Fitness & Equipment Guides > The Benefits of Step Aerobics & How to do it at Home

The Benefits of Step Aerobics & How to do it at Home

28th Apr 20

Step aerobics may not be the first choice for many people during their workout, but it does have its benefits. All you need is something to step on. In or out of the gym that is rarely a challenge to find, especially with stairs, doorsteps and other elevated items around the house! It’s so simple and still so effective as a form of cardio exercise. So much so, in fact, that we want to tell you more about it!


Want to move fast? Jump to the right section below.


The Benefits of Step Aerobics

A great place to start when looking at what makes any exercise so incredible, especially one as underrated as step aerobics, is with the amazing benefits it has to offer. That comes from the emotion involved in the exercise itself, as well as its practicality too.

The exercise is based on simple movements revolving around stepping up onto something one leg at a time and returning to the starting position. This movement means there is a constant upward travelling motion. As anyone who has tackled a large flight of stairs knows, this can be a real challenge. It’s an awesome way to get your heartbeat up and improve your cardiovascular health in the long run.

Cardiovascular Exercise

woman training

Step aerobics, as the name suggests, is a great form of aerobic exercise. That means that it’s a good cardiovascular exercise and helps to benefit your health in general. Cardio helps regulate your blood flow and keeps your heart strong and healthy enough to make everyday life safe and easy, as well as making other forms of exercise easier too as your cardiovascular fitness increases.

This has a huge effect on the body and a whole range of health benefits outside of the heart as well too, like making your lungs more efficient and giving you more stamina, into the more common goals of losing fat and burning excess calories. It reduces the risk of heart disease and other health conditions too. It’s really hard to go wrong! Even just performing the exercise to the beat of your favourite song or seeing how many steps you can do in a certain amount of time are good places to start and will help you form a workout.

Improved Bone Density

woman helping an older man exercise on an aerobic stepper

Typical of cardio exercises again, the nature of step aerobics also makes it your bones and joints get stronger as well as your muscles and heart. A lot of this is through your body dealing with the exercise you’re doing and improving so that you’re better at it next time! That’s mostly how exercise increases your bone density as a whole.

This, in turn, will make the exercise safer and much more comfortable. As long as you don’t overexercise anyway. On top of all of this, step aerobics will even help outside of the workout too, with added protection from general damage and wear and tear. There are really more benefits than you realise.

Low Impact Stepping

someone stepping on an aerobic step

The exercise itself is very low impact because of the speed of the movements involved and the constant motion not really involving any heavy movements. Low impact exercise is a great way to burn calories and improve your health, even with joint issues like arthritis. It also helps to prevent the wearing of joints in the first place, unlike activities such as running, which is very high impact and requires much more care to be taken.

If you use step aerobics often enough, the strengthening aspects of stepping will also actually build muscle around your joints and add further protection so that it can be really practical in this sense too. That’s even more of a benefit in later life, or if you have an injury that you’re trying to recover from.

Strength Increases

step aerobic with weights class

Another of the beauties of step aerobics is the number of muscles that it uses. Because of what you’re doing and for how long, your whole lower body sees the benefit. That means that everything from your glutes to your calf muscles is getting a workout. The more muscles you use, the more calories you burn and the more strength you build. That’s what really counts!

The workout’s length and intensity have a dramatic impact on this too, so you can get the results you want. If you’re just looking to be a little bit more active and live a healthy lifestyle, things are different than if you’re looking to lose a lot of weight, for example. The time that you spend in the workout and how fast you go are the biggest players. They are what you need to change to suit you personally. It’s best to experiment and find what works best for you!

Feel Good Feeling

step aerobic class

It’s not unusual to see step aerobics in classes available at gyms and leisure centres too. If you have trouble actually pushing yourself to exercise, you can get yourself motivated with guidance and music, making sure you feel at your best and enjoy the exercise you are doing. The more you enjoy doing your preferred exercise, the easier you will find it to stay focused on actually meeting your goals and staying active too.

Classes like this can bring out a more sociable side of life as well, helping you stay motivated and make friends in doing what you’re doing. Making friends in your exercise will do you and them a world of good, and it really goes a long way.

How To Do Step Aerobics At Home

Like step aerobics couldn’t get any better, it’s actually one of the easiest ways to do cardio form home too. As we mentioned earlier, there are tons of different ways to make sure you get what you need at home. It’s all in the stepping motion, and to make sure you get that, all you need is something elevated, sturdy and accessible. It can be a number of different things!

  • Stairs
  • Doorsteps
  • Sofas
  • Sturdy Boxes or Containers
  • Walls
  • A Fitness Step

It really is just down to whatever you can find at home!

Step aerobics, like any cardio really, is just another great thing to get into. It’s hard to get wrong, and it’s so accessible to do. No matter where you are in your fitness, stepping will have a place for you to start. Get fit, make friends and be as healthy as you can. No matter where you are in life, it’s hard to go wrong with aerobics like this.


fitness accessories

Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.

If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.

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