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Forms of Aerobic Dance

Apr 29, 2012 | By Luann Voza
Forms of Aerobic Dance
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Aerobic dance as a group exercise class has been around since the late 1960s and early 1970s. The workout improves cardiovascular endurance, the functional capacity of your heart and lungs. With motivating music, challenging choreography and professional instruction on proper form, aerobic dance workouts provide a safe and effective training method. Aerobic dance has evolved into various forms that appeal to different participants. Classes differ in styles but all consist of continuous movements using large muscle groups. Benefits include increased energy and decreased risk of heart disease.

Hi-Low Impact Aerobics

The hi-low aerobic class consists of movements classified by their impact on lower leg joints. Low-impact movements are performed by always having one leg in contact with the floor. Examples include marches, grapevines and single heels. With high-impact movements, both legs are airborne, increasing the stress on the lower body joints upon landing. Examples include jumping jacks and alternating shuffles. Classes can start out with low-impact movements and progress to high impact during the peak phase or remain low impact throughout.

Hip Hop Aerobics

Hip hop aerobics is a specialty class incorporating aerobics with specific moves taken from the hip hop style of dance. The music tempo is slower, compared with aerobic dance, enabling more exaggerated full-body movements. Hip hop classes range in difficulty from beginner classes with simpler choreography to more advanced classes adding tempo changes, body level changes and turns. The strong beat and popular music selection appeals to a younger audience, compared with traditional aerobic dance classes.

Latin Style

Latin style classes blend traditional aerobic dance with Latin dance moves. Fused with salsa and merengue music, the class appears more like a party atmosphere than a workout. Choreography is based on Latin dance moves such as cumbia, mambo, rumba and flamenco. Tempos are mixed between slow and fast, with choreography based on the music, not the counts as in aerobics. Classes have branched out to include beginner to advanced levels, aqua style, classes for kids and body conditioning.

Kickboxing Aerobics

Kickboxing is an high-intensity aerobics class that incorporates martial arts movements and is appealing to men as well as women. Upper body movements include the jab, cross and hook, combined with lower body kicks. According to the American Council on Exercise, participants burn between 350 to 450 calories per hour in kickboxing classes. Besides the cardiovascular benefits, kickboxing improves muscular endurance and flexibility.

References

Article reviewed by Nicholas Roman Last updated on: Apr 29, 2012

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