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Busy Philipps chats with PEOPLE about her partnership with Zumba, revealing that best friend Michelle Williams turned her on to the dance-focused workout
While the actress admits she’s not great at learning choreography, “The steps and the moves were so easy to follow, and I did not feel behind ever,” she says
As for advice she’d give anyone who’s looking to try group fitness but might be apprehensive, Philipps says, “No one’s looking at you. … Everyone is in their own world.”
Michelle Williams changed Busy Philipps‘ group-fitness game for the better!
In a chat with PEOPLE last week pegged to her partnership with Zumba, Philipps, 46, said she had never tried the popular dance-focused workout until she was inspired to do so because of her best friend and former Dawson’s Creek costar.
“I had done Zumba years ago, actually because of Michelle Williams,” she says of her longtime pal, 45, whom she recently joined forces with at a Dawson’s Creek Class Reunion event for charity in New York City. “And I loved it.”
Part of Philipps’ affinity for the classes stems from the fact that she’s “always looking for new fun ways to work out, because a treadmill is just not for me,” she tells PEOPLE.
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To that end, the Freaks and Geeks alum agreed to “be mic’d up” for a recent class, where her innermost thoughts — both positive and not so much — were broadcast for all the participants to hear.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, that sounds weird, fun and right up my alley,’ ” Philipps tells PEOPLE of agreeing to the challenge.
And once the moment arrived, “The people who were listening were laughing because once we started doing jumping jacks, I’m like, ‘Am I going to pee myself?’ ” she recalls.
Philipps admits that while she may have made dancing look easy on her show Girls5eva, in real life, she struggles with choreography and “workouts that involve a lot of coordination.”
“I love dancing and moving my body, but … you can ask anyone from Girls5eva, because it was always really the hardest thing for me, to learn the choreo,” she says, joking, “I do think that’s what ultimately has prevented my pop-star career.”
“But the truth is the steps and the moves were so easy to follow, and I did not feel behind ever,” Philipps adds of Zumba. “I just felt like, ‘Oh, okay, now we’re moving this way and I’m having fun, and now we’re moving that way and I’m having fun,’ and I just honestly had the best time.”
Zumba
Busy Philipps for Zumba
Asked what advice she’d give someone nervous about attending Zumba or any group fitness class for the first time, the Cougar Town alum has a direct answer.
“No one’s looking at you — I mean, unless you’re literally me and there was a camera on me; special circumstances notwithstanding. But that’s just the truth. Everyone is in their own world,” she says.
Philipps tells PEOPLE that Zumba in particular, for her, “genuinely just felt like everyone was supportive of each other, and having a fun time. It didn’t matter if you missed a step or you were not on the beat for a second — it was just fun.”
Though she felt “intimidated” going in and was worried she’d “feel dumb” given her struggles when it comes to choreography, the This Will Only Hurt a Little author tells PEOPLE had the opposite experience — and then some.
“Even if no one is looking at me, I don’t really feel like subjecting myself to feeling dumb,” Philipps says, “So that was probably my biggest fear going into this Zumba class, especially because I haven’t taken one in many years. But I not only didn’t feel dumb, I felt like energized, and like I could keep going for another 40 minutes.”
And during a time when “everything feels so hard in the world,” the actress says it helps “to have an hour of great music, and moving your body and people yelling, ‘Hey!’ — that was the part where I was like, ‘Okay, we’re really yelling.’ And then by the end, I was joining in and screaming.”
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