Each week, our entertainments reporter tries out a new activity. See the latest How to.. or View the archive.
This page last updated:
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
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How to.. do Step aerobics
HOW
hard could it possibly be to walk up and down a step?
That was my first thought when I decided to join a step aerobics class.
After all, I walk up four flights of stairs every day to work - I never use the lift because I'm trying to be healthy.
On top of that, there's the underpass steps by the roundabout - they never give me any hassle at all. So just walking up and down one step should be easy, surely? Sadly, I found out, to my cost, that this is not true at all.
And I also confirmed my complete lack of co-ordination with an out-of-step routine Corporal Jones of Dad's Army would have been proud of.
The Wednesday evening class, run by instructor Sylvia Whisker, was slightly short on members this week simply because of the start of the summer holidays.
But it was probably a good job as the humidity in the Recreation Hall, off Thorpe Road, made the hour-long session a hard slog for everybody involved - especially those whose idea of how to spend a warm summer evening is sitting in an easy chair with a cold beer in their hand.
Like all aerobic activities you keep moving pretty much throughout the session - but with a step involved there are much more complicated moves involved than just marching on the spot.
Before the session, Sylvia told me the best thing was to make sure my feet were moving and not to worry so much about my hands. I was put at the back of the class too, so I could follow the moves of those all around me - a good job as I'm sure my attempts not to fall off the step would probably have distracted everyone around me.
The rhythm of the session was fast, and changed around quickly, with different combinations of moves, including jumps, runs and kicks as well as the simple step up. Several times I found myself standing bewildered as Sylvia and the group carried out a new combination of moves that seemed to alter every time I tried to keep up.
Try as I might, I seemed cursed to start on the wrong foot and be stood on top of my step when everyone else was on the ground. After the session, Sylvia explained this was entirely normal for a beginner and that it often took several sessions to work out the moves.
The class wasn't limited to using the steps though. About 10 to 15 minutes from the end the steps were taken away and the dreaded floor exercises for the tummy began - something I acknowledge I need, but something my long-lost abs have never agreed with - as I am well aware sitting up writing this. Sylvia, who has been running classes in the Recreation Hall for the past 18 years and is a fully qualified aerobic instructor, explained that the beauty of the class was that it exercised the whole body.
She said: "Step is a good fat-burning workout and a good way to burn calories. It is also a good aerobic and toning exercise, something that both men and women can do, although it is predominantly women in the class."