Step aerobics is the kind of aerobic exercise that is unique in comparison to other forms of aerobics. This uniqueness primarily comes from your usage of the elevated platform that accounts for the "step" in step aerobics. A good thing about this form of exercise is that it can be tailored to your own height, no matter if you're short or tall. All that is required is the use of risers strategically placed underneath the step. If there is one woman to thank for the current popularity as well as ubiquity of step aerobics, it is Gin Miller who innovated step aerobics in the late '80s, when she also struck a deal with the Reebok company to market her brand of step aerobics. The main purpose and benefit of step aerobics is its role in getting you to burn fat.

Step aerobics is an effective workout because it gets right down to the reason that people gain weight and become heavier than they want to: body fat accumulated from taking in too many calories. As you work out by way of step aerobics, you're actively increasing the amount of calories that your body burns; as you do so, you're making sure that your body begins to burn its stored fat. What's great about step aerobics is that the stored body fat it burns is also that pesky and annoying ring of fat around your stomach, long the subject of frustration in people of all ages. You also get a small bonus when you do step aerobics: parts of your body are also developed and shaped. The muscles in your upper as well as lower body get worked out.

Step aerobics are an effective way of burning your stored body fat and also, consequently, burning off calories that you take in. 450 calories are burned off in a 45-minute session of step aerobics. Imagine the implications that this holds. In just less than an hour, you're burning off almost half a thousand calories, allowing you to eat a corresponding amount of calories for that day without weight gain being a problem. Since step aerobics is also enjoyable due to the fact that it is often practiced in a communal group setting, the time you spend doing it will seem more like recreation than actual exercise.

Step aerobics is so great because it leads to the improvement of health in other ways besides weight control through calorie-burning. When you lose fat through this exercise, you are less likely to succumb to illnesses that being overweight carries with it, such as heart disease and other effects from obesity. Because vigorous exercising leads to the release of endorphins in your brain, step aerobics also has mental health benefits in that it betters your mood.