Frequently Asked Questions
for WildKat Fitness Classes
Q: What should I wear and bring to class?
A: Wear comfortable clothes and supportive shoes. The soles of the shoes should be relatively smooth (without much grip) so you can pivot on our sprung wood dance floors. Bring your own water bottle and a small towel. Expect to glisten AND sweat!! ;) If you are dancing at home, clear a space at least a few feet in all directions and wear shoes if you have a hard floor. If you need to dance on carpet, you can dance barefoot for easy pivoting or whatever footwear works best. For Resistance Band Training, I recommend bringing a short continuous loop "booty band" and a long continuous loop band (I use non-slip fabric bands). For WildKat Weights, please bring your own dumbbells in whatever weight you feel comfortable with. Participants typically bring one to three pairs of weights from 1-15 pounds. You are welcome to bring a yoga mat, too.
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Q: I am new to dance fitness (or have not worked out in a long time), which class is best for me?
A: Every class I offer is intended to feel comfortable for all levels. To accomplish this, I progress each strength and dance routine from slow, gentle, and simple, to faster, higher-impact, and more complex. You can keep it simple throughout, or choose one of the other options for an added challenge! I invite and encourage you to modify any move so it feels comfortable for your body. Everyone in the room is modifying something (including the instructor!) so do what feels right for you.
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Q: Do I need to register in advance?
A: Yes, please! Please sign up and book classes HERE.
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Q: If I love a song, can I come up front and dance with the instructor?
A: Yes! I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and kick up your workout a notch by coming up front with me when your favorite song plays! You don’t have to know the routine, just follow along as usual. When participants come up front, everyone has fun! Also, it helps raise the energy in the room and inspire other participants to let loose and be bold!
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Q: Do you take song requests?
A: Yes! I want you to have a blast in class, and part of that involves playing music that moves you. If you love a particular song, artist, or type of music, please share that with me! I always take requests into consideration and may even be able to choreograph a routine just for you!
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Q: Do you do private parties, festivals, and events?
A: Absolutely! I have had the pleasure of bringing dance fitness to many kid and adult birthday parties, company and retirement parties, camps, festivals, fundraisers, and friends' nights. If you have an event in mind, please let me know! I also have choreographed partner routines for weddings and anniversaries.
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Q: Tell me more about how Zumba works and what kind of a workout I'll get.
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A: Zumba is "interval" or "intermittent" cardiovascular fitness training. We start with a full-body, low-impact warmup and take you through a series of higher-intensity routines interspersed with lower-intensity "recovery" routines. We end with a lower-intensity, uplifting cool-down and stretch. You'll get an effective full-body workout without even realizing it. You should finish feeling amazing from head to toe! For a study on the effectiveness of a Zumba workout, please click HERE. The structure of a Zumba class includes about 90% Latin rhythms and will always have Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia, and Reggaeton songs, and usually other Latin rhythms like Bachata, Cha cha cha, Flamenco, and Latin Urban. At WildKat Fitness, we LOVE all forms of dance and bring this love and joy to each routine. I enjoy mixing in songs and rhythms from around the world, such as Afrobeat, Bollywood, Samba, Brazilian Funk, Caribbean, Soca, Reggae, Swing, Rock, French Pop, Irish, Scottish, American Pop, Hip Hop, Kuduro, Dubstep, and Dembow.
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Q: What do you do in Resistance Band Training?
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A: WildKat Resistance Band training is a unique program I created for us. The goal is to strengthen muscles, bones, and connectors (ligaments, tendons, etc.) with a joint-friendly, lifelong workout set to instrumental covers of familiar top-100 music. No squats, jumps, lunges, cardio, or floor work. All moves are done standing and the key is to control the band and isolate the muscle groups we are working with each move. I'll give you plenty of verbal guidance throughout. You will feel your muscles getting stronger with each class. I offer three levels of band resistance (different colors of bands with different resistance) and you can make any band you use more challenging depending on how you hold it or where you position it on your body. I'll explain everything in class! As mentioned above, bring your own bands or use my non-slip fabric bands.
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Q: What do you do in WildKat Weights (Strength Training)?
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A: WildKat Weights sessions are 25 minutes of full-body strength training. We use dumbbells (typically from 1-15 pounds) to do a range of upper body, lower body, and core moves. All levels are welcome! It's ok if you are a total beginner, and I look forward to helping you learn the form and fundamentals of strength training. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced weight lifter, these sessions will give you a quick, effective, affordable full-body strength workout. We almost always have fewer than ten participants in these sessions, which allows for individual assistance as needed. You may have hear how important strength training is for lifelong functional fitness, and these sessions give you a quick way to get it done before Zumba and Zumba Toning class! Note that WildKat Weights are separate from Zumba. You will purchase strength classes separately and book them separately, too.
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