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Updated November, 2009
Zumba® has
introduced a variety of workshops to their program. Please
do not be fooled by how many of these workshops the Zumba
Instructor attends. These Instructors do not need to have
these added workshops (Basic II, Aqua Zumba, etc) to become
a Zumba Instructor and the Instructor is NOT more qualified
to teach Zumba. It is the experience of the Instructor in
the classroom that matters the utmost!
A Zumba®
Instructor IS NOT a certified Zumba Instructor
after attending a workshop.
Those that attend a Zumba® workshop are ONLY authorized to
use the "Zumba®" name and Logo for their classes. You are
literally buying the rights to use the Zumba®
Logo in your advertisement. Too many Zumba Instructors
(with only the Zumba® workshop on their fitness resume) are
telling facilities that they "are certified Instructors".
This is far from the truth!
Those that want to teach Zumba
Fitness®,
MUST attend a workshop to teach Zumba Fitness®.
Unfortunately Zumba LLC© does not require one to have a
Group certification or CPR certification. At the workshop,
the Presenters express that it will be "nice to obtain, but
not mandatory". This may change soon, but for now, it is
only an "optional" to have any type of fitness background.
Please read an email that I received from a concerned
Student....
I am very surprised and
concerned about what I am seeing in my local Zumba classes
which I have taken simply for my own exercise enhancement.
At my [name removed], in Wareham MA, [name
removed], there are several Zumba classes. In the classes
that I have tried, the instructors did NOT do a Warm-up at
the start or a Cool-down at the end. They also did NOT do
any static stretches at the end whatsoever. They also did
NOT instruct us to continue moving our legs between songs
and I noticed everyone (except me) coming to a complete STOP
between songs, after the heart rate was quite elevated.
They also neglected to mention a
thing about correct breathing techniques ("exhale on
exertion", etc.). And there were NO modifications given for
various physical abilities. There were many people well over
50 in these classes. To me, this way of teaching, violating
basic rules of group fitness instruction, is a injury
waiting to happen. What is going on with this anyway?
Are the teachers taught to
give safety and body alignment cues? I am already registered
for a training with [removed for privacy]. I am happy
to have read that she is AFAA certified and excellent. I am
very excited to have this chance to learn from her, as I do
LOVE the Zumba moves and I am a dancer. But can you please
explain why I am seeing so much of this problem in Zumba
classes? Thanks very much,
I replied in
detail to this person. I have received MANY emails like the
one above.
You are probably seeing
more and more Zumba Fitness or "Zumba Inspired" classes
being advertised all around the country. However,
because of these workshops that requires no fitness
background, they are producing Instructors that does NOT
have the experience as a Group Fitness Instructor.
I feel (remember, this is
my personal view) this could cause some injury to the
participate and the overall experience to the participate
could become negative. The inexperienced Instructor lacks
knowledge in the fitness industry and the facilities hiring
these Instructors is taken a huge risk! It could be
very
unpleasant for those attending these classes.
Just because
someone has a dance background and they "love to dance", or
even has a Latin background, does not mean that person will
be an excellent Zumba Fitness Instructor! One who seeks to
be any type of fitness Instructor will need the training and
especially in Zumba... you will need to practice the
routines every day to get real good at teaching Zumba!
I cannot tell
you how many times I hear from people who had taken a Zumba
class to only be upset with the Instructor "because of how
they taught... how unorganized, horrible, the Instructor
stopped at each song, etc". So please, if you plan to teach
Zumba, get your group certification first and gain the
experience of a class setting before you teach your first
class! It may look easy up in front, but I assure you, it
takes skill and motivation!
It takes MANY hours of practicing and learning new routines.
For the Instructor: The
Instructor that makes it look easy to teach Zumba and you
feel, "oh I can do that", is an excellent Instructor.
If you are able to teach, give out verbal cues before the
next move, give out visual cues before the next move, listen
to the next beat and stay on beat, show/instruct/cue all the
safety moves before doing that move, teach by facing the
students and NOT look at yourself in the mirror, and smile
ALL AT THE SAME TIME... then you will be a top-notch
Instructor!
With that being said,
for the
Participate...
Please be sure to check the Instructor's qualifications
before signing up for any Zumba Fitness class (or for any
other class for that matter). Does this Instructor have a
nationally, recognized group/fitness certification? Is this
Instructor authorized to teach only Zumba Fitness®?
Is he or she CPR Certified? The Instructor MUST be
authorized to teach Zumba. For more information on the
integrity of Zumba or Zumba classes,
click
here
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