Many girls and women, who are the main contingent in fitness rooms, are embarrassed by their clumsiness when learning step combinations, so it will be easier for them to familiarize themselves with the first steps of aerobics at home. To do this, you should choose pleasant music with a clear rhythm and begin to master the steps.
Gymnastics to rhythmic music
What is aerobics, you can understand by imagining how a person does various exercises (for example, squats or swinging his arms) to the music, trying to get to the beat. This can be a multiple repetition of one element or a quick change of different, sometimes completely different muscles: one movement is the leg, the second is the arm.
Over time, the basic movements in aerobics become more complex, combined and the load increases: calories are burned, the work of the heart muscle and the entire cardiovascular system as a whole increases, various muscle groups and joints are worked out perfectly.
The aerobics instructor conducts the lesson, naming the exercise or direction of movement, counts down the required number of repetitions and in every way motivates the group, monitoring the correct execution.
The main types of aerobics
In order to determine the choice of the necessary aerobics program, you immediately need to find out what the priority is: to lose weight, strengthen the muscle corset, relieve negative and psychological fatigue, increase self-confidence or work out individual muscle groups. Based on this, a direction is chosen from the traditional ones, which will give the basics of basic steps in aerobics and will become a good foundation for all further sports life. So, consider in more detail:
- Dance Jam is a mixture of dance styles of different styles to improve coordination, relieve stress and improve overall body tone.
- Step aerobics is a lesson using special equipment in the form of a step, which you need to climb and descend with various types of steps and jumps.
- Tai-bo: the brainchild of Billy Blanks, a world-class trainer with five (!) Black belts in various martial arts. High-speed aerobics, including the elements of boxing, tai chi, kickboxing, taekwondo, is one of the most effective for burning calories.
- Power Aerobic is a power type of aerobics that uses a lower pace, but at the same time has various types of weights in its arsenal: dumbbells weighing from 1 to 2 kg, a gymnastic stick weighing up to 30 kg, which is called bodybar, fitballs (rubber balls with a diameter of up to 70 cm) and other devices.
Aerobics on the steppes
The step platform is a special simulator for aerobics, having the form of a rectangular step from 20 to 50 cm in height and about a meter in width, it is abbreviated as "step". Using this platform, various steps are taken, their combinations from the basic steps of aerobics to intricate compositions that train not only the body, but also the mind, because sometimes it is very difficult to remember these bundles of movements. This type of exercise is called "step aerobics", it is one of the highly shocking techniques that focus on working out the muscles of the legs, buttocks and coordination of movements.
It is step aerobics that is one of the most beloved and second most popular after tie bo. It is she who perfectly makes it possible to master the basic steps in aerobics, which then are perfectly applied in other types of rhythmic gymnastics.
Where to begin?
If you have no desire or opportunity to purchase a step platform, then instead of it you can simply put a dense pillow (for example, from the sofa) on the floor and work on it to master the first basic steps of aerobics. If the platform for the steppes is acquired, then you can immediately learn on it, but set a small height so that initially you do not heavily load the muscles and allow them to adapt. What is aerobics, have already figured out, so you can begin to learn the movement.
Basic steps used in most workouts
Step aerobics exercises usually have names denoting the movement required at the moment, but there is some confusion: the instructors sometimes call them standard names in English, but some modify them into Russian or have their own slang variants, formed for easier memorization, for example, The Knee up step is often referred to simply as the “knee”. Therefore, it is worth learning the movements along with all the options for voicing them.
- Kick, or max - this is a straight leg forward and upward movement, if possible to the horizontal level of the floor, slight rotation of the foot outward is permissible. At the count of "times", a step is made with the leading foot (with which you need to start moving), and Kick does the opposite.
- Push Touch (or forward touch) is similar to the usual touching of the foot with the toe to the floor: the foot is brought forward slightly on the first measure of the measure, and the toe touches the floor, the foot returns to its original position on the second count. Further repeated from the other leg. The emphasis of this step is in pressure toe to the floor, like a light push or knock.
- Jumping Jack (jump or suffering) implies two jumps: the first is a jump + legs to the sides, the second is legs together. There is a modification in which, in addition to jumping to the sides, there is also a movement displacement forward or backward.
A few more easy steps to learn
- March (march) is an exaggerated, that is, a very clear, with highly raised knees step in place with additional work of the hands.
- Step-touch (step-touch, added step). On the “one” count, a step is made forward, backward or to the side with one foot, and on the “two” count, the second leg is attached to it, with the emphasis more on the toe than the entire foot.
- Double Step-touch is a variant of the previous step, but they are done two in a row in one direction.
- Squat is a regular squat with wide hips apart, often with a slight torso forward. At the "time", a step is taken to the side with simultaneous bending of the knees, at the expense of "two" return to the starting position. It is important that at the time of the squat, the knees look where the feet are directed, otherwise an inadequate load on the knee joint occurs. It is also desirable that the knee line be slightly wider than the ankles.
Stage number 2: from simple to complex
After mastering the primitive steps, one should proceed to the second level, in which a sense of rhythm and the ability to control a “broken” rhythm should already be present. Let's consider some of them:
- The V-step is often called simply the basic step in step aerobics, as it is very often used in respite moments when you need to restore breathing, but not allow the body to stop. It is also used between combinations of combinations. There is a four-step vi-step: a step right forward and a little to the side, left forward and to the side, then right back to the original, and the left is attached to it.
- Mambo resembles the basic movement of Latin American dances: step forward right, left take a step in place, right take a step back, and left step in place. Something like a basic step march, but with a shift in the movement forward and backward. Also, the mambo step can be done by moving to the side.
- The Cross step sometimes creates confusion, because it contains not only back-and-forth movement, but also cross-leg movement, which is difficult for some beginners to perceive. At the count of “times”, a step is made forward and simultaneously crosses the second leg, which takes a step back to the next count, then at the count of “three” the leading leg takes a step in its direction, and the second is attached to it at the final stage of the count.
Connect the elements
After learning the individual steps to the music, we begin to make them using our step platform (or its sketch in the form of a newspaper spread out on the floor). It is important to ensure that the leading legs alternate, that is, we immediately perform the movement, starting from the right, then the same from the left. Over time, a motion picture will appear that resembles a simple dance - this is aerobics.
When there will be ease in movement and tolerable coordination, we try to change elements as often as possible, setting a different element for each new beat.
Dance step
When simple bundles of steps in step aerobics will be learned and worked out to automatism, a new level comes into effect: dance step program, or dance on the steps. For a beginner, this looks like the height of skill, but in fact the secret is to use a variety of movements and change them frequently, while adding swings and clapping hands, spinning on toes and jumps.
And despite the fact that in appearance it already looks a little like the usual simple aerobics, for the body and especially the cardiovascular system, this is a rather noticeable load, not counting the active work of the brain, because it is important to be focused in order to get in time with the right foot, to orient yourself that further, and at the same time breathe evenly, following the correct placement of the feet on the platform. When this stage is mastered, it will be possible to go to group classes, because the company is always more fun to do, and there will be an additional incentive to keep up.