Regular aerobic exercise confers benefits including weight loss, reduced risk of health problems, a stronger immune system, better stamina and improved mood. If you have trouble getting excited about pedaling a stationary bike or walking on the treadmill for half an hour every day, you might need something like dance aerobics to hold your interest. Dance aerobics combine upbeat music with simple dance moves. The more complicated routines are just a combination of simply moves strung together. You can learn aerobic dance in a group fitness class, but you can also put on upbeat music and create your own exercise routine at home.
Step 1
Listen to a few bars of the music you've chosen. Try counting "one-two-three-four" along with the music to get a feel for the basic beat and rhythm.
Step 2
Take one step in place for every beat or, if the music is extremely fast, one step every two beats. Walk forward, to the side or back in time with the music. Add arm motions as you feel comfortable, swinging them forward, back, to the sides or up and down in time with the music.
Step 3
Tap your toe, heel or entire foot flat on the floor instead of taking a step. Experiment with other modifications: Modify your steps. Try bringing your knees up extra high, adding a hop or kicking your heels up behind you on every step.
Step 4
Slide from side to side without lifting your feet off the floor. You can usually manage one small step per beat, but you may need two beats to pull off big steps and hops.
Step 5
Combine steps. Try a triplet: Step your right foot to the right, slide your left foot over to your right foot, then take a step in place with your right. Try the same movement to the left. Your goal is to squeeze these three steps into two beats of music, so you have to do them fast.
Step 6
Do a triplet to the right, but cross your left foot behind your right as you slide. Slow down so that each step takes one beat of music. Cross your left foot in front of your right foot, followed by another slow triplet to the right. Cross your left foot behind your right foot on this triplet, too. Continue alternating cross-in-rear triplets with a single cross in front. This is called a grapevine, and is one of the more complicated moves in aerobic dance.
Step 7
Combine the moves you've just learned. Try doing each move for eight counts of music, or mixing them all together to make your own aerobic dance routine.
Tips and Warnings
- You don't have to limit yourself to standard aerobic dance moves. Once you've got a feel for how to move to the music, you can incorporate moves from other sources. Try taking or watching different types of dance like hip-hop, ballet, jazz or folk dancing. When you see a move that you'd like to copy, break it down into its component parts. Practice those parts one at a time until you feel ready to combine them, then try putting the routine to music.
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