Health Articles
You may have read posts by our blogger, Jeanne Simpson, about the various zany fitness classes that she loves to try, but it turns out she’s also a dance fitness instructor herself. Read on to learn more about her signature Choreo-bics class, and how Steel HR helps her ensure her students get an effective cardiovascular workout.
A few months ago, I created a dance-based fitness class called Choreo-bics. The best way to describe this new class is that it’s a musical theater exercise class featuring cardiovascularly challenging dance numbers in a variety of Broadway styles. Although my goal is to provide a high-intensity cardio workout, I could never actually be sure that I was delivering on that promise until I got my Steel HR.
Excited, yet nervous about the results, I activated the workout mode on my new Steel HR just before my class began. As always, this Withings watch would automatically track the steps taken during my dance class, but now I would also get extensive heart rate information.
The Steel HR graph pictured here tells the whole story of my class. Choreo-bics starts with a traditional dance warmup and stretch section, and then we learn a piece of choreography. Every four to six weeks, we learn a new dance from a different Broadway show. Once a class has mastered a dance number, we run it again as part of our cardio each week, so folks who have been in class from the beginning will eventually know several numbers.
In fact, the class often feels more like rehearsal for a show than a fitness class, because we review and run through the previously learned numbers before learning a brand new one. You can see in the graph where my heart rate increased from moderate to intense as we started to dance through the numbers, and then goes up and down as we start and stop to learn new steps. I was relieved to see that I achieved and sustained intense and even maximal heart rate levels during the class.
Activity trackers
What do we actually learn in the classes?
Since the class began, we’ve shared lots of laughter and sweat. And now, thanks to my Steel HR, I can make sure our goal of getting fit while we have all this fun is also being met. The LED display makes it so easy to take a quick heart rate check in the middle of a jazz square, and the workout mode serves as a great planning tool for a fitness instructor of any kind. From now on, I can use the Steel HR to track the cardiovascular intensity of each of my dance numbers, which is a lot more scientific than just monitoring my students’ sweating and panting.
Oh and if you were wondering, my graph also shows that the only other big activity of my day was pumping the gas pedal of my car. LA folks are crazy for exercise because we spend most of our time just sitting in our cars. Until someone invents a car you can drive standing up on a treadmill, we’ll have to keep finding pockets during our day for classes like Choreo-bics!
If you love Broadway but find yourself far away in LA, come dance with us! Now I can promise you a solid cardio workout — with a side of jazz hands.
