The Thursday night Zumba class at the Porter Ranch YMCA is one of my favorites. The teacher, Corrine, pumps up the music and the energy to the point where I probably burn more calories than I do in some of my kickboxing classes. The music is great, the moves easy to follow, and new songs are infused weekly to change things up. Once I find a good instructor, I tend to stick with her, dreading the day she has a sub fill in. I truly believe that the teacher makes the class.
Ironically, I am a substitute teacher (anyone hiring for the fall?). I am fortunate to work at schools that frequently request my assistance, knowing that I will make the day fun yet still educational. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn; just going off of the buzz on the elementary school street. Such was not the case with my Zumba sub...
The sub was a woman named Rhea, who apparently teaches Pilates at the Y. I could tell by her soft spoken tone that this class would not be nearly as exciting as Corrine's. Boy, was I right. First of all, the music was way too low. If any of you have ever taken a workout class, working out in a quiet room is analogous to deflating the air out of a balloon; the life is nonexistent. Second, she told us that she prefers to exercise at low impact. Low impact? Sorry, lady, I don't pay $47 per month for low impact, nor do I own an AARP card. When I finish a workout, I want to be sweaty and grimy and feel like my ass just survived a severe kicking; or else, what's the point? She also could not keep the beat of the music, which is a downright shame when you are asked to teach a dance class. That's just added frustration during the hour when I should break free of life's stresses. If you're a workout instructor who can't sense the beat of the music, maybe you should question your career choice. Ouch.
About 25 minutes into the 60 minute class class, some of the girls who actually work at the Y and take this class decided to peace out. Five minutes after they bounced, so did I. I never leave classes, feeling empathetic for subs and trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. This time, though, Rhea gave me the runs and I opted for a treadmill instead. When I expressed my discontent to Corrine, she mentioned that Rhea usually teaches the "mature" crowd at Total Woman by the mall. Please, I could have told you that, as soon as I saw her step-touching instead of kicking it up to a jump. And she's not that old herself! Lazy? Maybe. Slow? Probably. Meek? Definitely. Girl just needs to move it out of the gym and into the retirement home.
Stay tuned for Hip Chick NY, as I move it to the east side for a mini vacay...
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LOL! I also have bad experiences with subs at yoga class. I started to ask in advance to make sure I would not get stuck with a sub. Only good sub I can think of was Julie Andrews' understudy in Victor/Victoria...remember that Paul?
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