Unconventional & Too Fit

Zumba, at your place of employment, during happy hour, on the roof, in February and in D.C.

This happened, and , naturally, I was teaching this unconventional Zumba class. Employees of The Advisory Board here in D.C. have been participating in a "Winter Wellness Challenge" since the start of the New Year. I happen to be friends with one of these motivated employees, and she asked me if I'd be interested in teaching Zumba for one of their weekly workouts. Any organization that promotes employee wellness, totally rocks in my book, so I was excited to be a part of their challenge (more info on challenge details below).

(More on the challenge itself. It incorporates various aspects of wellness throughout your day by including nutrition, fitness, stretching and "lifestyle.". The competition is based on off of a points system where teams earn points by sticking to a nutrition plan (which entails giving up 2 of the following food 'groups': starchy grains, dairy, sugar/sweeteners or alcohol/soda/juice), exercising, and bonus points for lifestyle challenges such as getting 8 hours of sleep. Everyday you start with 5 points and lose 1 point per infraction of the rules. The "Winter Wellness Challenge" goes for 8 weeks, and the team with the most points at the end, wins!)

My pal had reached out to me about a month or so ago. We set the date and the guidelines so that I would skip over my more "scandalous" Zumba tracks with her Co-workers. Expecting to teach a typical Zumba class, I showed up on class day with a PG playlist. I began learning I was mistaken when I found out class would take place on the roof of their building. The confirming fact that this was going to be no conventional Zumba class was the guys getting lower than the girls during warm up. One was even repping a Crossfit tee.

This might sound super awkward, but it wasn't -not even for a minute. The enthusiasm and energy in the group seemed to overcome any inhibitions as they did all of the moves 100%. Everyone caught on quickly, almost oddly well, and we had some good laughs throughout the class. See below as they crush my "wild card" track, Nsync's "Bye, Bye, Bye".

 A positive and encouraging vibe radiated from the group, and they were jamming from beginning to end. I was pretty impressed with these guys who braved the chill of the wind on the roof during happy hour on a Monday in February.

Let’s be honest; this had the potential to be a bust. A speaker could've blown off the roof;(It was really that windy.) No one could've showed; or whoever did show could've had the "what-the-hell-is-this" attitude towards the Zumba class. We didn't lose any speakers or participants off the roof, and everyone's awesome attitude is what made the class a total blast.

I talk about the importance of doing things outside your comfort zone, but the experience with these guys on Monday gave me an additional perspective. Instead of defining the boundaries of your comfort zone, leave them undefined and limit less of what your comfortable with.  Therefore you can be more open to what you are actually comfortable with.  Perhaps sometimes we just need a little convincing and a little encouragement that we can be comfortable with something unconventional. That encouragement and convincing can come from yourself and others around you, and in this case, it was co-workers.

Don't underestimate the size and potential of your comfort zone. Good things happen can happen there, and better things can happen outside of it.

Thank you Advisory Board for having me and showing me how Too Fit you all are! Good luck in your "Winter Wellness Challenge"!