Hallada uses Zumba for fun, fitness, friendship

  • Published
  • By Jessie Perkins
  • Kirtland PA
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Hallada uses Zumba for fun, fitness and friendship 

By Jessie Perkins
Kirtland Public Affairs

Team Kirtland’s family members are a mission-enabling force. They provide vital and varied forms of support to Airmen, often making direct impacts on their mental and spiritual fitness. One military spouse, through the dance-fitness discipline of Zumba, is making an impact on Team Kirtland physical fitness as well. 

Meet Gabriela Hallada, or Gaby for short, who leads two free Zumba classes on Kirtland weekly, bringing opportunities for fun and variety through the interval cardio-vascular and high-intensity training classes of Zumba and Strong by Zumba to the base community. 

Hallada, who teaches seven to 10 classes weekly throughout Albuquerque, was introduced to Zumba in 2006 when her aunt from Mexico sent her Zumba home videos. Her college roommate also encouraged her to attend classes in Flagstaff, Ariz. 

“I went to the class and I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t love it … but after about the fifth time I was hooked,” she said. Shortly thereafter she decided to become an instructor after falling for the fun dance-fitness format. 

Hallada is currently stationed here with her husband Lt. Col. Josh Hallada, an HH-60G pilot, and mishap investigator with Air Force Safety Center. As a military spouse herself, Hallada understands the challenges military families face moving from location to location. 

“It can sometimes be hard as a military spouse to integrate into new communities” she said. But Zumba has helped bridge that gap, and helped her and her husband make new connections everywhere they have been stationed.

Hallada has been teaching Zumba since becoming licensed in May of 2010 and has taught all over the world in places like Okinawa, Japan, Monterey, Calif., New Delhi, India. Holding a degree in music, Hallada found that being a Zumba instructor was a natural fit. 

“Having lived in these countries, studied music and received a music degree, I love being able to use a wide range of international music styles in my classes,” Hallada said. 

In her Wednesday Zumba classes, she mixes low-intensity and high-intensity moves for an interval-style, calorie-burning dance fitness party combining all elements of fitness – cardio, muscle conditioning, balance and flexibility, and boosted energy.
 
On Saturdays in Strong by Zumba,® she combines body weight, muscle conditioning, cardio and plyometric training moves synced to original music that has been specifically designed to match every single move, she explained. This includes Plyometric or explosive moves like high knees, burpees, and jumping jacks interchanged with isometric moves like lunges, squats, and kickboxing. 

Hallada’s Zumba classes take place Wednesday’s at 5:30 p.m. and (Zumba Strong) Saturdays at 9 a.m. in the cardio room of the East Fitness Center. The classes are free to anyone with base access. For more information, contact Gabriela Hallada via https://www.facebook.com/ZumbaFabGab or http://ghallada.zumba.com/. For more information on all of the fitness programs offered on Kirtland, check out the Kirtland Force Support fitness center page at http://kirtlandforcesupport.com/fitness-centers/.