Thirty years beyond neon leggings and leg warmers, Jazzercise is more than funky dance moves.

I do admit I’m not a morning person so getting up at 5 a.m. was a big struggle (especially when I talked myself out of coffee before the work out). I contemplated turning the car around a few times on my drive to the studio so I could cram in some extra sleep. Surprisingly, though, I wanted to turn my car around for another class afterwards, regardless of my aching legs.  

I walked in and registered and was then informed that I needed weights for that morning’s class (note: not all of the classes need the weights but the ones that do require them make me suffer a little extra). I then set up my stuff near a wall under a bunch of yoga balls and after some chatter between some of the other ladies, the instructor named Michelle–who was, can I say, very awake for such an early class but I admired her enthusiasm–pressed play and some pop song started playing for a warm up.

And let me tell you–I knew after the warmup songs that I was going to be sore.

The hour was full of plies, arms workouts using the dreaded weights, jumping and continuous questioning of if I really had the will to live anymore.

Long story short: Jazzercise kicked my butt.

I guess I doubted whether it was going to be a hard workout, but the amount of energy it took was more than I had needed to use for quite a while. It was song after song of jumping side to side, sashaying and weird squats where Michelle continuously reminded us to stick our butts out.

I mean, stairs aren’t my friend anymore and I’m debating if I really need my arms but I do admit it is easily something I’m going to do again.

The best part of Jazzercise, though, was not feeling like I was working out but still feeling the workout. Between all the music and random chatter between everybody in the class, I’ve never felt so relaxed while killing my muscles.

Regardless of how sore I was (and still am), it’s the best and most fun workout I’ve probably ever done.

Hands down, it’s a great workout. The class is in a big open room and the instructor stands on a stage so there’s never a problem being able to see her. It’s also up to you on where you want to do the dancing so if you’re a person who worries about other people seeing you, you can easily go to the back without questions.

A great part of the class for anybody is that the instructors will motivate you to do your best but not push you into anything you can’t do. They’re all really pumped up for their class which makes it all more enjoyable.

If you’ve become even slightly curious of Jazzercise after hearing about it, I encourage you to try it out. Girl Force is a new campaign for 2017 that offers girls between the ages of 16-21 to take classes for a year. Just go into your closest Jazzercise center, sign up, and you can start attending the classes the same day.

You might be sore, but you definitely won’t regret it.