How to Add Some Shimmy to Workouts With a Samba Fitness Routine

Are you tired of doing the same moves in your exercise routine? Is your everyday routine getting boring and uninteresting? A quick and easy way to liven up your exercise time is to add some elements of dance, particularly some basic samba moves. Samba is a sensual, quick and very Latin dance that gives you a great cardiovascular workout and moves all of your muscles (including some you didn’t even know you had).Adding samba steps to your routine is a great way to improve your flexibility, because all the turning you do stretches your muscles significantly. The rhythm is invigorating, and will get anyone going.The following are some basic samba steps you can integrate into your exercise routine.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

How to Add Some Shimmy to Workouts With a Samba Fitness Routine

1. Stand with your feet apart. Keep you feet as wide as your shoulders, and maintain this width after every move.

2. Move your right foot backward, but instead of taking just a step, make it bounce by bending and then straightening your leg a bit. Then step forward with your left foot and do another bounce. Bring your feet together again but open at shoulder height. Keep your knees slightly bent

3. Take a step to the right with the bouncing action, and bring your foot back to its original position. Then take a step to the left and bring your foot back.

4. Add the right music: As you are doing the exercise, play some samba music to add more rhythm and energy to your movements.

5. Exaggerated your hip movement so that you work the nearby muscles. Start with a slower tempo and then gradually work up to something faster.

6. Get into the rhythm; the faster it becomes, the faster you move and bounce, giving you a better cardio workout.

7. Add your own arm movements -- either other aerobic arm exercises that you know, or ones you make up. You may even want to use some free weights to add a little more tension into your workout.

Tips & Warnings

• Doing the samba steps for about 30 minutes can strengthen leg and hip muscles and give you an energetic cardio workout. Best of all, it can enliven your standard workout with a little bit of shimmy and extra interest.