Should I Buy a Heart Rate Monitor for Zumba?
I love teaching Zumba. I teach high intensity Zumba 4 times a week and Zumba Gold 2 times a week. I smile a lot and sweat a lot, but how do I know much exercise I am getting from Zumba class?
Until now, I have relied on free online calorie calculators and exercise diaries like hot cal to tell me how many calories I burn during exercise, including Zumba. I enter every food and beverage I consume each day and I enter every minute of exercise I do each day into hot cal. The site software uses my 1) Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR, 2) daily calorie needs based on my activity level, 3) net calorie needs, and 4) exercise bonus calories to calculate whether I’ve stayed within my daily calorie target to meet my personal fitness or weight loss goals.
I currently use the cardio exercise entry “Dancing, aerobic, ballet or modern, twist” to track Zumba. According to my height, weight, age, and sex; I should burn about 272 calories in one 50-minute Zumba class.
272 calories? That’s it? That can’t be right… Can it?
I think it’s time I invest in a heart rate monitor so I know exactly how many calories I burn in each Zumba class – not only for my own personal fitness, but to also allow me to use the music and moves that will get my Zumba class participants’ hearts pumping (safely, of course).
Stay tuned as I shop for my first heart rate monitor for Zumba!
Filed under Zumba, exercise, group fitness | Tags: aerobic, aerobics, Calculator, calorie calculator, Calories, cardio, cardiovascular, Dance, diary, exercise, exercise diary, Fitness, group, group fitness, group fitness instructor, heart, heart rate, heart rate montior, instructor, log, training log, Zumba, zumba gold, zumba instructor, zumba music | Comment (1)How to Become a Group Fitness Instructor II – Get Group Fitness Certified
Step II: Get Group Fitness Certified
As we now know, the first thing to do if you want to become a group fitness instructor is get CPR/AED certified. I was able to complete the course in a 5-hour class with a Red Cross-approved training company for $65.
The next step in becoming a group fitness instructor is to become group fitness certified. There are two major organizations that certify group fitness instructors and personal trainers – ACE (American Council on Exercise) and AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America).
If you have a particular gym or studio you’d like to work at or a favorite group fitness instructor, ask which certification the gym, studio, or instructor recommends. Some gyms require all group fitness instructors to also be certified personal trainers.
My Zumba instructor recommended getting both AFAA and ACE certified. ACE is more widely recognized and more difficult to get so I chose to get ACE certified first.
ACE’s Group Fitness Instructor Certification process involves studying the ACE Group Fitness Instructor Manual and Master the Manual Study Guide to pass the ACE Group Fitness Instructor Certification Exam. I ordered the Basic Group Fitness Instructor Home Study Program for $139.95 + $18 s&h. You can also order these materials individually through ACE or Amazon.
The ACE Group Fitness Certification Exam can be computer-based or pencil-and-paper, although the CBT is offered much more often than the traditional method test. There is a $259 charge to take the CBT exam.
AFAA offers a Group Exercise certification. The AFAA certification process involves a full-day workshop including written and practical exams. The cost of the study guides, workshop, and exam is $299.
Don’t be shy! Let your gym, studio, and instructors know you’re pursing the instructor certification – they could give you advice and it could get you a job when you complete your certification.
More to come on this topic! See also, How to Become a Group Fitness Instructor I – Get CPR/AED Certified.
Filed under exercise, group fitness, interests | Tags: ACE, aerobic, aerobics instructor, AFAA, america, american, association, certification, council, exam, exercise, Fitness, group, group fitness instructor, instructor, Zumba, zumba instructor | Comments (3)Do You Have Tickets to the Gun Show? How to Get Michelle Obama Arms
Move over Sheryl Crow, I have a new upper arm idol.
At my Great River Ragnar Relay team happy hour this week, we were discussing Michelle Obama and her amazingly toned arms at her huband, President Barack Obama’s address on Tuesday night. Apparently, we were not the only ones…
CNN.com posted an article today entitled, How to get Michelle Obama’s toned arms. The article says:
Rylan Duggan, a personal trainer who runs Go Sleeveless, a blog that instructs women how to tone up flabby arms and “eliminate bat wings,” said that in addition to asking how to get “Madonna arms” or “Kelly Ripa arms,” clients are now asking about getting “Obama arms.”
Jackie O had style. Nancy Reagan had “Just Say No.” Hillary Clinton had Bill. Michelle Obama has serious pipes.
