“Our only throwback is our right hook,” a poster advertises outside the Jazzercise Mills 50 location. Today’s Jazzercise defies it’s stereotype of old woman dancing in leotards as it continues to grow from the original structure of it’s formation in the 80’s and focuses on high-intensity workouts that provide an entertaining and engaging workout.
Jazzercise incorporates vigorous dancing and strength training to modern pop music. The brand constantly changes their fitness regime to fit the modern style of working out. Over 8,300 franchisees teach 32,000+ classes each week, making it extremely easy to find a location and class.
A lot of hustle and bustle occurs inside Jazzercise Mills 50. Class managers sign members in, women who have just completed their workout drink coffee in the back lounge and the instructor prepares herself for the upcoming class. Before class, attendees talk while streching, creating a happy, social environment.
The 60 minute class includes 45 minutes of DanceMixx and 15 minutes of strength training with weights.
The instructor, Christine Day, faces the class attendees during the workout. The instructor not only demonstrates the moves in front of the class, but she explains and describes each move in simple terms.
The instructor also conduct side-conversations with class members during the routines. Day talks about if she liked the singer of the song, and commonality of inappropriate song lyrics. These conversations gave the class an extra fun vibe, as it felt like having a conversations about music with friends.
In the beginning of the class, the instructor conducts a light stretching routine to warm up the muscles. But as soon as DanceMixx starts, the flow of the workout becomes harder to follow. The instructor moved into a complicated routine for a beginner with lots of intense moves, but after focusing, it becomes easier to pick up the moves.
A unique routine occurs during every song with moves attached to it that the instructors demonstrate in real-time. The individual instructors at Jazzercise Mills 50 do not create the routines, they receive them from the corporate office. Each routine is different and works on a specific section of a workout, like cardio. The routines include Billboard Top 100 Hits like “One Dance” by Drake and “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE. The routines also incorporate older songs, such as “Blow” by Ke$ha, whose section was four straight minutes of squatting. The music’s relevance makes the class more enjoyable as one could sing along to the songs while working out.
The final 15 minutes include strength-targeted workouts that focus on different sections of the body like abdominal muscles, leg muscles, or in this classes’ case, arm muscles. Jazzercise provides all members with eight dumbbell options to cater to each person’s strength level. The targeted workout is a great addition, as it specifically works out one area of the body, compared to the full body workout of the DanceMixx.
As the final routine comes to a close, the class erupts in applause. Everyone congratulates themselves for completing the workout.
The stereotype of 80’s dance moves that Jazzercise has, proves invalid. But the stereotype of a group of women having fun while exercising still holds true. The class itself provides an enjoyable and interesting alternative to a regular day at the gym. Jazzercise is a welcoming and fun environment makes it easy to forget that it was an hour-long, high intensity workout.
New members, or those who want to try Jazzercise, can download the Jazzercise app and find the Jazzercise Mills 50 location to request a free first class.