The American Council on Exercise estimates that more than 10 million exercisers have participated in step aerobics, which were first introduced in the 1980s. Step aerobics offer a vigorous, and perhaps most important, entertaining and highly customizable cardiovascular workout. Beginners start with a relatively low step, but as you build strength, endurance and technique you can use a higher step for extra difficulty.
Description
Step aerobics involves many of the dance- and athletic-styled moves you'd encounter in normal floor aerobics, including grapevines, marching in place and side steps. But the aerobic step adds a literal new dimension, allowing you to burn more calories and get a better cardiovascular workout as you mount and dismount the step. Once practiced on crates or wooden benches, the modern aerobic step is a plastic bench with removable risers underneath each end, so you can easily modify the height. You should never use a step so high that your knee bends sharper than 90 degrees when you plant your foot on the step.
Impact
Every time your feet transfer from step to floor or back again, your bones, muscles and connective tissues absorb the impact. So-called propulsion steps, basically two-footed jumps executed from floor to platform or while standing on the platform, add extra impact. If you have weak bones or joint or back injuries, consult a medical professional before doing step aerobics. You can reduce the impact by using a shorter step and turning jumping moves into foot taps on the step, or by duplicating the instructor's moves on the floor instead of the step.
Calories Burned
According to Harvard Health Publications, 30 minutes of low-impact step aerobics burns about 311 calories if you weigh 185 lbs. High-impact step aerobics burn 444 calories per half-hour. A typical step aerobics class is about 50 minutes long, which works out to between five and seven step classes to burn off 3,500 calories, the equivalent of 1 lb. of body fat.
If you want to increase your calorie burn but can't tolerate high-impact step moves, increase the intensity of your low-impact moves and add vigorous arm movements.
Basic Moves
Some basic moves to get you started with step aerobics include: stepping onto the step one foot at a time, then stepping off one foot at a time; mounting the step with one foot, then lifting the other leg for repeated knee raises or heel lifts; and standing sideways to the step, then mounting it one foot at a time to the side and dismounting on the far side, again one foot at a time. The last move is sometimes called an up and over.
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