Andrea Harris

First and foremost I am a child of God and the wife of a very supportive husband, and mother to 3 grown kids and a grandson. They are the reason I stumbled into the fitness world. I began by exercising at home after child #2 was several months old. I quickly learned it is easier to get in an efficient workout if children are out of eye sight & ear shot, so I joined a gym that was about 45 minutes away. After about a year of taking classes, the fitness supervisor approached me to train to teach there. After completing the training, I taught classes there for only a few short months as I found out I was pregnant, and it was high risk. After baby #3 was born and I was ready to get back into shape, but a closer gym was necessary. I joined the local YMCA and within a few months I was working in the child care to earn my membership. After a few more months of taking classes the fitness director approached me to train to teach there as well. I taught step, sculpt & water aerobics classes from 2002 to 2008. In 2008 I added in Zumba classes to the mix and had a goal of losing 30 pounds by June. I reached that goal and have loved having Zumba as a way to maintain my body.
After 9 years at the YMCA, it was time to branch out. It was a scary thing, but it turned out to be for the best. I taught Zumba, Zumba Gold, Bootcamp, No Jump Pump & Pilates Fusion in 10 -11 classes per week during my 10 years at Your World Fitness.

Unfortunately, covid caused our gym to close down and classes had to be canceled. I was asked by another local gym to start teaching Zumba & Bootcamp 5 days a week, but after 11 months it too was unable to keep their doors open and closed in May of 2021. I ran a free/donation based online Turn Up Dance Fitness class every Tuesday and Thursday morning for over 20 months on the Band app. I returned to Northbound Fitness in January 2023 now that they have resumed classes. There I teach Turn Up Dance Fitness and a class I designed called No Jump Pump. It is a mix of Bootcamp and P90X but with low to no impact for joints. I also still sub other classes there, like P90X and Pilates Fusion.

In my classes I feel it is important not only to educate the participants about form while exercising, but to be sure they are having fun. Being goofy, sassy & sexy are perfectly ok if it's wrapped in the right 'package'. It's important the participants come away from the class feeling like they achieved something, learned exercises, burned calories, had fun and most importantly that they want to come back. You're not just selling a fitness class, you're selling you. Your selling fun while burning calories. You're selling a healthy lifestyle.

 *Disclaimer: If you look up Turn Up, I do not believe the videos that are posted are a good representation of how most Turn Up Instructors teach.  I teach it more refined and classier than the videos I have seen posted by some younger instructors. No crazy booty shaking or twerking. I keep it very tasteful, much like I do Zumba, with just a few more radio songs added into the playlist.