You will also need to pick which course you want to take.  Here is a list of all the courses and there requirements.

• Zumba Basic – The is the foundation of Zumba, you will learn the formula on how Zumba works and you will learn the four basic rhythms to Zumba (merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton).  Zumba Basic will help you put together a routine to a song and also help you choreograph your first class.  Tools and resources will be provided in the class. Prerequisite: None.
• Zumba Basic 2 – There will be four more rhythms to learn in this course (belly dance, flamenco, tango, samba).  You will continue to learn how to put the Zumba formula in to these routines, so you can be successful. You will also learn advanced techniques, and learn them from some of the best Zumba instructors out there. This will be a time to enhance your profession and skills.  Prerequisite: Must be a current Zumba Instructor (50% off for ZIN Members).
• Zumba Gold – The Gold Course is for those who wish to teach the general adult population or the true beginners, or people who are out of shape.  In this course you will learn to teach the anatomical, physiological, and psychological needs for the general population.  You will be taught a Zumba chair workout in this course too. Zumba Gold specifically teaches you how to teach the active older adult.  Prerequisite: None.
• Zumba Toning – Learn the body-sculpting techniques and how to mix them into your Zumba routines.  Calorie burning and strength training moves will be taught in this class.  This course will introduce weighted maraca toning sticks to help build strength and tone all the target areas.  Prerequisite: Must be a current Zumba Instructor and member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN™). Fitness certification recommended.
• Aqua Zumba – Get in the water and teach Zumba, this is great for all ages.  you will learn effective water-based Zumba workouts that will incorporate the Zumba Philosophies.  Prerequisite: Must be a current Zumba Instructor and member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN™). AEA certification recommended.
• Zumbatomic - If you love teaching kids, then this is the course you are going to want to take.  This course will guide you on how to relate the Zumba workouts and philosophies to children, so they can have fun workout out to the rhythms and beats.  Designed for ages 4-12. Prerequisite: Must be a current Zumba Instructor and member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN™).

So here are your options, make sure you get all the prerequisites out of the way, so you can achieve all your Zumba goals.

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A moderate amount of physical activity is roughly equivalent to physical activity that uses about 150 calories of energy per day, or 1,000 calories per week. Some activities can be performed at various intensities; the suggested durations correspond to expected intensity effort.

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Do not think because you are not a professional athlete that plyometrics cannot apply to you.  Plyometrics can add that missing element to your workout that can help you shed those unwanted pounds.

Here are some plyometric workouts:

The Box Jump – The box jump is simple.  Place a box against a wall for support; standing on the floor with both feet on the ground, perform a vertical jump up onto the box and then jump immediately back to the ground. Do as many as you can.  You can also try doing different size boxes.  You can try to do this as fast as possible, but make sure you remain in control.

Long Jumps – This is also a very simple, but very affective workout.  Start behind a line; squat down and jump forward as far as you possibly can using a double arm swing. Upon landing, immediately jump forward again.  You may need a lot of room to do this workout. If you are limited on space, you can perform 2 jumps, then turn around and do another 2 jumps.

Barrier Lateral Jumps – Stand with the barrier(something you can jump over, like a stair-stepper or a box) to your side; Jump sideways to opposite side of barrier. Upon landing, immediately jump to other side.

You should really start to see some great results by performing these plyometrics exercises.

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More benefits of Burpees:

A Cardio Workout – I have heard of people doing burpees for 20 to 30 minutes, but that is something you will have to work up too.  Burpees are great for getting your heart rate up in a short amount of time, they are explosive and sweat inducing.  Many people try to do burpees as quickly as possible to max their heart rate.  Here is the most common way people do burpees: Perform 20 burpees; take a 20-second break; then do 19 burpees; 20-second break; 18 burpees…continue in descending order until get down to one.

Burns Fat – Burpees are an anaerobic workout that will help you shed off the pounds.  Using your body as resistance is a great way to build lean muscle and burn fat.

Full Body Workout – Burpees are not only great for your heart, but they are also great for your arms, chest, core, legs, but and back muscles.

No Equipment needed – Cheap is best!  A normal burpee does not require any workout equipment, all you need is your body and mental toughness.

Flexibility – This is definitely not the primary reason for burpees, but it does help  your flexibility in you hips, core, legs, and back.

Hope you enjoy your Burpee workout.  Come back to Ask The Fitness Dude for more free personal training advice.

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Here is some useful information if you are interested in signing up for the Army.  You will need to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test which is made up of three different events, but knowing what will be required of you will give you an edge in the testing.  When preparing yourself for the fit tests, you will want to make sure that you can do them within the time limits.  Practicing these events would be a great idea, so that you know what you are made of before you show up for testing day.

Here are the three events that you will have to pass in the Army Physical Fitness Test.  The events are listed in the required order you will have to perform them.

-Push-ups
-Sit-ups
-2-mile run

You perform the events in the order listed above, and you will have to take at least 10 minutes to recover and no more than 20 minutes to recover before moving on to the next event.

Push-up event (2 minutes) – This event will test the endurance of your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles. Depending on your age, there is a specific standard of push-ups you will need to perform in two minutes.

Sit-up event (2 minutes) – Sit-ups will test the endurance of your hip-flexors and abdominal muscles. Again, depending on your age, there is a standard amount of sit-ups you will need to do in that two-minute time frame.

2-mile event – This cardio event will challenge the endurance of your respiratory system and legs, and of course there is a time limit depending on your age.

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Hope you have a great year!  2010 will be a great year for your fitness goals!  The Holiday season is finally over.

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Now, athletes use both continuous workouts and interval workouts in their training and so should you, but most the time for the average Joe, interval training gets put off to the side.  Which is unfortunate because interval training will help you get fit faster.  Both workouts will help increase your aerobic capacity, meaning… the ability to transport and use oxygen.  Continuous training usually involves long distance running for a certain distance or time without taking breaks, while interval training involves high intensity bursts with short times of rest.

Studies have been done!  Check this out! Australian scientists have done a comparison study on both interval and over-distance-workouts.  Both workouts were done with the same average metabolic load.  They found that interval training produced the highest levels of peak oxygen consumption, they also came to the conclusion that interval training was a more powerful stimulus for increasing  aerobic fitness.  Canadian studies found that interval training exercises built high levels of fitness quickly. (Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports 11: 287-290, 2008; Journal of Applied Physiology 98: 1985-1990, 2005)

So the reason I am so crazy about interval training is because it works!  There is one drawback…Interval training can also be viewed as more unpleasant than you normal workout, but it is still worth it.

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Have you ever heard of the term “range of motion about a joint?”  Well this is a common term used to define the amount of movement that can be completed at a joint, a joint being a knee or a shoulder.  However far your movement is in these joint areas determines your flexibility.  There are many factors that determines a persons flexibility, including the structure of the joint, muscle tendon attachments, body temperature, pregnancy, and gender.  Your age can be a definite factor in your flexibility too.

Obviously, child years and adolescent years will see the most increase in flexibility and is the best time to develop a habit of stretching in a persons life.  As you reach your mid 20′s and the aging process starts to speed up, you will notice a decrease in flexibility.  The reason this happens is because your body’s connective tissue and extensibility goes through some major changes.  As we get older, we  tend to lean more to the inactive side of life.  Sure we might exercise and lift weights, but our flexibility gets thrown to the side, and as we develop more muscle our flexibility can also decrease.  It is important to perform full motion exercises so that our connective tissue can be protected from becoming less resilient and shorter. We need to make sure that we stretch our major muscles groups’ everyday, especially when we start to age.

Some of the areas to stretch are listed below and can assist in keeping the body flexible throughout your lifetime:

Arm Stretches

Upper Trapezius

Anterior Shoulder

Posterior Shoulder

Tricep

Hip/Lower Body Stretches

Abductor

Hip Flexor

Quadriceps

Hamstring

Calf

Soleus

Torso

Low Back

Outer Hip Rotator

Thoracic and Lumber

Torso

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Interval training will help you get faster results, and will help you burn calories far after the workout is done with.  Interval training is the answer you have been looking for.  So how do you start your own interval training circuit?  Where do you start a interval training circuit.

You can start an interval training system on a treadmill at the gym, but it is not always the safest choice.  The best place and the safest place to begin a interval training circuit is outside on a field or a park.

Here is an example of an interval training circuit that you can use as a guide.

Warm Up for 5 minutes

After warming up, do about 4 minutes of stretching, focus on hamstrings, quads, calves, hip flexors, and make sure to breath through out the stretching and relax.

Interval Circuit:

Interval 1 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 2 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 3 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 4 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 5 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 6 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 7 – 30-second; 90-second rest period

Interval 8 – 30-second

It might become necessary to only have 60 second rest periods if 90 seconds feels to long.  After the interval circuit is over, make sure to do 2 minutes of cool down and then another 2 minutes of stretching.  The whole workout is just under 30 minutes long.  After doing this interval workout a few times a week, you will start to see some great results.

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1. Find a workout partner – It can sometimes be very difficult to workout alone, working out as a group or with another person will help you express yourself and help you enjoy your workout with friends.  Make sure that you choose people who will motivate you, because some people can actually drag you away from working out, if they are not serious about it.  Plus, your friends might have different ideas about how they workout, which can bring new variety to your workouts.
2. Push yourself more – Now, it is important that you do this safely.  But sometimes we need that extra push to give us the satisfaction of working out.  Start adding exercises that use your own body resistance, this will build lean muscle mass and it will challenge you to do more and more.
3. Try new workouts – This might be the most obvious idea, if you are bored with your workout, then try switching it up.  Do workouts that seem fun to you.  I always like seeing what other people are doing; many times when I see people doing a certain workout it looks fun, so I will try it myself.
4. Don’t fool yourself – Many people think they are going to shed weight like crazy, and get ripped in the first few weeks of working out, but that is just not the case.  Train your mind to think long term, in fact, tell your mind that you are going to be active for the rest of your life.  Get rid of those false perceptions of quick results, a nice and healthy body takes lots of hard work.

There is no guarantee that you will not get bored, but you have to find it in yourself to push on and always be able to learn new things and push yourself to new goals.  Hopefully these tips can help you bust through those boring times.

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