How to Choose Music for Step Aerobics

The music you choose for your step aerobics routine will depend upon your age, level of fitness and personal preferences. The tempo of your workout is the key factor in determining what type of music you choose.

Things You'll Need

• Music

Instructions

1. Evaluate your level of fitness and expertise. Are you slowly returning to a regular workout routine after years of layoff? Are you a longtime aerobics enthusiast looking to turn up the intensity dial? Or are you somewhere in the middle? Be honest and realistic.

2. Write a game plan. Outline the length of your workout and the steps involved, keeping your preferred tempo in mind. A slower tempo is highly recommended for older people or people beginning to workout after a long layoff. Higher tempos are better suited to people accustomed to regular exercise.

3. Choose a song, ideally from your own catalog of music, that has a tempo consistent with your anticipated intensity level. Stretch yourself out, then do a practice run using the song as your workout-music guinea pig.

4. Note whether you feel exhausted or pleasantly warmed-up at song's end. In the former case, you are going to want to adjust the tempo downward. In the latter case, you're in the ballpark. Adjust the tempo upward only if the practice song failed to raise your heart rate to a noticeable degree.

5. Collect a series of songs with a similar tempo. If you're in good physical health, consider upping the intensity toward the latter half of the workout before cooling things down to finish. Create a workout CD whose total running time fills the time allotted for your workout.

6. Adjust accordingly after your first complete step aerobics workout to your new music. When the routine becomes too easy, up the intensity by choosing music with a faster tempo.

Tips & Warnings

• Music compilations specifically designed for step aerobics routines of varying intensity are frequently available at your local gym or at music and/or department stores. Ask a fitness instructor for recommendations.

• Always stretch before beginning a step aerobics routine or any other workout. This will mitigate stress on your muscles, joints and tendons and may help prevent injury.

• Check with a doctor before implementing any exercise regimen, particularly if you have been physically inactive for a long time. If you're just getting started, remember, for the sake of your health, to begin slowly and gradually up the intensity of your workout.