Sample Class: Step R.I.S.E (Reinvented Interval Step Experience)

While step training’s popularity has ebbed and flowed since its heyday in the 1990s, it continues to have die-hard followers (and instructors who love to teach it). One way to get people interested again in this fun workout is to return full circle and bypass some of the complex choreography that turned people away. This class reinvents the interval step workout to create a user-friendly, entertaining experience that offers excellent, time-efficient results, along with improvements in strength, endurance, body composition, mobility and the A-B-Cs of fitness: agility, balance and coordination.

The benefits are many. This class

• works the lower body while strengthening the cardiovascular system;
• increases participants’ ability to work at a higher percentage of maximum VO2;
• increases postexercise energy cost and total caloric expenditure;
• encourages exercise compliance;
• increases intensity in manageable doses; and
• maximizes the use of time.

Reinvented Interval Step Experience (R.I.S.E) Details

GOAL/EMPHASIS: interval step training

TOTAL TIME: approximately 45–60 minutes

EQUIPMENT: steps and risers Note: Step height recommendation for novices is 4–6 inches. Conditioned and experienced step participants may progress to 8- to 10-inch step heights.

MUSIC: The recommended tempo is 122–130 beats per minute, faster for floor mixes. Musculoskeletal stress increases as tempo increases; faster tempos may result in limited range of motion, which can reduce workload.

STRUCTURE: This class mixes 16-count miniblocks of choreography with simple base moves and layers, followed by intermittent, repetitive and powerful moves. Fun and functional body weight moves complete each segment.

INJURY PREVENTION:

• Offer modifications.
• Balance degrees of difficulty (both technical and intensity).
• Vary musculoskeletal actions to prevent overuse and repetitive stress to joints.

TEACHING STRATEGIES:

• Introduce footwork prior to adding arm moves.
• Change only one element at a time (layer).
• Use “add-on,” “building block” and “pyramid” teaching strategies.
• When possible, cue the foot strike before naming a move.
• Change instructional orientation when necessary.

INTERVAL CONDITIONING:

The class includes repeated or intermittent work efforts that are above steady-state intensities. The effort may range from somewhat hard—rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of 4—to very hard/near-maximal (RPE of 9). Effort intervals (shaded) are followed by recovery intervals, which are performed at steady state or lower intensity.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Introduce each choreography block using one or more teaching methods (building block, add-on, pyramid, layering, etc.). Once you’ve taught the full combination, repeat it 4–8 times. This process takes 5–8 minutes per block. The strength exercises take about 1 minute 30 seconds.