I am probably the most sedentary person I know, and the more I’ve put off working out, the more embarrassing it became to work out in front of the elliptical busting sorority girls at Blomquist. But the day I bought a stepper, all of that changed. I never have to fear judgment from people in an aerobics class, nor do I have to walk home looking like a sweaty mess. It’s just me, my stepper, and Seasun Zieger on my laptop burning calories in the comforts of my own room.
You can purchase a stepper at a variety of prices and sizes.
• The cheapest ones are around $25, then they go up to about $50, and the professional ones are at $70. (Since I wasn’t doing aerobics that seriously, I bought one that was $29 from Amazon.com)
• The average stepper is 27’’ by 14’’ and start at 4’’ tall.
• They can usually be adjusted to 6’’ and 8’’ tall when you feel like you want a challenge.
• Most can fit neatly in the middle of a dorm room as small as Hinman’s so any room bigger than that will definitely be able to accommodate it.
• Make sure you have space around the stepper as well for all the off-stepper moves.
The next step is to find the perfect DVD (Find the list of top 5 aerobics step DVDs below).
• Make sure you read the description of the workouts first; some involve more choreographed dances, while others focus on cardio routines. If you’re someone who gets dizzy easily, pick a routine that would not involve as many turns and spins.
• The DVDs should be labeled beginner, intermediate and advanced so choose accordingly, or you will lose patience with the advanced workouts as a beginner.
• Most workouts are between 30mins to 45mins long with a 15min warm up and cool down option.
• An average person who weighs 125 pounds will burn 398 calories per hour doing low impact step aerobics, according to J.L. Smith, a Yahoo Health columnist.
• You can burn up to 600 calories per hour doing high impact step aerobics. (The first day I started doing step aerobics, I started with a 15 minute warm up, but between the jumping jacks and stepping, I found myself sweating profusely before the warm up was even over)
Step aerobics mainly tones your thighs, glutes, lower back, quads and abs, so if you’re bottom heavy like me, start stepping, and you’ll find yourself bikini ready just in time for summer.
TOP 5 STEP AEROBICS DVD from LIVESTRONG.COM
1) Kari Anderson’s “Go”: an easy to follow routine designed for beginners; one 30 minute workout and a more challenging 45 minute workout with customizable elements.
2) Katina Hunter’s “Step Party”: includes 45 minutes of energetic dance moves that mainly works on cardio.
3) Kathy Smith’s “Step Workout”: 50 minute step routine featuring three segments of increasing difficulty. Hand weights are recommended as well.
4) Gilad’s “Step Aerobics”: An intermediate, fat-burning workout that tones abs.
5) Amy Bento’s “Advanced Step Challenge 3”: a more complex step routine for advanced steppers in a total of five workout combinations in 140 minutes.