Try New Steps In Fitness

Their workout used to take them miles apart. He would jog left at the mailbox on a Saturday morning. She would walk right. There was a lot of distance in their marriage in those days, too.

Then they tried something one weekend on a friend’s advice. They skipped their Saturday morning workouts and went dancing that night, instead. And guess what? They have been burning calories check to check every Saturday night ever since. This tale is a composite of stories we hear all the time: Moving feet draw people closer.

It’s the ultimate togetherness workout. You move in a physical harmony that works towards an emotional harmony. You also tend to bring a lot of fond memories. The dance floor can be a great place to give a tiring relationship a second wind. Not just the heartstrings get pulled by the likes of a good foxtrot, however: The heart itself gets a loving tug. Studies show that steps such as the cha-cha, polka, samba, Viennese waltz  and East and West Coast swing easily can raise the average person’s heart rate enough to achieve an aerobic conditioning effect, you need not to realize it, though, because you are having too much fun.

Aha! Fun that word seems to have gotten pushed aside in recent years by all the treadmills, got busters, rowing machine and stationary bikes, no pain, no gain, has been our fitness credo. And yet very little fitness has been gain.

Surveys show that fewer than 15 % of people have been successful at sticking to the kind of three workout-a-week schedule currently recommended for good cardiovascular health. We need more fitness activities that let people have a good time.