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If you’re looking for a different way to progress a client’s lower-body strength, consider adding a weighted vest to the training program. Specifically, wearing a progressively heavier weighted vest while stepping may be effective in boosting lower-body power and functional ability among older women.
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Step classes are still alive! Many participants remain eager for creative yet easy-to-follow choreography. You can keep yours simple while retaining some of the frills that people enjoy. Here’s an example: This class starts with one 32-count step combination for the warmup and continues with four variations on that combo during the main segment. Try this choreography during your next step class.
Step With Variations Details
GOAL/EMPHASIS:cardiovascular workout with classic 32-count step choreography
Education is the foundation of the IDEA World Convention, but this fitness event offers plenty more than stellar instruction. For Jonathan Bernath, publicist-turned-personal-trainer, it’s where he discovered the “fitness family” that would guide him in his new career.
Read MoreThis class alternates high–intensity step combinations and drills with strength training exercises, using an interval format to create a fun and challenging workout. Cardio sections include easy–to–follow step moves, while strength segments use the step to add intensity. This format is sure to please step fans and high–intensity enthusiasts.
Step It High, Tone It Down Details
GOAL/EMPHASIS: to provide a total–body workout with a new take on a traditional step format
Follow along with Abbie Appel for a quick, intense lower body workout and learn how to effectively use the step to develop these programs for a group. This set will reignite your HIIT workouts by showing you how to use the step in a whole new way. No choreography, just timed aerobic and anaerobic intervals with progressive and athletic movement patterns to increase total work and energy expenditure.
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YogaFaith,
taught at Edge Fitness in Puyallup, Washington, is a faith-based yoga class that aims to integrate mind, body, spirit and soul. Classes focus on exhaling the chaos and clutter of everyday life to create space and wholeness. The donation-based classes include various styles of yoga and are open to all levels.
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Double Step Conditioning is a total-body workout that uses two steps set up at different heights for a fresh approach to old moves and an opportunity to infuse new energy into conditioning classes. The workout includes moderate-to-hard cardio bursts to keep people moving and heart rates elevated without pushing into anaerobic zones. Participants will appreciate the seamless flow, sweat and variations.
Double Step Details
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As IDEA Health & Fitness Association celebrates its 30th anniversary, what better moment could there be to look at step, an activity that revitalized the fitness industry? Launched in 1989 by Reebok, with creator Gin Miller at the helm, step continues to be a popular group exercise activity. The step platform is also a widely used piece of studio equipment.
Read MoreTwo decades after its introduction, step training remains a viable cardiovascular activity. Fitness centers worldwide continue to offer step on their schedules, it’s still a big draw at industry conventions, and thousands of videos posted on YouTube testify that it is thriving.
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Whoever says step is on its way out
apparently is not
watching YouTube. Although step has never truly
gone away, over the decades we’ve seen its momentum peak and fade and peak
again, the choreography advancing with each generation of steppers. Because
step has had such a rich history, classes continue to attract audiences fro…
It’s the first day of the convention, and you walk into th…
Read MoreAre you looking for a new way to motivate your step participants? Take it to the next level by using 16-count combinations in your next class. These options are fun, fast and functional. You can insert them
between blocks of 32-count combinations, giving your class a new feel, or teach them as stand-alone choreography. From dance-based to athletic, these short combos provide a challengi…
Want to get your classes started with high energy and fun, but not sure how to make it happen? Light the fire with this funky, straightforward step combination. How do you add funk? Use snaps, claps, shimmies, and hip and body rolls to jazz up traditional moves. Don’t forge…
Read Moreproblem solver
Keeping Members Happy
When the Music Slows Down
Q: A:
When teaching step classes, how can I (and my fellow instructors) successfully switch from music that is too fast to music that meets safety standards, without losing or upsetting participants accustomed to a faster pace? Our group fitness director recently talked to us about slowing down our music in order to stay within the…
Read MoreAfter more than a decade, step classes are still going strong. Our longtime, dedicated steppers are growing ever stronger—or so we assume. And our step teaching awareness is at an all-time high—or is it?
Read MoreAs fitness leaders, we desire to be creative, motivating and fresh. However, we must balance this creative drive with our responsibility to teach safe classes. To achieve a successful balance, we must not only increase our knowledge, but also apply this knowledge. We can minimize risk and maximize continued participation by applying common sense and…
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IDEA Fitness Journal
Current Issue:
December 2019
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