Monday, February 25, 2019

#mondaymotivation: Finding YOUR Motivation

#mondaymotivation: Finding YOUR Motivation: Written By: Zumba® Fitness Instructor: Lizz Larrauri

XSport Woodbridge Zumba® Class
"Who inspires you?"  
"Who do you inspire?"--This is a common topic within ZIN™ members. 

"Where do you get your inspiration?"

"How do you continue to be motivated to teach class after class week after week?"

Sometimes it is hard, and sometimes there is no inspiration at all. Let me tell you, sometimes it becomes a job to "teach". You have to love what you do to continue. As with any job, there are days when things can go wrong. 

Believe it or not, so many things could go wrong in an hour of Zumba®!
  • The stereo may blow up
  • You may come to teach and there may be too much wax on the floor
  • Someone may fall during the third song on your playlist
  • A front row 'diva' may stand by your side and change your choreography
  •  A taller person mirrors you the whole class preventing students to be able to see you
  • The fire alarm may go off
  • You forget choreography
  • Your peeps hate the new choreography
  • Wardrobe malfunction, pants riding down, wrong shoes… or oh my God “You forgot your shoes”
  • And the list goes on and on and on.....
We have ALL been there! Sometimes when things go wrong it is inevitable that you may lose motivation from time to time. In an effort to find your motivation, you do what everyone advises...
  • Take Zumba® jam sessions
  • Visit other people's classes
  • Watch ZIN™ Volumes
  • Watch YouTube videos
  • Network within the Zumba® community
  • Buy new Zumba® clothes
  • Register for ZINCON™
Sometimes even these things may not work because motivation may not be nestled within these material things or by visiting other classes. To me, most of the time when I felt like quitting a class, I realized someone else was looking up to me or being inspired. We, as Zumba® instructors come in all shapes, ages and color. We are so lucky to be part of a fitness community that decided to break free from industry standards of what fitness should look like. 

It doesn’t matter how large is your class, where you live or where you are from...I am pretty sure you have inspired someone to keep dancing with you, and keep coming back to your class. Maybe one of your students discovers Zumba® can help with depression, or maybe they feel lonely and will see that Zumba® class is the place to meet new friends. Maybe someone will see that they could be like you, and one day become a Zumba® instructor who inspires
others.

XSport Woodbridge Zumba® Class
I love seeing people of all ages from their 20’s to 70’s joining a regular Zumba® class. For me, that is my biggest motivation. There are no limits! Don’t forget the most important thing, it is not just about you, class is about your participants

Everyday is a new opportunity to learn something new about yourself, and your Zumba® participants during your Zumba® Class. Remember to find a Zumba® class near you by going to www.zumba.com.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

A 6-Pack IS Nice….But Did you Know a Strong Core Has These Benefits Also?!?

According to “Readers Digest”, a strong core has amazing health benefits (as well as looking amazing)!!
Here Are a Few:

1. A strong core helps prevent injuries! It’s important 
to build core stability first, and then build core strength. You want to get the deeper muscles working first. When you’ve got a strong core, everything else will fit into place on top of it,  meaning your overall fitness will improve, making you less prone to injury down the road.


2. Protect your inner organs and central nervous system. Staying healthy also means protecting those vital systems below the surface. Your core is not only where your organs and central nervous system do their busy-work, it’s also where your body’s largest (and most important) veins and arteries are based. Keeping strong core muscles will help ensure everything stays protected as you move through your day.
 

3. Strengthen your core to back pain. Back pain is a common side effect of a weak core.  When our abdominals are weak, it’s often because our back muscles are overly strong. Building core strength will help bring balance to the front and back of your body. Sitting at a desk all day doesn’t help, either. Not being mindful of how we’re sitting, and not engaging our core, can lead to things like compressed discs in our spine.
 

4. Get a strong, confident posture! If your core is strong, you’ll be hard pressed not to carry yourself with confidence. A tall, upright posture exudes strength. It gives the impression that this person is in control of their life.
 

5. You’ll feel better! Not only will a strong, healthy body turn heads on the beach, you’ll feel great, too. Once you’ve developed your core stability, you can start working on the more superficial core muscles to build strength you’ll be able to see.
Here are three exercises that I recommend to get you started:

The key is to not waste your time and energy on ab workouts that aren’t effective. With the three core exercises above, that’s not a concern. The bicycle, the Russian twist, and the towel plank knee-in are fundamental moves that will immediately start helping you achieve and maintain that strong core you’ve always wanted.
 
Stay Fit, stay healthy, and stay with me! 
 Kia Kaha! Lisa 😊Facebook:www.facebook.com/Fit4U-Lisa-Schwarz
Twitter: Fit4Urocks


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Your Choreography, Your Creations.

When Your Choreography is Being Used by Others by Zumba®️ Fitness Instructor: Megan Hernandez

I think it is safe to say that all Zumba®️ instructors love to dance. They love to get up, shake off their day and let themselves move freely. They possess this effervescence about them that can bring a whole room of tired and over worked women and men into an entire new space of enjoyment. It is still mind boggling to think how many different ways we can move our bodies that is ethereal and motivating.  
Scrolling through ZIN™Facebook groups I have come across a trend in conversations--Choreography. One of the hot choreography topics is constantly about people using other people's choreography and using it as their own. Choreography that could have taken hours to create, if not days. Take for instance something you are so proud of creating and is being taught in someone else's class! So it is understandable why this topic keeps coming up. There is a sense of pride and honor that comes from all of that work and determination in creating choreography. Especially when the choreography wows your class like you knew it would! 

It is not a bad thing to take it personally that someone has stolen your masterpiece, that is probably the normal reaction. What if the "offenders" idolize your work and just want to pass on your talent? What if they are overwhelmed with creating their first class and know the songs YOU do and take it as a couple less songs they have to learn to get their own class going? On the contrary, some instructors think it would be flattering to have their choreography used by others. And, on one hand it kind of is, but what if that's not what you want? There are ways to protect your creativity by using copyright. 

For those of you that are feeling slighted and maybe even bitter, start by taking a few deep breaths and asking yourself a few questions. Really get to the bottom of why you are upset. 
  • Is it that the person is using it in a class where you have students in common? 
  • Has the person presented it on some form of digital media and taken credit for it? 
  • Do you feel like you should have been asked permission?
When you figure out the reason that you are upset, take another deep breath. 
The best approach may be to talk to the instructor and just let them know how you feel about it. This is especially the case with a new instructor. Everything is so overwhelming when new instructors start out on their Zumba®️ journey it might not even occur to them that the choreography they are using was created by YOU and NOT by Zumba®️ Fitness. It may not even occur to them that they would even need to ask to use choreography, or they simply maybe just don't know who to ask. It is a great idea to give the benefit of doubt to the instructor. Just having a conversation could help alleviate hard feelings. 

There are ways to protect your choreography if you feel that someone may benefit from it financially. You can upload your medium and use the Copyright symbol©️ with your name and the year of copyright next to it and then file it with your U.S. Copyright Office. Note that copyrighting your choreography will not prohibit others from performing the dance under the fair use principle. Fair use allows for limited personal and educational use, so that people may perform your dance in their own homes and in other arenas covered by limited personal and educational use. However, if you copyright your choreography, others cannot sell the dance or claim it as their own creation. I will leave you with this final thought. 

Remember why you became a Zumba®️ Fitness instructor...
Continue to put forward the best version of you to the world in front of you. Shine bright and make the world brighter for those around you.

Monday, February 18, 2019

ZUMBA® Covention AKA ZINCON® is Right Around the Corner

A Convention Experience with Zumba® Fitness Instructor Mirna Arroyo.


ZINCON®!!! So excited! My first time was in 2013 after teaching Zumba® for four years. Honestly, I never felt I needed to go as I thought "I already knew how to dance - I am Puertorrican and grew up dancing to Latin rhythms". 

One of my fellow gym instructors said it was a religious experience. I was curious but lacked a Zumba® bestie to go with. I decided to convince my husband to go to the 2013 ZINCON® in Los Angeles so he could also visit his family. Great idea!! The Theme Concert was with Pitbull – O.M.G. but I still I felt that I was missing that religious experience. Fast forward to 2016. 
Now I had an AMAZING Zumba® bestie; There we went! 
My thoughts...
  • First, so many bags and outfits!! Of course, you can always bring an empty suitcase to fill up at the ZIN® Wear Store!! 
  • Hotels. Must book early!!! After all, Orlando is the largest ZINCON® with 6000+ attendees!! And having a comfy
    and easily accessible place to crash or even change outfits (here we go again) between classes is a must. Actually, I would go to my room after each class and snack, shower, and change clothes to include my sneakers (must save those valuable feet that let us Zumba
    ® day in and day out!)

My experience...
  • Now, to the overwhelming feeling you get when you see the 6000+ people jumping, screaming, hugging – many type "A's" going at it…Have I found my ‘religious experience’? 
  • What about the star sightings - from seeing Beto walking to his room at night to getting a nice pic/selfie with the star ZINCON® instructors!! Oh, wait, booking a pre-or post-conference party might yield more sightings!! I went to Mango’s and there they were – Armando performing, a very pregnant Heidi, and Beto singing and dancing!!! 
The party....
  • Non stop party. The concert. My religious experience took me through the after-concert craziness up the escalator with the peeps singing, screaming, and taking maddening selfies!! 
  • Then there was the ‘parade of flags’ – the after-concert informal gathering of hundreds of ZIN® instructors from around the world displaying their flags and singing songs from their countries…and then IT HAPPENED – I found MY TRIBE. A bunch of Boricuas singing songs from our childhood, dancing like our ancestors – electrifying moves at the sound of drums, chants, and rhythmical hand-clapping. I could not resist but join in but not before just lounging down on a bench and take it all in, while videoing all of course. 
 IT WAS MY VERY OWN PERSONAL RELIGIOUS ZUMBA® EXPERIENCE. 
What will be YOURS??!!

Friday, February 15, 2019

Things That go Through Your Mind When you Have a Zumba® Crush at a Zumba® Class

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Written By: Zumba® Fitness Instructor: Lizz Larrauri

Let’s face it. We have ALL been there.  One day you decide to go to a fitness class and suddenly you start feeling motivated more than ever to attend that particular class. Endorphins kick in, you feel overly happy, you feel physically fit AND you find yourself with a crush in your Zumba® class....with your instructor.
  • The instructor is soooooooo nice to me.
  • I don’t know why, but I feel like we had this immediate connection.
  • I feel like tonight's playlist was created JUST for me. 
  • That warm up had me on fire! 
  • The instructor could not take their eyes off ME when that song was playing. 
  • I need to arrive earlier next time to save MY spot right right next to the instructor.
  • Nobody dances like my favorite Zumba® instructor (aka my Zumba® crush).
  • OMG my instructor is better than Beto (Just joking)!
  • I wonder if my instructor noticed I cut my hair?
  • Did I shaved my armpits today? 
  • Hips don’t lie.
  • Is my instructor Latin?
  • Wow my instructor can move!
  • OMG "Amigos con Derecho". Nailed it! That is our song.
  • Ugh new people, this is MY spot! I am the instructor's favorite!
  • I hope my makeup doesn’t “run”.
  • Yeah baby!! Shake it … that move was for me. 
  • OMG That Romeo Santos song was just added. WE have the same taste in music (of course).
  • This is my FAVORITE cool down song! How did the instructor know? We are SOULMATES.
  • Let’s take a selfie, or two.
  • OMG my Zumba instructor liked all my social media posts. I am in love!
*This is article is just for fun! We all know that Zumba® love is genuine AND real and our Zumba® families literally are amazing!! Any similarities with real life is just a coincidence.*  

Remember to find a Zumba® class near you by going to www.zumba.com
💖Until next time
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