They sweat, they swivel their hips, they laugh, they burn calories, they learn. A room full of women moves together in unison, the perspiration first beading, then dripping as they try to keep up with their energetic and encouraging instructor, exercising to the thumping beats of dance music. A familiar and common scene in American suburbia and in the image-conscious urban areas of Manhattan and Los Angeles, yes. But this particular group can be found Saturday mornings in a room of the East San Jose school district administration office, a wallet-worn hole (minus the wallet) in the swelling pocket of prosperity that has contained the Silicon Valley Internet boom.
The 1999 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health reported that more than 60 percent of adult women do not do the recommended amount of physical activity daily. In addition, more than 25 percent of women are not active at all, another of the long list of statistics offered in recent years that indicate an American female population headed straight toward rampant obesity. More affluent middle-aged women are taking advantage of the proliferating yoga studios and fitness clubs, and running, walking, cycling, and multi-sport endurance events. But there are far fewer vibrant and appealing fitness opportunities for women who have no ample leisure time and discretionary funds.
Women with a quick finger on their computer mouse, a spare $50 or $75 for entry, or the time and wherewithal to raise several hundred dollars for charity, can sign up to run events like the Nike Women’s Marathon/Half-Marathon. Featuring almost 20,000 women, the fourth annual edition sold out its 2007 half-marathon spots in 10 hours and its marathon spots in three days. Curves, a chain of franchised fitness centers marketed specifically to middle-aged and senior women too intimidated to join traditional clubs such as 24 Hour Fitness or Bally’s, offers 30-minute circuit programs (with machines that “fit women of all sizes”), for a start-up fee of $50 to $80 and monthly charges ranging from $29 to $59. From its Waco, Texas roots in 1995, Curves has enjoyed Starbucks-esque growth, now serving 4 million women in 10,000 locations. At one point recently, a new Curves opened every four hours.
But despite the close physical proximity to that type of opportunity -- the Nike Women’s Marathon took place just down the road in San Francisco, and there are more than 75 Curves locations within 30 miles of San Jose -- the group of women in East San Jose might as well be a million miles away. For women in the Mayfair neighborhood of East San Jose, the financial resources to take part in these types of activities are difficult to come by. Almost exclusively comprised of Spanish-speaking families -- some newly arrived immigrants, some with roots back as far as the 1920’s -- it’s an area so tough it has been informally referred to as “Sal Si Puedes” (Get Out if You Can) throughout its tumultuous history of community unrest.
But now, at least, it offers Zumba.
Zumba is a Latin-inspired aerobics workout program that came about essentially by accident. Alberto “Beto” Perez, a fitness trainer in Colombia, forgot his aerobics class soundtrack one day in the mid-1990’s and had to improvise using his personal music from his car. Soon, students were clamoring for the “new class” and, with entrepreneurs Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, he took his show on the road. First, an infomercial spread the word, followed by the creation of a systematic training program to equip new instructors.
Recently featured in dozens of magazines and newspapers, Zumba’s Web site claims the current participation of over 3,000,000 people and was touted as “one of the nation’s fastest growing fitness crazes” on the Today show this fall. In the words of the company, “Music is Zumba’s special motivational ingredient, bringing together salsa, merengue, samba, reggaeton, African beats, cumbia, and even funk. With specific beats and tempo changes, the exclusive Zumba score transitions the workout seamlessly from one toning, strengthening, or cardio move to another. Even if you feel like you have two left feet, all you have to do is let yourself naturally move to the beat. The workout starts with one simple step and then moves up the body -- first the feet, then the mid-section, and finally, the upper body -- until everything is in motion.”
In other words, just dance your butt off. Literally.
For Susan Armenta, the South Bay Program Coordinator for the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI), Zumba proved to be just the right fit for the women she already worked with as a part of BAWSI’s Salud Por Vida (Health for Life) program. Salud Por Vida, with the partnership of neighborhood nonprofit organizations such as Somos Mayfair, offers a free weekly fitness program aimed at the moms of the elementary aged girls who have signed up for the BAWSI Girls after-school fitness program. Childcare is provided for the stroller-sized little ones, and the moms suddenly have that elusive slice of “leisure time” that allows them to get started on their own fitness goals and examine some simple elements of good nutrition.
You'll usually find Armenta with a sporty ponytail pulling together her shoulder-length straight black hair. In running shoes, yoga pants, and T-shirt, Armenta carries herself with the graceful athletic posture that reflects her status as an Olympic hopeful and American record holder in racewalking. More important than the obvious role-modeling she does as an athlete, she provides a crucial missing link for the women she works with -- someone with whom they can converse in Spanish and feel comfortable being themselves.
Diana Juaregui, Family Support Lead Promotora for the Somos Mayfair organization, has also participated in both Salud Por Vida and the Zumba programs. She believes that the presence of someone like Armenta has made all the difference for the women in her community as they take their first tentative steps toward physical fitness. “Susan has been a great mentor and coach,” Juaregui says. “She kind of is able to see the potential for each person and pushes them a little bit to step outside their box. It happened with me when I did Salud Por Vida. She said, ‘Come on Diana ... you can do it!’ It gives you more confidence when someone is encouraging you and acknowledging your hard work. She also mentions that diabetes is in her family and that she is the only one in her family that doesn't have it.”
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The habits and enthusiasm built by having a program tailored to their needs appeared to have lit a fire under the group, with some women proudly showing off the loss of up to 30 pounds.
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Salud Por Vida’s initial spring session in 2007 reached four school communities in San Jose. Success at Washington Elementary school in East San Jose proved particularly profound, inspiring the approximately 30 or so women to continue meeting religiously throughout the summer, even though the official program had paused for the break at the end of the school year. The habits and enthusiasm built by having a program tailored to their needs appeared to have lit a fire under the group, with some women proudly showing off the loss of up to 30 pounds by the beginning of the fall.
Despite the success of Salud Por Vida’s first spring, Armenta continued to seek new ways to engage the women and build their self-confidence. She remembers of her introduction to Zumba, “I was working at Adobe (the software company, located in downtown San Jose), managing the fitness center. One of the other instructors recommended the Zumba site for a resource for upbeat Latin workout music. It so happened that there was a training conference in San Jose coming up and I figured it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. They have instructors who travel all around teaching, but the founder of Zumba was teaching this one, and it was really cool to learn directly from him. We pretty much danced for two days straight, but I knew right off the bat that it would be perfect for our women and girls.”
Within weeks, the local Mexican American Community Service Association (MACSA) partnered with BAWSI and Armenta to write a grant to support a Zumba program in East San Jose. The grant didn’t come through, but Armenta persevered to find space for the classes anyway. “It is important because there is a huge connection between the women when they have something of their own, the music being something familiar to what they know. You could assume they know some of the dances, like salsa and merengue, but they don’t and here they are really learning. The energy is so amazing -- you might not get that in a regular exercise program.”
By December, Armenta was teaching two sessions each Saturday morning, with over 100 women moving alongside their friends and neighbors for an hour of new beats and moves, shedding calories, and increasing confidence. Women who participated in the Salud Por Vida program while their daughters had their own program now began to bring the girls with them to the previously all-adult Zumba.
Juaregui outlines some of the plans for 2008. “Somos Mayfair is working on a diabetes campaign, trying to bring preventive measures to the community to help raise awareness," she says. "In the Latino community, we (women) are the ones that are in the kitchen a lot of the time. We want to preserve the cultural foods, but try to work on how to keep our diets more healthy.”
Also on the Somos Mayfair agenda is closer attention to what foods kids are being served at school, and creating ways for neighborhood residents to become more aware of the health resources that already exist in their community.
While the neighborhoods of East San Jose might lack abundant economic opportunity, Zumba is a fitness program they can call their own. Nothing can replace the security of financial resources, and one aerobics class will not eradicate the risk factors for obesity and diabetes. But it's a powerful start.
Photo of Zumba instructor Susan Armenta