It is so hard for me to believe that is has been 14 years since the start of Garage Girls Fitness! I never dreamt that when we started dancing together that it would turn into a DRAFTJS_BLOCK_KEY:a4c85community of women, and occasionally men, that support each other through their health and fitness as well as life journeys.
When Garage Girls came into existence in May 2009, I was teaching group exercise classes at 24 Hour Fitness as well as a private facility. Zumba was new to our area and the gym wanted to offer the class, so I got certified in the format. I was not a dancer, but I really liked the joy I felt when moving to the beat. I added Zumba to my teaching schedule at both gyms. I still remember my first class at 24 Hour Fitness. I taught just 4 songs, twice (a one-hour class has about 17 songs!). We went over the different moves prior to each song as they were new to everyone. As time went by, we added more songs and more styles of dance. Long story short, the private facility where I was teaching shut down and some of the women asked me to continue teaching them…somewhere. We ended up in my garage! As time went by, others began to join us and I added new formats to our schedule. We were beginning to develop a community. After almost two years, Armida said we need a name! She suggested Garage Girls and it stuck.
During the pandemic, we began to meet online and expanded our community to other states. We now have GG’s in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Oregon, and Florida! One of my favorite things about having the online classes is that my mom can exercise with me from 2500 miles away.
Some of the things I love about Garage Girls are:
1. The challenge of finding new movements to meet the needs of everyone
2. Being able to mess up every class and not have the pressure to be perfect
3. Planning get togethers from holiday parties to hiking excursions
4. Feeling the love and support that this tribe shares freely
5. Being a part of each and everyone of your families!
In the 14 years since we began, this tribe has been through a lot! We have experienced both good and bad times and through it all we have supported each other in whatever ways were needed…sometimes it was meals, other times it was a hug. But most of all it was and is love.
Next year we will be celebrating 15 years! And yes, the planning has begun for a Garage Girls Fitness Retreat! I hope all of you will be able to join us, both our in-person and online GG’s!
A few of our Garage Girls...and Reef.