Now, before you go crazy on me… listen to me.

I’ve been in the health and fitness industry (more specifically health clubs) for a while and I really have to say that if I were to start a club from scratch… I wouldn’t include any aerobic programs.

Why?

Because I have never REALLY seen these programs work.

Sure, I’ve seen people start to lose weight with step aerobics, but they tend to plateau extremely quickly, and plateaus lead to frustration. Frustration leads to doubt and doubt leads to failure.

Studies have shown that aerobic activities can burn valuable muscle AND have contracting effects on the heart and lungs. Now of course I don’t mean aggressive cardio routines that really challenge the body.

No, what I’m referring to is activities that attempt to “put” you in a certain target rate… you know… the vaunted “fat burning” zone.

Listen to this:

Yes, it’s true that your body burns more calories from fat when you’re operating at a certain level of exertion like it does when most people are involved in activities like step aerobics.

What you really miss out on, however, are the “afterburn” effects that other types of exercises can provide. Most people lose any and all benefits of a boosted metabolism within 30 minutes of completing a step aerobic workout. Compare that to the 72-hour boost in metabolism that interval training and weight training can provide and you can now begin to understand why many of the people who actually hit the training floor and put themselves through more grueling workouts they look and feel better than your “step”. aerobics”.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the DVDs and aerobic treadmills that come out in places like Walmart or even on TV…

Don’t waste your money.

Most people only record these tapes for a short period of time and then put them down.

Why?

No results… it’s too convenient… it becomes obsolete… etc.

Remember, your body is an AMAZING set of systems and its ability to adapt to any given stimulus is quite remarkable. That being said, the other downside to aerobic exercise is that you’re always doing the same routines over and over again and you adapt.

Adaptation = NO RESULTS

However, there is one good thing about step aerobics…

Most step aerobics classes are VERY SOCIAL and this social atmosphere really helps people stick with their training programs.

I like social programs and working out… the right social program correctly formatted will give you incredible results.

Unfortunately, step aerobics doesn’t really fit into what I would consider “proper format.”