February Zumba Music Playlist
Little known trivia about me: I hate February! Nothing good ever happens in February and I am so glad it’s over…
But still, I hope you enjoy my February Zumba songs:
La Cucaracha (Cumbia / Latin Pop – Warm Up)
Kumbia Kings
I Gotta Feeling (Pop – back by popular demand!)
Black Eyed Peas
Chaiyya Chaiyya (Bollywood / Zumba Toning)
Bombay Dreams
Me Gusta, Me Gusta (Salsa)
Zumba Fitness ZIN 24
Jump in the Line (International)
Harry Belafonte
Chiquilla (Cumbia)
A.B. Quintanilla III Y Los Kumbia All Starz
Hava Nagila (Traditional)
Zumba Gold
Kiss Kiss (Belly Dance)
ZIN Megamix 4
A La Nena Le Gusta (Merengue)
Zumba Fitness ZIN 24
Tigy Tigy (Reggaeton/Arabic)
Zumba ZIN Mega Mix 15
Salome (Salsa/Pop)
Zumba Fitness ZIN 24
Fuego (Cumbia)
Zumba ZIN Megamix 4
Loba (Latin Pop)
Shakira
La Isla Bonita (Pop – Cool Down)
Madonna
My First Boot Camp Workout
Being a group fitness instructor has its perks: One of the fitness centers where I work has given me the opportunity to participate in a weekly boot camp style workout! And the best part: It’s free for me!
Last night was the first night. I was unsure what to expect, other than calisthenics and some good, old-fashioned exercise. We started by running stairs – something I hadn’t done since high school (1997 if you must know). Running stairs transitioned into quickly hopping up stairs, one-by-one…
The rest of the hour-long boot camp workout incorporated chopping and high knees, burpees, and mountain climbers. We used stability balls, hand weights, and mats. It was an awesome total body workout and I’m excited to see what the results will be after this session of boot camp workouts once per week.
The instructor was great very motivating and encouraging, but strict. We shouted out the number of each exercise. If we started to slack or if our form started to get sloppy, we started the exercise set again at ONE.
Many of the participants were also very motivated and encouraged others to perform, but I was a little disappointed with some of the other participants. Do yourself a favor: If you’re not prepared to work hard, don’t register for a boot camp workout. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do, and you’ll just be holding back other participants.
Filed under exercise, group fitness | Tags: boot, boot camp, bootcamp, burpee, burpee exercises, calisthenics, camp, group fitness, group fitness instructor, mountain climber, out, running stairs, work, work out, workout | Comment (0)My November Zumba Song List
Better late than never… 
Happy Thanksgiving!
La Fiesta (Flamenco + Belly Dance / Warm Up)
Zumba Original Soundtrack
I Gotta Feeling (Hip Hop)
Black Eyed Peas
Ça Plane Pour Moi (Merengue)
(Plastic Betrand – National Lampoon’s European Vacation Soundtrack)
Baila Esta Cumbia (Cumbia)
Zumba Megamix 14
Bonita (Samba)
Zumba Megamix 14
La Morena (Merengue)
Zumba Megamix 14
Solo Se Vive Una Vez (Rumba Flamenca)
(Zumba ZIN Megamix 13)
Rompe (Hip Hop)
(Daddy Yankee)
Fuego (Cumbia)
(Zumba ZIN Megamix 4)
African Beat (African)
(Zumba ZIN 22)
Ritmo Caliente (Quebradita)
Zumba ZIN 22)
Krazy (Hip Hop)
(Pitbull Featuring LiL Jon)
Dance the Night Away (Salsa)
(The Mavericks – The Best of the Mavericks)
Every Breath You Take (Cool Down)
(UB40 – 50 First Dates Soundtrack)
Zumba with a Purpose
Attention Zumba lovers in Minnesota!
Zumba with a Purpose to benefit Toys for Tots with a $10 donation on December 12, 2009 from 1-3pm at Gold’s Gym in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. This Toys for Tots benefit will feature a group of local Zumba instructors and, keeping in the spirit of Toys for Tots, Marines.
Click here for more information and enjoy!
How to be the Worst Zumba Instructor Ever!
(Please read “How to be the Worst Zumba Instructor” from rencsi.com with heavy sarcasm!)
Would you like to be the worst Zumba instructor ever? Ignore everything you learned in Zumba Basics and follow these easy instructions from rencsi.com and you’ll be hard to beat at being the worst!
1. Carry notes. That’s right: Carry notes while you lead your Zumba class. Hold that piece of notepaper right in your sweaty hands and check it often to see what move comes next or what song to expect.
2. Break often. Stop the music between every song. Take a drink of the Diet Coke you brought along. Breakdown every step of the choreography of the next song in your own weird way.
3. Use your iPhone as an mp3 player. The feedback from your iPhone cell phone will let us know how popular you are as your phone continually interferes with your music as you get phone calls during class. Keep your cell phone right next to the sound system speaker at all times for maximum interference.
4. Let your 4-year-old child do your Zumba choreography. Sophisticated, interesting choreography is overrated. Surely, elementary moves that would not challenge even the simplest of minds will delight the child in all of us.
5. Tell us how much you’d rather be somewhere else. You know you have better things to besides leading Zumba class – let us all know what you’d rather be doing and what a burden Zumba class is to your busy schedule. Better yet, show us by starting class late and ending class early!
Follow these real-life examples, and you’ll be the worst instructor to ever lead a Zumba, or any other, group fitness class!
See more about group fitness at http://rencsi.com/b/category/group-fitness/
Filed under exercise, group fitness | Tags: group, group fitness, group fitness instructor, Zumba, zumba gold, zumba instructor, zumba master class, Zumba shoes | Comments (3)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)How to Become a Group Fitness Instructor I – Get CPR/AED Certified
Step I: Get CPR/AED Certified
The first thing to do if you want to become a group fitness instructor is get CPR/AED certified. CPR stands for CardioPulmonary Resuscitation. AED stands for Automatic External Defibrillator.
I found a CPR/AED certification class by visiting the American Red Cross webpage for my area, the Twin Cities. The class cost $65. It was held in a private home by a Red Cross-approved private training company for 5 hours on a Saturday.
The first 4 hours were CPR training. We watched video segments and the instructor embellished on the content. We practiced CPR on the Resusci Anne mannequins and took a short, multiple-choice written exam to be Red Cross CPR certified.
The last hour was AED training. Again, we watched video segments and we practiced using simulation AED equipment on the Resusci Anne teaching mannequins. There was another short, multiple-choice written exam to be Red Cross AED certified.
Zumba: Great Workout, Silly Name
I recently canceled my Snap Fitness 24-7 gym membership to join an independent gym called Fitness Crossroads. For $10/month more, the independent gym provides showers, lockers, towel service, and best of all – group fitness classes!
Being a dancer, I have always loved group fitness classes. I’ve often thought I was born too late and missed my true calling of being a aerobics instructor in the 1980’s. In fact, when asked my dream job, I often respond “aerobics instructor slash dog walker.” (Watch Eric Prydz’s Call On Me Video here. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s racy and nsfw.)
I had been away from the group fitness scene for a few years while I lived in Europe and while I held mini-gym memberships here in the States. After I joined my new gym in March, I soon saw an announcement that they were adding two “Zumba” classes to the group fitness schedule. Zumba? It sounded silly, but I decided to Google it.
The Zumba workout is based on latin rhythms and dance moves. It is like going out to a nightclub dancing, but with the freedom of not caring how you look and getting sweaty in the comfort of your own gym!
I loved Zumba from the very first minute. I was a member of the pom pon squad in high school and the dance team in college. Each song in Zumba is a mini dance routine, much like danceline. The instructor breaks down the moves first and then brings the moves up to speed. The moves are intuitive and easy-to-follow. The main goal is to keep moving.
One thing I especially love about Zumba is that each class participant can increase or decrease intensity according to their comfort level, which makes it suitable for all ages and fitness levels. In fact, many of the participants in my daytime class are 65 and over! I love to see the older men and women smiling, laughing, and dancing up a storm! Zumba Gold was designed specifically for older adults. I hope I am still dancing at age 70!
I highly recommend looking for Zumba classes at your local gym or community center, regardless of the silly name. It is so much fun, it’s like working out without working out! I love Zumba so much, and Zumba is so much fun to me, I am becoming a certified group fitness instructor through ACE (American Council on Exercise) in order to become a certified Zumba instructor.
Ditch the workout, join the party!
Filed under exercise, group fitness, health, interests, music | Tags: aerobics, aerobics instructor, Dance, Fitness, gold, group fitness, group fitness instructor, instructor, latin, latin dance, music, Names, snap, snap fitness, workout, Zumba, zumba gold | Comment (0)