Workout provides proper first Step

Vanessa’s Thoughts:

I think Step class fit my fitness level the closest out of the programs. I was doing OK from the warm up until the time I left, which was just before the abdominal workout portion of the class.

Our instructor began by showing us some of the basic steps. I watched from the back row, and tried to keep up with the people in the front row.

The steps we learned were simple enough for a person with little or no coordination to pick up. Toward the peak of the workout, I had some trouble doing the same moves as everyone else, but I just compensated by doing my own thing.

That’s the beauty of Step class. It’s fun, and if you get lost along the way, you can just make up your own routine: step up, step down. Although there were some people who knew what they were doing and who actually followed the routine, some of us in the back were quite happy being on the wrong foot or stepping up when everyone else took a step down.

Chris Pickard/Chief Photographer Jenny Schuster, a staff writer at The Exponent, works out to the Step aerobics class at the RSC.

I had a lot of fun, and I might go back for a few more steps.

Elizabeth’s Thoughts:

The Step class at the RSC was cool. We started out by doing some basic moves-you know, step up, step down. Then when the dedicated steppers in the front of the class were warmed up, we launched into the world of step aerobics. We learned a routine piece by piece (which was really hard for me because I lack coordination) and then put it together. There was a lot of stepping, of course, and knee lifts. The best part about this class, though, was that I could make the routine as hard as I wanted to.

You had the choice of using one, two, three or more risers. The more risers you used, the higher you had to step and the harder the workout became. Then, if you got really tired, you could even get rid of the step all together and do the routine on the floor. At the end of class we did some stretching and sit-ups to achieve the total body workout. And before I knew it, the class was over.

I really liked Step because although it required coordination, it didn’t matter if you changed the routine a little to suit your own needs.

Tom’s Thoughts:

Step class is deceptively simple. Bounding up and down off of one of Reebok's specially designed Step benches, the instructor attempts to find clever ways to make climbing flights of stairs amusing for an hour

To clarify, I'm a 150-pound asthmatic weakling whose closest contact with aerobics is walking past Tae Bo videos on my way through the video store, and even that can wear me out. Nevertheless, I boldly accepted the assignment to climb and climb and climb for an hour of my life without going anywhere but the edge of unconsciousness.

After five minutes, I had found my rhythm and no longer felt as gangly and uncoordinated as my classmates. Unfortunately, this is the portion of the workout those in the know refer to as the 'warm up'. Soon, intricate patterns of bounds, leaps, pivots, and whirls were added turning step climbing into an exercise in cruelty with the choreography of a ballet.

One hour and one asthma attack later, I painfully realized all the stairs I'd have to climb to get back to my room and that this was just the first of the classes I had to review.

Laura’s Thoughts:

The step class I attended was difficult because it was the first one I had been to. The instructor did not explain all the moves very well, and therefore it was hard to follow for a beginner. We started out with a warm up and then moved right in to the harder stuff. This step class was strenuous. I definitely felt it in my legs the next day!

We did a series of five or six different moves and then repeated this series a few times, adding some new combinations. This repetition made it a little easier to follow later in the class once I got the hang of it. Overall, I think the class is for people who are more experienced with step aerobics and know the different moves and techniques required.

Jenny’s Thoughts:

The intensity of the step aerobics workout at the RSC was just right for my fitness level–it elevated my heart rate for the recommended 45 minutes and even included some abdominal work. During the step portion of the class, I used muscles I usually don’t exercise in my normal machine—oriented workout, and I was still sore days later from it.

I attended Step at the RSC before I went last Friday. However, I was quickly reminded why I don’t go all that often. At first, the moves in the class seemed easy enough to follow–stepping up and down and jogging around the step. However, later in the workout, more complicated motions were incorporated into the workout, leaving beginners totally confused, with some of them stopping to attempt to figure the routine out. After a few times through the motions I generally understood them, but still felt somewhat frustrated.

Back at home in Indianapolis, I attended step classes at our local Jazzercise. I liked its format for all aerobics classes better than that of the RSC because the moves were easier to understand, and more than one water break was allotted during the class time. Overall, I felt that the workout I got at Step was above average, so I may attend that class again.

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