helpful tips for safe step training

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Jan 4, 2001

It is very important to keep your body in proper alignment. Keep your chest nice and high with upper body relaxed; lean forward slightly for a small inclination of the body; flex your knees slightly (avoid knee flexion beyond 90 degrees while stepping up); tilt your pelvis slightly forward and keep your abdominal tight. Feel tall. Step from the ankles, not from the waist!

Feet are pointed forward and in the direction of the first move. Your feet should also not tilt inside your body; what I mean is that the weight of your body should rest on the edges of your feet. If you are doing turn steps, make sure your feet and inner legs are slightly turned outward when you step up and not inwardly.

When stepping up, place your entire foot on top of the platform. It is more important o watch out for feet hanging over the edge. While stepping, it is easy to slide on th edges of the step, so make sure your footing is secure. And step down the closest to the platform as you can without actually touching it.

It is of utmost importance not to bounce or pound while exercising. Do not do it at any rate, even if you see the instructor doing it. Bouncing is bad for your back and it does not help your muscles to relax. Besides, bouncing forces you to stay on the ball of your feet, which is fine while dancing but inappropriate while stepping. On the contrary, you should use your entire foot to exercise because it helps an even repartition of your body weight.

Obviously, my next remark is: do not remain on the balls of your feet while stepping up and down. Feet should be completely in contact with the ground except when you are doing repetitions or lunges. While doing lunges, it is then very important to stay on the ball of your feet to avoid achille tendinitis. Repeaters should not exceed three to five repetitions and once again just the tip of your moving foot should touch the ground. Lunges should not exceed four to eight at a time since lunges can put too much strength on the feet. You should remember that back lunges put excessive forward pressure on your back. To avoid arching your back, when you straddle down, make sure you are stepping slightly backward, and vice versa for straddle up. This means you should describe a small triangle on the floor around your step.

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