ZumbaForHealth.com Blog By Melanie Jordan

Ask The Zumba® Instructor: How Often Can You Do Zumba?

Question:

How often can you do Zumba® ? And how often to see any results from Zumba? 

Answer From Zumba Instructor Melanie Jordan:

Zumba is mostly low impact so it's not tough on the body, but you get a great workout because you're moving very fast, moving your lower body a lot, working your core, and it's designed as an interval training workout that's more fun than the ones you may have typically heard of.  And unless you're doing a Zumba Toning class, you're not using resistance where you need to think about allowing muscles recovery time.

So the reality is that if you're otherwise healthy without any physical limitations, you can

 

What To Wear To Zumba® Class: Clothing And Shoes

Question:

What do I wear to a Zumba Fitness class?  Do I need special clothing or shoes?

Answer From Zumba Instructor Melanie Jordan:

Those who are taking a Zumba® Fitness Class for the first time often wonder what they should wear.   They may have seen the flashy attire from Zumba promotional videos or Zumba DVDs and wondered if they don't have the Zumba symbol somewhere on their clothing if it's an issue.

Well fear not.  Sure Zumba clothing looks cool, but despite the fun, party atmosphere, whatever workout clothes are comfortable for you, and match the weather, are the ones you should wear.

Keep in mind that if you're putting in a decent effort, you should be leaving class quite sweaty, so you should consider breathable fabrics and especially those that have wicking properties. 

BodyMedia - What's The Black Thing Zumba® Instructor Melanie Jordan Wears In Zumba Class?

Inevitably, every Zumba® Fitness class that I teach has someone asking me the question "what's the black thing on your arm?"  

Well, the "black thing on my left arm" which today is a gray thing for newer users, is none other than a BodyMedia®--an incredible health and fitness tool that should be your best friend for weight loss and weight maintenance. 

I've been a BodyMedia (formerly know as bodybugg®) user for over 7 years since I discovered it back at my gym out West--interestingly, I haven't found as many people in the East who know about it, despite the fact that the contestants on The Biggest Loser have been using it for years. 

I was intrigued with it because while you may know that a particular exercise actvity burns a certain number of calories, the BodyMedia learns your personal calories burn for the activity--which can vary significantly from a "standard" calorie

 

Ask The Zumba® Instructor: Why Do Many Zumba Instructors Cue Non-Verbally?

Question:

Why do many Zumba® Instructors cue with signals (non-verbally)? 

Answer From Zumba Instructor Melanie:

Zumba's creator, Beto Perez wanted Zumba classes to be unlike any other form of Group Exercise class. Unlike the yelling aerobic instructors of the past (and sometimes present), Zumba Instructors do their best to create a party atmosphere in class where you're focused on the music and not even realizing how hard you're working out!

In addition, Zumba fitness classes are conducted worldwide, so by using non-verbal cueing, there are no language barriers.  It's also actually easier for the Zumba Instructor to get the moves across to the class participants.  We did an exercise in our Zumba Basics licensing course where we tried to instruct someone to do something verbally vs. non-verbally, and we saw first-hand how words can take longer to connect with action and are often misinterpreted.

 

Ask The Zumba® Instructor: I Can't Dance So How Can I Take A Zumba Class?

Question:

I'm not coordinated and I can't dance well, so how can I take a Zumba® class?  

Answer From Zumba Instructor Melanie:

Phil Collins used to sing I Can't Dance in the Genesis hit song, but I'll bet he could do a Zumba class if he tried.  Zumba® Is a Latin-inspired dance fitness class.  It's not about being a great dancer, but it is all about having fun and moving around enough to get sweaty.

It's not Dancing With The Stars!  No one is going to rate you and no one is getting voted off.  It doesn't matter if you're on the wrong foot, moving the wrong hand, off a beat or in general, zigging when you should be zagging.  At least as long as you're not crashing into anyone--no worries, you won't.

There's a reason why the creator of Zumba Fitness, Beto Perez designed Zumba to be more of a party atmosphere instead of a more traditional style workout one.  He meant for

 

Why I Became A Zumba® Instructor

I started Zumba® classes in the Fall of 2008 (you can read about that initial Zumba experience in my blog post Zumba Will Give Your Workouts New Life on my other blog The Healthy Food Review).  Back then, the thought of becoming a Zumba Instructor was the farthest thing from my mind.

Then a funny thing happened.  My weight (which was up more than I cared it to be since moving to Las  Vegas with too much good food available 24/7 and me not being happy living there), went down 30 pounds, and since the picture immediately below was taken, it's dropped to 48 pounds down--less than my wedding day weight, zeroing in on my college weight (four pounds to go), effortlessly--you can see the up to date result at the end of this post.  I was more psyched to go to Zumba classes than any other class--even my beloved kickboxing that I had done for years--and I always left class in a great mood.  I was even seeing some definition in my abs for the first time in my life.  I felt great, and I wanted to share all that Zumba could do for the body and mind with others. 

I've always been dedicated to helping everyday, normal people fit healthy eating and fitness into their lives, on their own terms, without sacrifice.  So by becoming a licensed Zumba Instructor, I figured that if I can help just a few people who wouldn't otherwise work out or try to take care of