Well, after 7 hours of training, I am now a licensed Zumba instructor! This past Friday I went to Zumba Instructor Training in Waco, Texas. With registration at 8:00am, and the class beginning promptly at 8:30am, I was thankful to be an early bird. I had to jump out of bed, grab a quick cup of coffee and be on the road by 6am to get there!
I will be honest – going into the training, I had not taken many Zumba classes before (seriously, probably about 2 classes total). So, needless to say I was a little nervous. One of the reasons I chose to attend the training was the fact that Zumba instructors are in high demand right now… fitness centers and studios are generally willing to pay more for these instructors, because there are not many who can teach this high-intensity, Latin dance-inspired class. Another reason I attended… it’s just a fun class, you feel like you are at a party as opposed to working out! If you haven’t attended before, I highly encourage you to check out a Zumba class in your area.
Although I didn’t have much Zumba knowledge, I was thankful to have experience in the dance/fitness industry (former cheerleader, teaching at Texas A&M Rec Center), and hoped this would help me catch on quickly.
So how was it?!
We started the day with a Master Class taught by our ZES (Zumba Education Specialist). Our Master Class was basically a one-hour Zumba class covering the four basic dances in Zumba – Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia and Reggaeton. This was a great way to start the day, it got our blood pumping and to say it “warmed us up” would be an understatement (in a 60-min Zumba class, the average person will burn 400-600 calories… can we say “ay, caramba”).
After the Master Class, we sat down and discussed the history of Zumba, learning about the man who came up with this type of exercise – the great Beto Perez, himself! I really enjoyed this portion of the day… it was great hearing Beto’s testimony and how he gives all the glory to the Lord – how refreshing.
Next, we broke down the steps to each dance. First came the Merengue and Salsa. We went through each move slowly, and then went over modified, intermediate and advanced fitness moves for each step.
After a short lunch break, we discussed the ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) program, then went back to the floor to break down the Cumbia and Reggaeton. We really didn’t spend too much time learning any of the steps in depth – for this reason, I would not suggest attending this certification unless you can quickly catch onto dance moves or have been a regular of Zumba classes for several months.
Overall, I had a blast! It is a fun and energizing workout. Zumba might even end up being my second favorite fitness class to teach (sorry, nothing will ever beat yoga), because it allows each person in the room to unleash their inner Shakira… no matter what that looks like : )
If you are a Zumba instructor, I think one of the most important notes to remember is yes, you need to look good when doing the moves… but for the most part, it doesn’t matter what the class looks like – as long as they are having fun and moving!
Are any of y’all licensed Zumba instructors? What did you think about the training?
