken a number of aerobics-style classes in my time—but because of unsubstantiated prejudices, I steered clear of Jazzercise and Zumba. My inexperienced mind equated Jazzercise with spandex-wearing Jane Fondas dancing to Broadway show tunes with straw hats and canes. (Dibs on that idea, actually.) Similarly, with Zumba I assumed I’d have to wear a skirt covered with coins, and hop around to African music while feeling like the whitest cracker in the Nabisco saltine factory.
Unbelievably? Both assumptions were WRONG. (I know, right?)
While there are plenty of these classes scattered around the city, for my experiment I chose the Southeast quadrant, and wound up at Sellwood’s Casa del Padre Church for my first-ever attempt at Jazzercise. First takeaway: The place was jam-packed with happy, friendly, youngish folk who unfortunately dressed nothing like ’80s-era Olivia Newton-John. I barely had time to finish my form, relieving them of any responsibility if I dropped dead of a heart attack, when the class leapt into action.
Second takeaway: Umm… where were the Broadway show tunes? Their workout music consisted of all my fave current dance jams, and after some rhythmic stretching, I was having a blast with a full-body cardio routine that was more akin to a night at the club than… you know… (ugh) exercising. The cardio portion was followed by some strength training (small weights and stretchy tubes), and by the time I finally looked up at the clock? BAM, an hour had flown by without much thought (or low-grade moaning, which I usually do in such situations).
Also surprising: I didn’t have a heart attack, and yet the class still seemed challenging to the regulars. Instructor Meegan Rust explained it this way: “Jazzercise is designed to be a workout for everyone—regardless of your age or fitness level. It’s dance-based cardio, combined with Pilates, yoga, strength training, and stretching—all to popular hits. So yeah… no show tunes.” (Note: She didn’t explicitly say you can’t attend class with a straw hat and cane.)
Next came Zumba class, which I attended at Dance with Joy Studios. True to Zumba’s description on Wikipedia, the workout “incorporates hiphop, soca, samba, salsa [not the dip], merengue [not the lemon pie topping], mambo, and martial arts.” So as you can see, there are fewer lunges, curls, and knee lifts, and more step-ball-changes, grapevines, and cha-cha-chas. (But no coin-covered skirts.) For me, Zumba was challenging, because instead of a sense of rhythm, I was born with two stacks of pancakes attached to the end of my legs. But it was still fun, the music varied between top-40 dance and world beat, and I learned some tango moves in spite of myself.
Instructor Andy Long reminded me that nailing the moves isn’t the important part. “We may keep a very similar routine for three weeks or so,” Long said, “in case you’d like to learn it. But we think it’s more important to have fun than to do the steps precisely.” GOOD, because as stated before, I have pancake stacks for feet.
So which is right for you: Jazzercise or Zumba? It’s important to note that individual classes will vary somewhat, but from my limited experience, if you like a good, core-building workout that burns fat AND is super fun, go with Jazzercise. If working up a decent sweat, learning how to do a tango leg sweep, and not being too concerned about results is your thing, give Zumba its due. In either case, both will successfully break up your boring workout routine, and are significantly better than having a gun pointed at your head. (Now that’s a recommendation!)
To find classes near you, go to jazzercise.com and zumba.com.
Pretty fucked up that jazzercise doesn’t have any Miles Davis or John Coltrane.
Excellent! I work with Andy at Dance with Joy Studios & we have a stellar crew If I do say so myself & if you actually look into it – there are many, many articles about Zumba Fitness being an amazing cardiovascular & interval workout comparable to jogging – I’ve met so many inspiring people that have lost hundreds of pounds doing just Zumba! Amazing! Thanks for coming to our studio & shaking it with Andy!
I was a long time Jazzercise student and I recently became an instructor so I guess I am a little biased.:) I did take one Zumba class and while I thought the dance routines were fun and similar to Jazzercise, it didn’t seem as challenging and I missed the strength training aspect. I am a big proponent of just getting out there and moving, so if Zumba is what does it for ya, great! But, don’t let the stereotype of Jazzercise stop you from checking it out. The author of this article did a great job of explaining what a class is like. It’s fresh in both it’s music and fitness trends. There are no mirrors in most facilities. The people are welcoming and there is no judging. All fitness levels can experience a challenging, yet incredibly fun workout. It’s the only one I have been able stick with…almost 20 years and still going strong!
I have to work extra hard to get a workout at Jazzercise and they do the same songs (or at least one instructor does) so I’m usually bored out of my mind after a class or two. Zumba keeps my heart rate up the whole hour which means I probably burn more calories. I can do weight training in my other classes.
I am a certified Jazzercise instructor and have been for over 5 years. Jazzercise is a program that has been around through the years and continuously improves their image and products. All if their instructors have to certified, take written physiology exams, are CPR certified and are yearly monitored to ensure that all instructors lead a safe and effective class. It has been proven that over the years, Zumba can be damaging to the knees and with their instructors not properly trained or required to follow a well choreographed routines, it makes this all more possible. Jazzercise brings new routines with the most current music (about 150 new routines per year). So if you have ever taken a bad class , try a new instructor!!
I think both are great cardio but Jazzercise is a better over all workout because of the strength resistance training and stretching. That being said with either you get out of it what you put into it
Jazzercise routines are challenging and fun. I am in the best shape of my life. My muscles and bones are stronger, my posture is better, I’m stronger. The instructors demonstrate the correct positions to achieve the maximum benefit from every move from every routine. I crave the workout and challenge myself to do better every time. I am 70 and look and feel better than I have in earlier years.
I tried a Zumba class, and afterwards went right back to my Jazzercise class. I started Jazzercise in my 30’s and 25 years later I am still in great shape because of it. Jazzercise is the only 1 hour “total body” workout. Not to bash Zumba–it is a good one hour dance aerobic work-out. Jazzercise incorporates weights, bands–balls and floor exercise, to work the problem areas in the last 20 minutes of class, to keep us strong and balanced. It’s also a great way to make new friends.