How to teach zumba dance
Creating a New Zumba Routine
Zumba routines are fast-paced cardio dynamos that help students forget they’re even working out. In today’s fitness deep dive, we’ll cover everything instructors need to know about creating the perfect routine for eager Zumba students.
The Origins of Zumba
Zumba has a relatively short history compared to other forms of exercise and dance. In 1998, Alberto “Beto” Perez founded Zumba in Columbia. An aerobic instructor, Perez found himself in a predicament one day before class. He had forgotten the class music. Pulling out the only music he had with him, salsa and merengue, Perez decided to wing it. The fusion of latin dance and aerobics was an immediate hit.
Originally the spanish word for party - rumba - and the common aerobic class jazzercise were combined to name this new form of dance exercise rumbacise. Later the exotic aerobic blend was coined Zumba. Now Zumba has certified instructors in 125 countries around the world.
Becoming a Zumba Instructor
As the world of Zumba has exploded throughout many countries, the need for teachers grew with it. Zumba is a high-intensity cardio aerobic exercise class. Having the right certification, as with any other fitness profession, is absolutely essential.
The ZIN™ Academy is one of the largest and most recognized professional networks of Zumba. ZIN™ offers a subscription with a wide range of certifications and specialty classes for instructors to hone their skills.
Do Zumba Instructors Need a Dance Background?
A common concern for those looking into the career as a Zumba instructor is whether or not they need a background in ballroom or classical dance. While the muscle memory created through formal training could be very beneficial, it is not necessary for Zumba. The steps are supposed to be simple and easy to learn.
Zumba classes are for individuals who are looking for fun exercise—the motto being “Ditch the Workout, Join the Party”.
An experienced instructor needs to have taken part in many Zumba classes, as well as continued education, before venturing into a teaching role.
A Closer Look at a Zumba Dance Sequence
With any good aerobics, Zumba dances need a good up beat song to put the movements to. A typical dance can last the length of one full length song. The average choreography would last approximately three and a half minutes. The dance should be contained to a small area, allowing students to be able to follow along without running into walls or neighboring students.
Repetitive movement sequences allow learners to pick up the choreography and apply the movements by the second or third time through. Arms, legs, hips and shoulders are all used throughout the routine to allow for full body exercise. The progression of exercise should allow for a warm-up period, a high-intensity section, and finally a cool down. This progression can be done throughout the entirety of a class or within a single dance.
The warm up and cool down should use smaller movements, while the high intensity sections use larger, full body steps.
Tips for Choosing Zumba Music
The choice in music is an important part of any choreography. Although Zumba was first started in South America using Salsa and Merengue, you can use any genre of music. For Zumba, quick tempos are a necessary component for any dance. A quick tempo ensures that even small movements will be fast-paced, adding to the cardiovascular benefits of Zumba.
While Latin music offers many different styles of quick energetic music, pop and electronic dance music are great genres to loop in, as well. Picking music that's catchy and enjoyable to you will help you in choreographing the dance as you will be hearing these songs more than anyone else. When choosing your next song, finding a track with a simple repetitive beat will help you and your students keep tempo and pick up the dance faster and easier.
Making a playlist of possible song choices can help you decide what song to use and will give you plenty of options for future choreographies.
Best Places to Find Zumba Music
Looking for good dance music can be tough if you’re not sure where to start. YouTube is an easy, free way to find new songs and genres. Once you start finding music that inspires you to get up and move, create a playlist to keep all your music selections in one place.
Alternatively, a streaming service might be more ideal for you. Paying a set price each month would enable you to download a huge variety of songs straight to your device. The official Zumba website has a membership that gives you unlimited access to their top music picks and even choreographies. Finding what works for you is always the best policy for giving yourself room for maximum creativity.
What Steps to Use in Your Zumba Routine
As soon as you lock down your top choice of song, it’s time to start creating your routine.
Listening to the music and seeing what your body naturally wants to do when you start to get into the groove can help inspire your entire choreography. If you want to shimmy your shoulders and put your hands up, you would want to consider movements that get your upper body working.
A great way to get your shoulders and back working are, arm pumps, body rolls and hand rolls, just to name a few. Combining these exercises with simple foot movements such as, heel switches, walking in place, or a wide legged stance with hip bumps will help keep your full body moving without adding too much complication to the sequence.
Finding Inspiration for New Zumba Routines
If you are feeling stuck in the middle of a choreography or can’t even think where to begin, inspiration might be what you need. Watching videos of Zumba dances or attending a Zumba class is one way to get your creative juices flowing. Seeing and doing different movements can help you create ideas for your own dance.
Watching ballroom dancing or other forms of dance can help you discover new movements you haven’t tried before. Part of being creative is being open to new possibilities.
Ways to Keep your Zumba Class Safer
Zumba classes are fast-paced and high-energy, which means there are chances for mishaps to occur. Taking small steps with each and every class you teach can go a long way in helping to lessen the chances for an accident or mishap.
Keeping a Zumba class safe takes diligence on behalf of the instructor, certain things to watch for include:
- Keeping a clean space: this seems basic but you’d be surprised how many accidents happen simply because a studio wasn’t cleaned beforehand. Make sure to promptly wipe up any spills and pick up any loose debris so they don’t become a slipping hazard.
- Correct bad form: if a student is not performing a routine correctly, you need to help guide them into the proper sequence.
Improper form could injure the student or those around them so you aren’t doing any favors by not correcting them. - Keep intervals manageable: you know your class and may even be targeting a specific client segment such as older gym goers. Make sure to keep the intervals between high and low intensity dance moves at a manageable level, relative to the class. Watch out for any signs of overexertion and tone down the routine as needed.
No accidents are completely unavoidable but you can help lessen the chances of a mishap simply by being present, alert, and prepared for each and every class.
Making Sure Your Zumba Career is Covered
Creating the absolutely perfect Zumba routine that really drives the energy and enthusiasm of a class is a great feeling. Having students spread their good experience with others, creates an opportunity for having more individuals sign up to take your next class. With consistently good experiences, a Zumba teacher can build their reputation and their client list to whatever heights they desire.
Even with all of this, an entire career can come crashing down in an instant with just the slightest misstep during a session with students.
Zumba instructor insurance is your career’s safeguard, offering 360 degrees of protection from the most common types of accidents and other risks that sometimes just happen, no matter how careful you are. A slip and fall injury, an accusation of malpractice—events like these could lead someone to file a lawsuit against you, which, frivolous or not, will require paying for your defense.
Insure Fitness Group’s Zumba insurance policy helps provide for the costs associated with a claim, as well as any legal defense fees that are necessary. We do this for a wide variety of risks that today’s Zumba instructors face so they can have full confidence teaching the routines they love.
Sign Up for Zumba Insurance in a Few Clicks
No long questionnaire to fill out or waiting a long time for approval.
Simply fill out a quick online application, check out, and enjoy full Zumba insurance coverage with immediate access to plan documents.
Four Great Tips for New Zumba Instructors to Foster Success
When you are starting out, it is helpful to gather insight that can help you along the way. Here are four tips for new Zumba instructors:
Curate your best Zumba workout songs.
One of the best ways to have confidence when teaching is to be as prepared as you can be. Pick great music, and learn it backwards and forwards. Choosing the best Zumba workout songs can be a challenge, but a quick Google search for “the best Zumba workout songs” reveals hundreds of options (and not all of them have to be Latin artists). Set your choreography to each tune and practice, practice, practice. When you are comfortable with each step, you will be able to make all your students comfortable.
Some of the best Zumba workout songs to consider include:
- “Metela Sacala” by El Chevo
- “Limbo” by Daddy Yankee
- “Zumba” by Don Omar
- “More than Friends” by Inna featuring Daddy Yankee
- “La Mordidita” by Ricky Martin
- “All Around the World” by Paulina Rubio
- “Pause” by Pitbull
- “Shake” by Victoria Justice
- “Que Viva la Vida” by Wisin
- “Moviendo Caderas” by Yandel
Look the look.
I have a friend who is a yoga teacher that was told by a studio in a wealthy area that in order to teach there, she needed to wear specific yoga brands, wear make-up, and do her hair differently. This is not what I mean here by “look the look”. However, and even though you will be constantly moving, it is important to be professional in your appearance. It is a good idea to consider a certain selection of clothing your “work clothes.” You don’t want to lead a class in stained or torn attire.
While there are clothes specifically designed for Zumba classes, sometimes they can be costly. Simply choose comfortable fitness wear. You should be able to move in them easily. Fabric should be able to handle sweat. Remember that cotton retains perspiration. Instead, choose clothing that wicks away moisture.
Shoes for Zumba workouts are very important. Athletic shoes should support dance moves that are more side-to-side (and not front-to-back or pivoting). Dance sneakers or cross trainers are good choices. Shoes for Zumba workouts vary in styles and pricing.
Bring along a towel to wipe sweat away and always have water on hand. Encourage students to follow suit.
Practice teaching.
Before getting in front of others, get in front of yourself and your friends. Take some time to watch yourself in the mirror. Go through your entire class as you have set it up. Make sure you make transitions from song to song well. Video taping yourself is also a helpful tip. This allows you to see your moves as a student would.
Additionally, you can review the video again and again, just as professional athletes do, to find areas where you need some improvement.
When you feel good about how you look, ask friends and other instructors to watch you. Ask everyone for honest feedback. You want to be sure your instructions are clear and your moves are easy for students to see and understand.
If you know other instructors, you may ask if you can hone your skills and teach one of his or her classes. It is helpful to get the feel for teaching before taking on your own class.
This may all sound like a lot of work, but you are laying the foundation for teaching to become second nature to you. Before long, you will barely even need to prepare! Although, even after you feel like a complete pro, you should regularly (once every six months, e.g.) do one of the steps above to continue improving.
Take the floor with confidence.
When the class comes in, make sure everyone feels welcome. Remember you will likely have a mix of students: those who know and love Zumba, and newbies who feel awkward.
Take note of individuals who may need some extra help fitting in. Encourage all students and keep them engaged.
Teach to every person in the class, not just those in the front row. Exaggerate your cues so that even the students in the back row can see your moves.
Understand that mistakes will happen: music may malfunction, you may take a misstep. Remember you are new to this and be easy on yourself. Don’t take things too seriously and be able to laugh at yourself. This will make your students feel less pressure themselves, and this quality makes you very likable. At the same time, learn from mistakes and you’ll be able to improve yourself for the next class.
Above all, have fun. Remember to smile, have an easy-going attitude and remain positive. If you are able to have fun, this will spill over to the students. They will be able to enjoy an instructor who not only knows what he or she is doing, but loves doing it.
Zumba fitness: 10 lessons for weight loss (video)
Dance, rejoice and lose weight - this is the essence of "zumba fitness" in a nutshell.
This dance fitness program combines elements of Latin American dances and hip-hop, and anyone can master it.
SovetskySport understood how to lose weight and pump up the press with the help of Zumba
What is Zumba fitness for weight loss
The founder of Zumba is a choreographer from Colombia, Alberto Perez. Zumba is an intense fitness program based on simple dance moves from rumba, salsa, bachata, merengue, hip hop and other dances. Zumba weight loss classes are held to music. The session lasts an average of 40-60 minutes. Advanced Zumba dancers use light weights to make it harder.
What is the effect of Zumba fitness for weight loss
An hour of intense Zumba movements effectively burns fat, trains the muscles of the legs and back. The dance also gives a load to the pectoral muscles, shoulder muscles and arms. Zumba fitness trains the cardiovascular system and increases your endurance.
You can learn and perform Zumba movements for weight loss at home using video tutorials for beginners.
Video Lesson 1: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss – Learn Zumba Movements
Affordable zumba weight loss video tutorial that explains the basics and teaches you the basic initial movements - steps and twists.
Video Lesson 2: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Making Basic Movements Harder
Easy to understand Zumba weight loss video tutorial. Here you will be taught how to link zumba movements to one another, keep the right rhythm during training and control yourself for mistakes.
Video Lesson 3: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Abs and Legs Specialization
The load in Zumba fitness can be varied by increasing the pace or highlighting individual muscle groups and making “specialization days” for them. This beginner zumba fitness video tutorial is all about how to work your abs and hips while dancing.
VIDEO
Read on "Soviet Sport" - Squat at home. A guide to the most important exercise in training0017
Have you mastered the basic zumba movements and how to vary them? It's time to go through the full 50 minute lesson. Repeat the movements after the trainer, try not to stop or pause.
Video Lesson 5: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Hip Hop Zumba Movements
Intensive 25-minute Zumba video lesson for beginners with a focus on hip hop movements. In addition, the trainer will add a lot of squats to hip-hop - this way you will work out the hips, buttocks and remove fat from the sides even more effectively. Don't be surprised if sitting down and getting up is difficult for the next couple of days.
Video Lesson 6: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Zumba with Dumbbells
The Zumba toning program involves increasing the load of the standard zumba.
Here, all exercises are performed with dumbbells weighing 1-2.5 kg. How to use vzumba dumbbells correctly is in this video tutorial for beginners.
Video Lesson 7: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Zumba for Seniors
Zumba is suitable for people of all ages. From here, what pace to maintain if you are engaged in Zumba, and you are well over 40, this video tutorial will tell you how to choose movements and music.
Read on "Soviet Sport" - Five forgotten but effective exercises
Video lesson 8: zumba fitness for weight loss - zumba for children
You can involve your children in Zumba. If it's cold outside, Zumbafitness can replace them with a walk on the sports ground.
The movements in this video lesson are adapted for children 3-5 years old. They are simple and look like morning exercises.
For a child, Zumba training will be an interesting game while you continue to burn your calories and lose weight
Video Lesson 9: Zumba Fitness for Weight Loss - Warm Up Before Zumba
This video lesson will teach you how to properly warm up before your Zumba class. There are many steps, swings of arms and legs - everything that will protect you from injuries and sprains. You can also perform this video lesson for beginners with music
Video lesson 10: zumba fitness for weight loss - hitch and stretching after training
stretching right - in this zumba video tutorial for beginners.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZUMBA:
- Zumba is an intense form of training.
To find out which load is right for you, consult your doctor. Check your cardiovascular system;
- you need to train according to the "Zumba-fitness for weight loss" method on average 3 times a week. Let your body rest for at least one day between workouts;
- do not neglect the warm-up and cool-down. Warm-up - will help prepare the body for stress, and the hitch - "calm" and relax the muscles after training.
source: "Soviet Sport"
What is zumba and how to lose weight with it
May 21, 2021LikbezSport and fitness
A way to lose weight for those who hate training.
Iya Zorina
Author of Lifehacker, athlete, CCM
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0What is zumba?
Zumba is a group fitness program that combines basic aerobic movements with simple elements of Latin dance, hip hop and belly dance. The lesson takes place to the rhythms of salsa, rumba, merengue, flamenco and other styles.
Zumba is positioned as a dance party - bright, driving and not like regular weight loss workouts.
In addition to the classic Zumba, there are nine more fitness programs, from Aqua Zumba® in the pool to Zumba® Toning with dumbbells for an extra upper body workout.
There are also separate Zumbini™ tracks for kids aged 0-3 and STRONG by Zumba® high-intensity training for those who want to push their workout, diluting their cardio workouts with dance combinations to music.
How fast can you lose weight with it?
Zumba is essentially an interval workout that alternates high and low intensity dance moves. Thus, the process does not require rest, and you can move at a high heart rate for the entire 40-50 minutes of the session.
You can burn about 369 kcal in one workout. If you exercise five days a week, even without a calorie deficit, you can get rid of a kilogram of fat in 3-4 weeks. And in combination with a soft diet - in 1.5-2 weeks.
At the same time, unlike running or other cardio, vibrant dance rhythms and the pleasure of moving to music reduce perceived effort.
In other words, you sweat and breathe quickly, but you don't suffer.
This increases the chance that activity will become a part of your life, and this is useful not only for reducing body fat.
What is Zumba good for, besides losing weight?
Heart rate stays between 64-9 during dance workout4% of the maximum heart rate and averages 79%. This is enough to pump the cardiovascular system and improve the endurance of the body.
In addition, Zumba strengthens the muscles of the body. Many dance steps and movements involve the abs. Jumps and lunges strengthen the hips and buttocks. The traditional zumba puts little or no stress on the upper body. If you want to tone your arms, chest, and back, try the dumbbell variation.
Zumba also pumps flexibility and coordination, makes the body more flexible and obedient.
Is Zumba suitable for those who cannot dance?
Zumba choreography includes only the basic movements of dance styles and does not require any dance or sports experience in the past.
Any movement can be learned in a few minutes, and combinations are usually repeated many times in a row, so remembering them is not difficult.
In addition, like any party, Zumba is devoid of the formality of the classical direction. As part of the basic movements, you have room for improvisation.
The main thing is to move actively and enjoy the process.
Who shouldn't do Zumba?
Since Zumba is a rather intense training method, it is worth approaching it with caution during pregnancy. Before starting classes, consult with your doctor and inform the trainer.
You should also tell your instructor if you have knee or back pain, arthritis, or other joint or spinal problems. In some Zumba combinations, there are sharp and intense movements that can harm existing problems.
If you have diabetes, unaccustomed physical activity can cause your sugar levels to drop dramatically. Before you go to the first workout, consult with your doctor.
Also be careful when joining intense dancing if you have cardiovascular disease. Go see a cardiologist first.
How often can I exercise?
Since the classic zumba does not include power movements and does not greatly tire the muscles and central nervous system, you can practice at least every day. So you quickly lose extra pounds and pump endurance.
What do you need to do Zumba?
First, find a certified Zumba instructor in your city.
The owner of the ZUMBA® brand (Zumba Fitness LCC) develops programs and choreography, selects music, teaches and licenses instructors.
Check out trainers with a valid license at zumba.com. Find one and come to his class.
If you are going to work out at home, you can do it with a DVD from the same Zumba Fitness LCC. Training discs are sold on the official website, as well as on Amazon.
All you need is space, comfortable clothes and running shoes to practice.
Can I do Zumba for free?
Since Zumba does not require detailed analysis of technique and does not contain complex elements, you can learn combinations from YouTube videos.
