Anna Dodds guarantees people will leave Strong by Zumba sweating.
Strong by Zumba is a new Zumba-based workout program. Dodds, who has been teaching Zumba in the area for the past nine years, said the program was rolled out in August, 2016.
Dodds is offering a free demo of Strong by Zumba Saturday, Oct. 21, from 9-10 a.m. at Fluid Fitness (1176 Franklins Gull Rd., Parksville) which will be followed by a regular Zumba class taught by Dodds from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
For the Strong by Zumba class, Dodds said to bring water, a towel and a yoga mat for floor work.
Strong by Zumba will be $10 per class or $80 for a 10-class punch card. Dodds said the class will be rolled out into the regular schedule in Parksville Qualicum Beach in November.
Strong by Zumba, Dodds said, is a high-interval, tempo training program. Dodds, a CrossFit teacher, said she’s always been an advocate for group exercises that are out of the box.
“I really liked the idea of integrating music, like what we do in Zumba, but putting it in a HIIT (high intensity interval training),” Dodds said. “I feel like it’s a really good balance… The reason I like doing CrossFit is, as much as Zumba is great — it’s really good for your aerobic capacity and your cardio — you still need the strength-portioning aspect in your workout.”
While Strong by Zumba is designed to be a high-intensity workout, Dodds said, Zumba has designed it to be a “high interval tempo training” class.
“In a HIIT class, you put movements (together) and the music is just white noise. In a Strong by Zumba, it’s all about the music,” said Dodds, adding you can hear the pops and beats in the music to know when to switch and change movements.
Dodds said Strong by Zumba is reverse-engineered compared to traditional Zumba. Where Zumba routines are choreographed to the music, Dodds said, the music for Strong by Zumba is created to fit the movements.
Like Zumba, Dodds said, Strong by Zumba will still offer familiar sounds such as reggaeton, but also incorporates electronic dance music (EDM) and hip-hop music.
Dodds said while Strong by Zumba offers a more intensive workout, such as squats and burpees, she said the news program caters to the “group fitness gym rat.” She added that there is room for modification and progression.
“There is a lot of switch outs, so if you’re not there yet the program is great that they take it down a notch for complete beginners, but then they can also increase the intensity for people that are more advanced. It caters to a more general public.”
Dodds said when she first heard about Strong by Zumba, she was “skeptical.”
“I heard about it going into (Zumba) convention. A lot of people signed on. I really wanted to see what it was all about before I wanted to get my feet wet,” said Dodds, adding she signed up for a demo class. I was like, ‘This kicked my butt. This is awesome.’
Dodds said she has been certified as a Strong by Zumba instructor since November, 2016.
“I think they (Zumba) have made great strides to really evolve the program, so that instructors that are doing it are getting proper information as well as training and being up to date on movement standards.”
Dodds also offers regular Zumba classes Mondays and Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Fluid Fitness. Dodds also teaches a Zumba Gold class at Innovate Dance Arts (425 Stanford Ave. E., Parksville) Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon.
Dodds said she’s been teaching Zumba in the area for nine years.
“I started teaching Zumba when no one knew what Zumba was all about. I would set up my stereo, have my sign-up sheet, no one showed up, took everything down and hoped someone would show up the next time.”
She said the classes slowly started to grow through word of mouth.
“I kind of expect that same thing with Strong by Zumba,” Dodds said. “Not everybody is going to want to do it right off the bat because it’s brand new, but I just gotta continue on getting it out there. The more people know about the program, I’m hoping it’ll draw out people.”