Warm Up For Zumba Classes

March 5, 2010

Hello my fellow Zumba fitness instructors!! I have been asked several times about proper warm-ups and cool downs. By textbook, a WARM UP is to prepare the body for vigorous exercise and may reduce the risk of injury. When I do an instructor training class for group exercise or Zumba fitness master class I always tell my students to think about what they are going to be doing in class and to use the warm up to get the body ready for those types of moves. For example, inZumba (Latin type classes) you want to warm your class up with directional movements, arm movements, hip movements and feet movement to name a few. When planning your warm up you want to keep this in mind. LASTLY, your warm up should be very carefree…I usually don’t choreograph this portion of my Zumba class.

I just MOVE, focus on what I mentioned above and use this time to GET IN TUNE WITH MY ZUMBA CLASS. I usually talk and “have fun”, make eye contact and smile at each person and I also watch my class and see how they are moving with these basic moves in the warm-up it usually tells me a lot. I can then adjust my Zumba class accordingly. If there is a new move in one of your Zumba routines, the warm up is a great place to “show it” so then when that routine comes up they have already been introduced and they will feel more accomplished when they do that new Zumba workout! OKAY…NOW THE OTHER END..THE COOL DOWN..by text book the purpose of the cool down is to provide a transitional period between the “work” segment and the stretch/muscular strengthening segments of your class.

Without a gradual cool down period, the blood can pool in the extremities immediately and cause fainting. Moderate to slow rhythmic movements for the upper and lower body will enable the muscles of the extremities to pump the blood back to the heart and brain. You want to use this time to bring the heart rate back down (100 beats or less). U really want to use the easy foot movement (side to side)…a slow salsa.. to bring the heart rate down…use movements that stretch the areas of the body that you worked in the “work” segment of your class…eventually stopping and stretching for the full range of motion.. this is where I put on some sexy salsa slow music in my Zumba workout or for other classes slow funky music and stretch and talk to the class…see how they liked it and “bond” with them…this is an opportunity to build relationships with your Zumba classes…they are your number one marketing tool! You take care of them then they will take care of you. The power of word of mouth is amazing! To see proper warm ups being used in a Zumba fitness video check out www.darsfitness.com

Also if you are looking to advertise, use key people in your classes…get email addresses…people in your classes have businesses that they can put flyer up or maybe you can get an email list from them or give the flyer to them that they can forward!!!
Next time I will be talking about liability issues, fun stuff huh!!! lol…
DAR
www.darsfitness.com

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The Reasons To Use Hand Massagers

March 5, 2010

Massage can be quite helpful for who have trouble with pain in their muscles and joints, yet it can be too expensive to get massaged by a professional. A number of the same benefits can be had by anyone with a credit card by purchasing home massagers. There have been some great developments in these machines, and they can now truly provide a top notch therapeutic massage right at home.

Muscle tension and tightness is one of the most common complaints that patients tell their doctors about. Usually, there is no medical problem underlying these symptoms. Aches and pains just can’t be avoided. But all that pain could very well interfere with your enjoyment of your life.

Massage therapy is clearly one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to reduce these symptoms. It can reduce the pain and make it easier to move about normally. The majority of people find that it is also deeply calming and rejuvenating. Of course, it should go without saying to be sure to talk to your doctor beforehand just so you know the pain is not being caused by some unknown illness. But as soon as you know all is medically well, massage therapy may be the solution to you.

Again, the major problem is that a massage from a professional massage therapist costs more than a lot of people can afford, especially in today’s economy. If you could benefit from frequent massage therapy, your insurance is not likely to cover that. However, many people have found that they are able to enjoy almost all of the benefits of professional massage therapy by using high quality home massage equipment. Here’s a quick example: FootSmart AcuPoint Therapy Foot Massager

Electronic massagers range from small portable handheld massagers that might be battery operated, to more elaborate devices which are designed to massage specific parts of the body. For instance, they make specific massagers that focus on the head and neck, massagers that only focus on the feet and calves, or back massage pads. Although certain people may not feel comfortable with the initial expense of the higher-end machines, you end up saving so much money by going to see the massage therapist less that it is absolutely worth the expenditure. What I’m thinking about specifically is here: Creature Comfort CCMA7844 Women’s Massaging Cow Slippers

The best way to determine if a certain make and model of massager will do what you need is to try it out. Many showrooms offer working machines that you can test out on yourself to see if the massage mechanism will do what you need it to do. As an alternative, then try to scour the internet review sites to see how the machines are working on pain that sounds similar in nature and origin to your own, and then try to figure out whether a particular massaging device might be a good fit for you.

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An investigation on the subject cosmetics

March 5, 2010

Have you ever considered the origins of cosmetics? Many people do not know anything more than what they can see in advertisements. Indeed we are so bombarded by all kind of ads that we have made it a normal act to purchase cosmetics. Do you know that cosmetics have always been used throughout history by all kinds of people? You should continue reading this article if you want to learn more on this.

As mentioned above the use of cosmetics isn’t the latest trend and has been used since time immemorial. There are many research which have shown that products just like eye shadow have been in used as far as 10000 BC. The Old Testament also provides account of the usage of cosmetics previously. Likewise in the Middle Ages women were thought to be beautiful if they had a pale complexion and they were prepared to use all sort of products to be able to achieve this. Are you interested to learn more about this? Take a look at this French post on middle ages ( moyen age ).

In fact there’s still identical acceptance for cosmetics as people want to take better care of their physical appearance. The most popular product right now is anti wrinkle cream as people search for solutions to combat the aging effects. With the great variety of anti wrinkle cream that exist you will definitely have a hard time choosing the product that is most suited to your needs. You needs to ensure that the product you choose matches your skin type and is really appropriate for your needs. Would you like to learn more about this? Have a look at this French post on anti-wrinkle cream ( creme anti ride ) as it contains some fascinating point.

Actually there is also a tendency for people to move towards organic cosmetics. The advantage of organic cosmetics lies in the fact that there are no or very little chemicals which are present in the cream. As we know that a few of these chemicals could be carcinogens we can easily understand the advantage of such products. Given that you have fewer fertilizers and pesticides that are involved this can be really effective for the natural eco-system. If you need to find out more on this topic you can have a look at this article on organic gardening ( Jardinage biologique ) since it holds some interesting point.

Cosmetics have always attracted people from the origin of time. Indeed people are always on the look for ways to improve their appearance and will be prepared to do anything for this. However it is important that you choose a product that is actually suited to your skin needs and that will really help to bring a change. After all you will not want to use a product that will cause more harm than good.

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Where To Find Digital Scrapbooking Supplies For Your Scrapbooking Business

March 5, 2010

Digital scrapbooking kits are everywhere on the Internet. The trick is, how do you put together a great content collection on a budget? Once you find all of these kits, how do you sort out which are the ones you actually need for your scrapbooks?

Here’s the silver lining: there are many beautiful, low-cost digital packs and themes, and even gorgeous digital freebies that will work really well for you. Lots of professionally-designed kits sell for under five dollars on some of the top scrapbooking sites. Plenty of designers and talented amateurs will even share their stuff for free when you agree to only use their content in personal projects (i.e., not for resale or redistribution). It should be easy to learn how to digital scrapbook.

However, there may be a whole lot of kits out there, but you still have to figure out which ones are right for you. Simply stocking up on everything you find isn’t necessarily the best plan. You’re going to want top-notch designs and flexibility, plus you don’t want to download a whole of pile of things you’ll never look at again.

1. Step one in stocking your perfect digital scrapbooking stash is to get out pen and paper and itemize the kinds of scrapbook themes you are likely to make, such as School, Little Boy, Grandchildren, and Genealogy. It’s a good idea to include a few “general-purpose” kits that you can use in a whole bunch of different scrapbook types. Once you search for the themes on your list, you can turn your attention to checking out what’s included and the quality of what you find in those kits.

2. Next, think of the different elements that make up a great scrapbook page: background paper, embellishments, paper scraps or mats, and maybe even some shapes. Look for kits that include all or most of these things. A kit that has all of these coordinating elements is the best way to stretch your dollar.

3. So that you can make the smartest choices in selecting your kits, look for a website or digital store that lists all of the items included in each kit. Ideally, the site will also include images that give you not only an excellent idea of what’s included, but also of the kit’s style. The last thing you want to do is waste time and/or money downloading a kit that isn’t what you were expecting!

4. In addition to scrapbooking kits, you can also find pre-made scrapbook layout pages (sometimes called ploppers) and also fully-editable template pages. The best option when it comes to pre-made pages is to choose editable template pages since you can change them up to personalize them. Editable templates are great because you can use them time and time again, making little changes here and there, and getting totally unique results every time!

5. Don’t forget how important it is to have a really good quality scrapbooking program when building a smart collection of scrapbooking elements. There are wonderful programs out there that let you alter the color, shape, and even the “texture” of your paper scraps and elements. The pay off for you is that you can constantly transform your embellishments and papers, giving them a whole different look to suit every new project.

6. This tip is priceless: look for mega digital content packs that feature a variety of designers. Mega packs come chock full of editable template layouts, and kits with coordinating embellishments, photoshapes, background papers, and scraps. The mega pack offers everything you need to make tons of great-looking pages, plus a choice of style since every digital artist has her or his own unique creative approach to design. This can really help you when you want to open a scrapbook business.

7. Remember that your scrapbooking software can also play a crucial part in putting together your content collection. Choose a program that offers a great-looking content pack that includes all the necessary elements for scrapbooking. Ideally, your program will come with templates that you can edit, and complete scrapbooking kits so that the task of making stylish pages is a snap.

At the end of the day, it pays to first do a little bit of thinking about the kinds of scrapbooking projects you are interested in making. Next, you can search for kits that have coordinating elements, and everything you need to make a complete page. To maximize the life of your collection, make sure to get a hold of editable template pages, and a software program that gives you creative tools for altering the appearance of your digital elements.

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