Zumba with Shannon in Utah

Springville Zumba®

2011-12-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

For more information about my Zumba® Fitness classes through Springville City, go to www.springvillezumba.com. There you'll find details about schedule, pricing, and anything else you want to know. You can also "like" the Springville Zumba page on Facebook: facebook.com/springvillezumba.

Shannon's Zumba Fitness Schedule: Winter 2012

2011-11-14T16:44:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's already time to look ahead to after Christmas. But alas, here we go!

If you didn't know, the website dedicated to my classes in Springville is www.springvillezumba.com. Check it out!

I'm adding a third class to my Springville schedule. The availability of our space is limited, so I'm glad we are able to snag a spot!

Starting in January 2012, my schedule will be:

Monday & Wednesday 8:30-9:30 pm
Thursday 8:45-9:45 pm
Springville, Utah
443 S 200 E
$25/month
$5/class
You can purchase January-April up front for 10% off: $90 instead of $100.
Family deal: First person = regular price, each additional immediate family member is half off.

Tuesday 9 pm
Brigham Young University
Room 134 Richards Building
Open to BYU students, faculty, and spouses only. Full details at fitness.byu.edu.

Samba

2011-06-29T14:42:00.004-07:00

In Zumba, we do a modified version of the Brazilian samba (or, as I always say, Shannon's version of Zumba's version of the Brazilian samba).

The samba takes practice! I put off practicing it for a long time, even after I was trained to teach it, because it seemed hard. Now the samba is one of my FAVORITE steps. Students have told me the same thing: once they get past their fear (because it looks scary), they LOVE samba. It's a fun step.

Those who came to the Basic Steps Review classes this week worked with me on the samba. Like I said in class, there are several ways to samba, and everyone's version looks like their own (this is code for "You can't do it wrong.")

I showed you a couple of ways you can get your samba on, but we have such a short time in class that I thought you might like to see some instruction on video that you can watch over and over. Did I already say that the samba takes practice? It does! Watch these, pick a method that works for you and your body, and then practice!

Back in the day when I was trying to learn samba, this is the technique I practiced over and over to get it down. This is still how I samba.

But if you've done the samba with me you know I break the step down in class differently than the way I learned it. The video below teaches the step closer to the way I teach it in class. Most students find this method easier to pick up quickly.

First, here's how I teach it in class:

1. Tap your right foot and then left in front of you.
2. When you’re ready, remove the tap so you’re doing more of a scissor step. Right foot front and left foot back—then jump and switch: left foot front, right foot back. Continue until this feels comfortable.
3. Put your weight on the balls of your feet and start to bounce to the music.
4. Become aware of a double tap on each foot before you switch to the other foot.
5. When your bounce with the double tap feels comfortable, start to turn your knee out. First tap: turn knee in. Second tap: turn knee out. Switch sides.
6. Continue to practice this until you loosen up and feel comfortable. You have the Samba!

And now here is the video:

One of my favorite songs to practice the samba with is Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes featuring The Black Eyed Peas. You can find it in the playlist in the sidebar. Happy sambaing!

Zumba in Elder's Quorum?

2011-02-17T22:20:00.003-07:00

Zumba is so popular that it's finally made it into a sketch by Divine Comedy, the immortal comedy troupe at BYU. Since I teach Zumba at BYU, I especially appreciated this. Enjoy.

Lose weight by eating Twinkies?

2011-02-03T21:41:00.004-07:00

I saw this article about a professor of nutrition at Kansas State University who for two months replaced meals with Twinkies.

And he lost 27 pounds.

You can read about it here.

It sounds too good to be true, but, really, all he's done is reinforce a simple principle of weight loss: Eat fewer calories than you burn. He consumed about 1800 calories/day compared to the 2600-calorie standard for a man his size.

It's interesting that his bad cholesterol actually dropped, and his good cholesterol went up. You can read the article for more details. It may leave you scratching your head like it did me.

"Diets" designed to help you lose weight are usually short-term things. I think that's why people are willing to try something different and even a little extreme (like no carbs, or no sugar, or only cabbage soup). Even if it's something they don't enjoy, they're willing to try it because it's only for, say, twelve weeks. And then they intend to return to their normal habits. Which, let's be honest, are probably what got them in the position to want to lose weight in the first place.

Maybe picking a diet composed of foods you really, really like, but in moderate and controlled portions, is a good idea. This professor said he didn't tire of the Twinkies.

It's food for thought.

How Many Calories Does It Burn?

2011-02-02T21:48:00.006-07:00

Interesting question: How many calories can you expect to burn in a Zumba Fitness class?

First, the generic (yet relevant) answer straight from Zumba's web site:

"The number of calories each person burns per class varies. However, depending on your body parameters (type, composition, intensity, range of motion), you can burn hundreds of calories per class."

(Interestingly, about a year ago it was worded a little differently:

"It is very difficult to estimate the number of calories burned during a Zumba Class, because it depends on you, your body type, your body composition, the intensity, and the range of motion that you use with each workout. For example in one Zumba class, one participant could burn 500 calories, while another participant burns 1000 calories. We recommend monitoring how you feel and compare it to other activities that you do that have 'calories burned' associated with it and then estimate accordingly.")

I agree with what Zumba says--it depends. And on a lot of factors. If you move more you burn more. BUT... Bigger people typically burn more. Smaller people less. Conditioned people burn less because their bodies are used to it.

I don't wear a gadget that estimates my caloric expenditure in classes, but I've talked to a lot of people who do. The range is around 400 calories/hour, going up to over 1000/hour. (This is assuming that their gadgets are accurate; not all are reliable.) The higher end is usually reported by people with more body mass, or occasionally by someone smaller who had a KILLER hour. I've heard enough people say they've burned 500-700 calories that it's probably not unreasonable to consider you could burn that much, too.

That's about as scientific of an answer I can give right now. But my favorite response to this question is by a fellow Zumba instructor:

"I don't know that it is wise to give A number (of calories burned). Instead, there are MANY health benefits to ALL EXERCISE... and Zumba just happens to be THE MOST FUN!"

Amen, sister. Amen.