Richard Simmons Exercises

Exercise guru and entrepreneur Richard Simmons lost weight early in life and adopted a mission to share his exercise program with others. Since the 1980s, Simmons has marketed a series of exercise videos that teach his physical activity program. The main segment, the dance exercise, encourages high aerobic activity. Simmons' health efforts have expanded to include owning a gym called Slimmons in Beverly Hills, publishing numerous cookbooks and publicizing the lack of physical education programs in public schools.

Warm Up Stretches

The Richard Simmons workout incorporates a warm-up to help the body stretch out its muscles and reduce the chance for injury. The upper body stretches involve stretching the arms to the side of the body, as well as stretching over the head. Movement rocks the arms from side to side to music. The legs stretch wide to support the body during the stretching segment. The upper body exercise also calls for the workout participant to stretch from the waist.

The lower body routine incorporates leg stretches that work out the thighs, calves, stomach and back. One leg is arched over the other and the body is extended over the knee or stretched to each side to work out the stomach and leg muscles. The leg is then reversed to stretch the opposite side of the body.

Dance Aerobics

The longest portion of the Simmons exercise program is the dance aerobics segment. Simmons dance aerobic exercise involves selecting music you love and making an iPod or CD mix of up-tempo music to encourage dancing. The required 20-to-30-minute music segment brings the heart rate up and sustains the workout to meet the American Heart Association's recommendation of walking or dancing for a minimum of 30 minutes each day.

Cool Down Stretches

The cool down reverses the exercises of the warm-up period, with two exceptions: the stretching is less intense during the cool down, and the exercises move slowly through the motions in a sequence similar to the warm-up pattern. Each muscle group in the upper and then the lower body is included in the last stretching segment.

Free Weights

Light weights, or use of objects around the house such as cans of food, tone muscles and add weight resistance to free-style exercise. Simmons' exercises incorporate small hand weights selected according to the individual's training level, age and any special health concerns. The weights, incorporated into the same format as the earlier stretching activities, are held in each hand.

Floor Work

Richard Simmons exercises include the old-school workout elements of the push-up and sit-up. The last element of the exercise program requires the participant to extend on a padded mat and exercise the stomach, arm and leg muscles. Sit-ups are done with the feet on the floor and the knees bent. Push-ups also employ the bent knee technique, rather than using a straight leg with the feet on the floor. The number of each set of exercise rests with the ability of the participant. Simmons recommends doing exercises that feel comfortable and building up strength to do additional exercises over time.