Fun Alternative to Cardio Workouts

Anyone looking to work a little more cardio into their exercise routine can tell you the biggest problems with the majority of cardio workouts - taking walks can be boring, jogging on a treadmill seems endless and uninteresting, and many aerobics routines can be hard to keep up with and have terrible music blasting along with them. However, there is an alternative to traditional cardio exercises that will get your heart pumping and let you have a lot of fun in the process!

For joggers, a common exercise issue is that after a while of building up your heart and lungs, it takes longer for your body to really start to sweat. Now, this does not mean that your only alternative is to jog faster - in fact, there is something that you can turn to that will give you the sweat-factor that makes you feel like you have really worked out without spending an hour getting to that point: choreographed dance.

Not all choreography is as complicated as it looks. For purposes of your health, nobody is expecting you to be the next Britney Spears. However, it is a lot of fun to learn some steps from your favorite performers. What are the best things about this? You can take your time, learn a dance that you want, and nobody cares if you mess up - just have fun with it!

There are a few places that you can find dancing tutorials, some of which are very good. The go-to place of course, though, is YouTube. For beginners who are searching for low impact cardio dances, Emily Summerhill (username on YouTube: Emilysum - a link to her page can be found at the end of this article) offers videos with simple, repetitive aerobic choreography to today's popular songs, including "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga and "Womanizer" by Britney Spears. Her videos, while not "tutorials" are simple enough to follow and are great for getting your heart pumping. Not only that, but these series of videos are original and unique, and I have yet to find another person doing something quite like what she offers. Give her videos a try!

I happened across the next example by accident. Another member of YouTube, JoshSource has a great tutorial up in 2 parts giving a perfect step by step tutorial of Britney Spears's famous belly dance sequence in her video "Slave 4 U." Not only is the video extremely helpful but Josh is incredibly entertaining and upbeat and makes a great teacher. I gave these two videos a try personally and had a lot of fun and worked up a sweat. I would recommend these to anybody, Josh makes the dance quite simple!

For those who are a little more advanced, or want something that will really make them feel like they have done something, there is a tape that came out several years ago called "Darrin's Dance Grooves." This tape (when I bought it DVD players did not exist, but if you wish to purchase it now I am sure that DVD copies are available now) is a step by step instructional video on some of the most popular songs of the 2000's. Included on this video are the dance moves to: "Crazy" by Britney Spears, "Bye bye bye" by Nsync, "Give it to You" by Jordan Knight (of New Kids on the Block fame), and "Digital Getdown" by Nsync. The dances are arranged in order or increasing difficulty with "Crazy" being the easiest and "Digital Getdown" being the hardest. After just a few minutes of working with this tape, the sweat will be flowing so do not forget to stay hydrated! This tape is a lot of fun, even if the songs are not ones you are a huge fan of. Fan or not, no one will be able to deny that the songs provide great beats for exercise and professional choreographer Darrin Henson puts together moves that will get you going and let you have a great time in the process. Now, if you do not feel like looking into purchasing this tape or are only interested in a segment or two from the video, every segment of the tape can be found on YouTube. Simply do a search for "Darrin's Dance Grooves" and pick your song, and get moving!

There are all great options to those who are looking for cardio exercises that are a little bit unorthodox. Unorthodox or not, these moves are sure to get your heart pumping and guarantee you some fun! Have a great time, impress your friends with your moves and improve your health - happy exercising!

SOURCES:
http://www.youtube.com/user/emilysum
http://www.youtube.com/user/JoshSource