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In a lot of clubs, the attitudes that other instructors present about Jam can affect our class numbers.  In our clubs, the GFM brought in Zumba.  Where Jam will generate anywhere from 10 to 20 (10 is regular, 20 is a great day) Zumba is packing 25 to 30 a class.  Jam numbers have been declining since release 39 or so (a long time!) but the members seem to love Zumba.  I am a Les Mills SNOB.  I don't really like any other classes or formats, so I almost feel like bringing Zumba in is a slap in the face.  My GFM tried to get me to certify for Z but it is CRAZY expensive (cert. and music).  Has anyone else experienced this?  The regulars I have either love Jam and hate Zumba or love them both.  I work frequently with a National trainer, and she assures me that it is not my instruction causing the decline.  Any ideas???

kaye:

In a lot of clubs, the attitudes that other instructors present about Jam can affect our class numbers.  I am a Les Mills SNOB.  I don't really like any other classes or formats, so I almost feel like bringing Zumba in is a slap in the face.  My GFM tried to get me to certify for Z but it is CRAZY expensive (cert. and music). 

Certainly a post like this will generate a lot of knee-jerk responses, but the bottom line is that BodyJam vs Zumba is a market issue and no place for Prima Donna blathering.

Let some instructors certified in both fill in the cost numbers of one program vs the other, but to my knowledge a Zumba  certification is a lot easier and less expensive to get and maintain.

From a GFM point of view, it's almost a no-brainer to add Zumba to a BodyJam club to increase the combined class attendance at marginal increased cost, but certainly not so the other way.

We have both programs and they are both doing well.  BodyJam is a great program which is evolving to protect it's niche.  We Jammers are truly blessed with a great LMI development team. If there is any inherent weakness in the program, I would suggest it's the amount of time required for instructors to MASTER each release.  I think recent developments in BJ chorrey address this previously unstated point also.

Rex

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Excuse me... May I motivate you?

According to the information I was given, you have to renew your Zumba cert. every year. 

 No need to get snippy and start name calling.  I am not a prima donna.  I just happen to teach the only jam class left in our club.  All others have been cancelled for low numbers and replaced with Zumba.  I just don't want to lose this program in our club, but that is what is going to happen.  I was simply asking if anyone else was experiencing this.  No need to be mean.

 I am glad that both are doing well in your club.  Not so here.

I think that very different things are happening all over the world, so it's hard to say for sure what your course of action should be.

Where I am, Zumba has a big following - it can pack the room with anywhere from 30-60 people. I get 35 Jammers on a good day, around 25 on a normal day (the club I teach Jam at has a very small studio, so 35 is about capacity; I have no idea how they squish 60 Zumba-ers in there).

We have Jam instructors and we have Zumba instructors, and nobody teaches both programs. The Jam instructors tend to be the people with dance backgrounds whereas Zumba instructors are "regular" fitness instructors who just like to move. That's not how it is everywhere; it's just the way it shook itself out in my region. For this reason, there is a pretty solid division between what Jam *is* and what Zumba *is*, in the minds of our participants: they consider Zumba to be the nurturing approach to dance-based fitness that anyone can do, whereas Jam attracts people looking to push the limits of their dance skill and coordination.

This sharp division we currently have between the two works. Both classes thrive. Since Zumba has been introduced, I have seen more people in my Jam classes. Because Jam was around a lot longer than Zumba, and has a tight-knit community of Jam freaks, newbies always looked at it as "Maybe a class to work up to... someday." They were too shy to try to break into that tight-knit group of Jam addicts. But Zumba made dance classes accessible for a lot more people, and once people got a few Zumbas under their belts, they were more confident to try Jam. 

I have been encouraging people to try Zumba (even though I don't teach it and don't particularly enjoy it), because I know that, eventually, those Zumba-ers might turn up in my Jam class. And heck - even if they don't, at least they're getting some fun cardio in. I don't love Zumba, but it's sure a lot more fun than an elliptical machine!

I definitely didn't lose any Jammers to Zumba. The two programs coexist well in the club where I teach Jam. I'm sorry that it isn't working for you. I am sure that if the situation were different where I teach, I'd be just as frustrated as you are. But maybe the same thing will happen to you - maybe all those Zumba freaks will turn out to be BodyJam freaks someday. I wonder if you and a Zumba instructor could get together to put on a Zumba/Jam combo class to help showcase BodyJam to Zumba-ers who might be too scared to try it?

(Oof. Now that I think of it, suggesting a Zumba/Jam combo is probably a little blasphemous! *grin*)  

Personally, I advocate Zumba in the clubs because it has been helping my Jam classes.

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www.thewellnessshift.com

Kaye, it wasn't personal; this is happening all around the world, and it needs to be addressed directly.  I was posting to every Jam instructor that reads these posts, same as you were.

Again, not personal, but to take your case in point, I would suggest getting a Zumba cert.  You could continue teaching Jam for at least the duration of your club's present license while crusading for the program.  BTW, All five of our current Jam instructors also have Zumba credentials.

Directly approach your regional trainer for help presenting the situation to management for their support.

Rex

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Excuse me... May I motivate you?

I am a Bodyjam and Zumba instructor and i love both of my classes and equally like teaching them. Just enjoy dancing everyone!  

I think this has been addressed in another thread but I'll do my do again...

Zumba is an easier program to pick up if you are an instructor, IMO, the training is easier ( one day), cheaper and you can either go off the training DVDs for chorey or do your own thing. My other Jam teaching buddy and I are certified in both, but we also know a lot of instructors who were defeated by the LMI video cert. process and just decided to let their cert drop in favour of teaching Zumba .You can "launch" new chorey at any time you want. Also, you teach facing the mirror and you are encouraged to use mainly visual cues ( of course I am such a chatterbox that I don't always do that!) It also may be simply perception or the kind of chorey that happens in particular Zumba classes, but I think that participants feel that Zumba is "easier" .

My colleague and I teach kick-ass classes in both, in my not-so-humble opinion, LOL , and one of the things we do is introduce some Jam moves and feel into our Zumba classes as a recuitment tool and it has been working. San Antonio, esp. on the Southside is a majority Latino population so the Zumba music and feel definitely appeals. Latin music and dance is hugely varied, far more than what little we get in Jam, so don't be fooled into thinking that Zumba is always boring. It can be, if the instructor isn;t up to snuff but that's also true of Jam.

I've said this before but I also feel a major reason Zumba does better in clubs is because I believe they dont have to pay a huge licence fee and instructors have a lot more leeway in how they promote their classes. I realy feel my hands are tied as far as how I can promote Jam when there's a huge marketing structure tied both to LMI and the gym franchise itself. 

Don't get me wrong; I really love Jam and would prefer to teach it over anything else. But Zumba is more than a passing fad, IMO. I think they've been learning some lessons from LMI in how to offer instructors resources and how to structure their programs better. So... yeah. Go to the training with an open mind if you are really interested. I think that your experience as an LMI instructor can positively influence your Zumba teaching ( and vice versa). I know it did for me.

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One of our new Jam instructors just got her PASS notification on her video (after only waiting two weeks!) She just trained in mid Feb.  Congrats, Natalie!  WTG, Girl!

What has this got to do with Zumba?  Well, she's taught Zumba for the past 18mos with the express purpose of getting experience for the Jam program. Looks like it worked.  Of course she loves Zumba and will continue to promote her Zumba classes too.

Jam is a really tuff nut to crack as your first LMI training module (So they say... ). Might even be worth one's while to get a BP cert to prepare you for Jam module.  I think our instructor coordinator is looking for people that can teach more than one class and who have some prior teaching experience.

Rex

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Excuse me... May I motivate you?

RexFury:

Jam is a really tuff nut to crack as your first LMI training module (So they say... ). Rex

 

i went on BJ training in london recently, with Phil Harrison (he's such a legend!!) and my thought about training on 48 is that while the release as a whole was not difficult to learn and the chorrey as we all know is pretty repetitive compared to previous releases, i think the challenge lies in cueing. take for example the raggaeton/krazy salsa part... moves r repetitive n i run out of stuff to cueing very quickly.... perhaps this is my first LMI programme. however, for the ufo block it wasn't much of a problem since its a cardio block n i find that i can make the switch from cueing to motivating quickly when i run out of stuff to cue... lol

MEN.......ZUMBA IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO THE WORLD OF FITNESS!

I DO HAVE PROBLEMS IN MY CLUB ,BECAUSE OF ZUMBA!

NO CUING,SHAKING THE BODY ALL OVER THE PLACE!

WHY?

THAT SYSTEM IS A WAR SHADOW OF MOVING THE BODY IN STYLE!

I HATE THEM!

BASIC RULE IN BE A SYSTEM,HAVE CUING!

HAVE MOVES!REAL MOVES!

DEGREES!

OH ,MY GOD!

THE WORLD IS SUCH A SMALL PLACE!

I dont like this zumba too much. My club was also thinking of replacing Jam into Zumba. I really dont like it. I think zumba can last for about a few months, just because its on TV shopping all the time, like pilates/tae bo did before.

 And also this weird moves are not really my style. Anyways, if they ask me to do it, i will, just because i am really into latin music, but i prefer more to use old bodyjam latin tracks and just call it zumba then doing these idiot moves like they do on the dvds :( I think people wont even notice a difference.

Anyways, need to find a way how to get my Jam class back working. It's too low the attendence right now.

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Wie in Venlo Roermond of in Eindhoven is nog op zoek naar een ervaren instructrice? Ik heb de licentie van Bodypump en Bodyjam en heb zeker ook interesse in Bodystep. Mail me als je iets voor me hebt!

Does Zumba cost the club anything to run it or is it all down to the instructor to pay for licence/music? If the club doesn't have to pay a monthly license, then this could be why the club has replaced Jam.

Rant here!

Just looked on the website and there are loads more Zumba instructors near me than Jam ones! In fact there is only 1 Jam class near to me and that's a 30 min drive away! Looking at where the instructors are teaching this, it doesn't look like the club has to be licensed, just the instructor. This means the instructor can teach classes where they want! This is good! I wish LM would do that as I could earn a fortune teaching Combat and Balance if I wasn't tied to teaching at clubs that have the licence!

You can get an instructor only licence from Fit Pro (the LM agents in the UK) but you still have to register it to the place you are teaching. Therefore if you want to teach in another premises then you have to pay another monthly licence fee!! This is a big problem with LM when it comes to instructors. There isn't anything out there as good as Combat, but Zumba is a threat to Jam in the UK.

If I was to want to teach a dance fitness programme (I wouldn't as my hips don't move!!) I would look at Zumba, not Jam as I would be too restricted where I could teach in the UK as hardly any clubs run the licence.

Come on LM sort out this licence rubbish and stop ripping us instructors off!

 

Rant over now! 

Breaker:

You can get an instructor only licence from Fit Pro (the LM agents in the UK) but you still have to register it to the place you are teaching. Therefore if you want to teach in another premises then you have to pay another monthly licence fee!! This is a big problem with LM when it comes to instructors. There isn't anything out there as good as Combat, but Zumba is a threat to Jam in the UK.

If I was to want to teach a dance fitness programme (I wouldn't as my hips don't move!!) I would look at Zumba, not Jam as I would be too restricted where I could teach in the UK as hardly any clubs run the licence.

Come on LM sort out this licence rubbish and stop ripping us instructors off!

 agree with u on that breaker! i recently passed the module training for BJ and have been teaching at my local gym for just over a month now and pretty soon, i'll be going back to my uni to finish off my final year (i'm doing my gap year atm...). the idea of being able to do it at my uni's gym sounds really good n i would really love to bring it to a much younger group of audience as i'm confident that BJ could appeal to a mass audience in the younger age group BUT (!) the only stumbling block to this is.... THE NEED FOR CLUBS/GYMS TO HAVE LICENSE FOR THE PROGRAMME!!!! on a cost perspective, uni gyms can only go as far as having freestyle aerobics classes n it stops there, nothing really interesting bout those freestyle ones anyway. i'm not sure how much it costs for them gyms to get the license for LM classes like BJ but my impression is that its probably exorbitant! Fitpro ought to provide discount/lower rates for uni gyms.. i know for a fact that a lot of unis in australia have BP classes. why don't i see it happening here in UK?? it is not impossible to make it happen so i'm pretty disappointed by the fact really. :(

 breaker: r u saying that being a freelance LM instructor not tied to any gym u'd have to pay 'extra' license fee??!

OMG I am reading this and I want to go hug you and cry with you!!!! I am too a jam freak and the same thing is happening to me. I was also pushed to train for zumba but i need to keep on dancing and did not want to losse my classes it is so devastaiting to me that only someone like you would understand. I know with z i am going to losse the 5 young hip hop girls that dont like latin music that much.

well, it's done with the Jam, they kicked it out of the  schedule and its now replaced by Zumba. Really awfull. I am so pissed off about this. Even because Jam 49 is awesome. My members didnt like 47 before, it wasnt my class by that time. Then when starting 48 they also didnt like it too much. I am sure they would have liked 49, but they are never gonna see it :(  Anyways...if there are any dutch here from Limburg-Eindhoven etc and that need a Jam instructor feel free to contact me.

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Wie in Venlo Roermond of in Eindhoven is nog op zoek naar een ervaren instructrice? Ik heb de licentie van Bodypump en Bodyjam en heb zeker ook interesse in Bodystep. Mail me als je iets voor me hebt!