Have you ever had so much fun dancing that you forgot not to break a sweat?
Zumbathon is back at Georgia State. More than 200 people participated in Zumbathon last year, and Coordinator of Instructional Programs Stephanie Belcher hopes this year will be even better.
Belcher has been involved in fitness since childhood, and now she’s able to bring fitness events and classes to the students at Georgia State.
“I think the group classes are a good way for people who may not necessarily like to work out on their own,” Belcher said. “But they can still come in and find something they like and get a good work out, and hopefully lead that healthy lifestyle.”
A healthy lifestyle is an integral part of getting Americans more attuned to their own health. That is where fitness instructors like Nadia Walker-Trotter, who will be leading the dance for the first hour at Zumbathon, come in.
“As we know in this nation, obesity is an epidemic,” Walker-Trotter said. “Especially for students here, it’s not even that they’re obese – they’re just sedentary. They need to get up and get moving. So I’m hoping that that’s going to spark some interest, some friends will grab their other friends and come at least once or twice a week out to a class and get some exercise.”
Zumba does more than help students watch their weight.
“It’s a great stress reliever,” Walker-Trotter continued. “When you’re studying, studying, studying and you’ve got all these problems on your mind, come take a class.”
Jinel Grey, a junior in the nursing program, attends Zumba classes at the rec center. She likes the fact that classes are fun and work around her schedule. Like all Georgia State students, she pays no additional cost to attend a Zumba class – it’s completely free.
“It’s coming out of tuition. So it’s convenient,” Grey said. “It really sets us apart from all the other college campuses. At Tech they have to pay for classes and on other campuses they have to pay more to use their rec centers.”
Belcher said the classes offered at the Rec Center are like academic classes. If you don’t come, she explained, your teacher notices and that gives you the accountability to keep coming back.
“I think college is a really important time for people. Students get distracted and are pulled thousands of ways or over-commited to everything. So just a break – one hour a day in a group fitness class – is something really important for students to have,” said Belcher.
