Minnesota Zumba Party Hearty – Sunday, May 22, 2011

May 18th, 2011

Another Zumba Party Hearty is coming to Minnesota. Join your favorite instructors this Sunday, May 22, 2011 at Oak Grove Middle School in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Registration starts at 11:15am and the Zumbathon starts at 12:00pm. The cost is $10 for over 90 minutes of Zumba with 13 Zumba instructors from across the Twin Cities. 75% of the proceeds go to benefit the American Heart Association. Zumba has raised over $655,000 for the American Heart Association’s Go Red Por Tu Corazon Movement so far through Zumba events.

Photographer James Flint from Flint Images in Lakeville, MN will taking professional photos at the event. Zumbawear will be for sale at the event. There will also be door prizes including massages, t-shirts, and Minnesota Twins baseball tickets.

Oak Grove Middle School
1300 W 106th Street
Bloomington, MN 55431

For more information, visit the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179042402148224

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Minnesota Zumba Party Hearty – Saturday, March 26, 2011

March 23rd, 2011

The Zumba Party Hearty Minnesota is coming to the VIP Olmeca nightclub in Burnsville, Minnesota on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

Registration starts at 12:00pm. The cost is $10 and parking is free. Zumba begins at 1:00pm. This event will feature:

  • Live drums with Lidia Berman “Conga Queen”
  • Demonstration of Zumba for kids by the ZumbAtomic Team
  • Live music by Principes Negros
  • Performances by Latin Flavor on stage
  • Live DJ by Deejay Nuyo mixing your favorites Zumba Hits

Dress to impress in your favorite workout wear, but remember: You will be exercising and sweating! You may also want to wear red – 75% of the ticket fee supports the American Heart Association. Party Hearty Zumba events across the country have raised nearly $400,000 USD as of the date and time this article was originally posted. That is amazing!

For more information, visit the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140044762726919

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Calories Burned During Zumba

May 26th, 2010

I’m a Zumba instructor and I was tired of guessing how many calories I was burned during Zumba class so I bought a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor. I’ve been wearing it for a couple of weeks now. Here’s a quick summary of how many calories I burned in recent classes:

Zumba
Minutes / Calories Burned
50 / 474, 60 / 733,  50 / 676, 60 / 734, 50 / 626, 50 / 810, 50 / 652, 50 / 790, 50 / 701, 50 / 779, 50 / 638, 50 / 668, 50 / 595
Average = 683 calories per class

Zumba Gold
Minutes / Calories Burned
50 / 461, 50 / 492
Average = 474 calories per class

What I learned is that the number of calories burned during Zumba varies widely depending on the content of the class. There are certain songs and dances that really get my heart rate up. For example, there is a significant increase in calories burned during those classes that include a quebradita (i.e. Zu Bailaito and Ritmo Caliente). Choreography that includes jumping or “riding a horse” also bump up the number of calories burned (Evacuate the Dance Floor, Jump in the Line, and Que Te Pica to name a few).

Stay tuned while I learn more from my new heart rate monitor! Zumba hugs!

Heart Rate Monitor for Zumba

May 9th, 2010

Enough guessing. I’m buying a heart rate monitor for Zumba.

I’m a Zumba instructor and I track my diet and exercise through a free online fitness diary called hotcal. Until now, I’ve been using 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.

As an instructor, I exaggerate all of my movements and give 100% during each song of each class. After Zumba classes, I am drenched from head to toe in sweat. I don’t think 272 is an accurate measure of the calories I burn in a typical Zumba class. That is why I’ve decided to buy a heart rate monitor.

After a little research, I’ve settled on the Polar FT60 heart rate monitor. This hr monitor comes with the fabric chest band with the snap on/snap off electronic brain. The fabric band was important because I’ve used hr monitors with the plastic band with the built in electronics. It was very uncomfortable and I can’t image doing Zumba while wearing a hard plastic band around my rib cage. As I mentioned, Zumba makes me sweat hardcore. I need equipment that I can rinse or it will be ruined in no time.

The FT60 is not cheap, but I am also a long distance runner and biker. I don’t need a foot pod or gps capability now, but these are optional add-ons to the FT60. I would not like to buy another heart rate monitor any time soon, but I may want to accessorize later.

The other nice thing about the women’s FT60 is that it is attractive. The band is magenta and the face is white and silver with decorations on the face. If I have to wear this thing daily, I might as well like the way it looks.

Stay tuned as I try out my heart rate monitor for Zumba.Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor

Should I Buy a Heart Rate Monitor for Zumba?

May 2nd, 2010

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!

Candy Heart Generator

February 11th, 2009

My favorite Valentine’s Day website is the Candy Heart Generator at www.cryptogram.com.

Just type your message into the text box (up to four lines), click on a candy heart color (yellow, green, orange, pink, purple, white, & blue), and cryptogram.com generates a realistic candy heart with pink type for you!

To share  your candy heart as a jpeg, right click on your heart and “save image as.”

If you don’t love Valentine’s Day, you can switch to “Goth Mode” and make a black heart with white, orange, red, or green type.

Enjoy!