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24 Hour Fitness, 24hourfitness.com
Instructor:Becky Hamm, a lifelong dancer, has taught hip-hop for four years. Hamm teaches many other fitness classes, including weight training and Pilates.
What is the workout:Hip-Hop is an exercise class that also acts as a dance class. While there is a focus on dancing and following choreography, the main focus is on getting your heart racing and working your body. The workout mostly consists of doing a series of hip-hop dance moves at a fast pace.
What does it cost:$15 for a drop-in class.
Who does it?:My class consisted of about 20 people of varying fitness levels. According to Hamm, the class usually fills up and brings in everyone from young women to middle aged men. Most of the choreography is same from class to class, so it's fine to drop in like I did. Going to the classes regularly can you give you the upper hand in doing moves like "The Beyonce" and remembering all of the choreography.
When:The class is offered every Thursday from 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Level:Hamm says the class fits all levels. As a beginner, I was able to keep up with the class.
Format:The class begins with a short warm up of simple grapevines and stretching.
The dancing portion of the class starts with a few simple moves. Hamm teaches the move before everyone tries it out. Usually we'd practice the move a few times before we'd start from the beginning of the dance or from a previous move. Then once the move was ingrained in our memories we'd move to the next step. Most of the moves were fairly simple and involved "pops,""stomps" and moving our butts.
For the last five minutes we did the entire dance. Hamm advised us to not worry about remembering all of the choreography and instead focus on keeping our bodies moving.
Equipment:You don't need any equipment, other than some energy and a desire to hear hip-hop.
What to wear: Normal workout clothes and shoes.
Muscles usedHip-Hop is a mostly cardio-based work out because you are constantly moving. It mostly works the legs and the core. While it doesn't feel like doing 100 crunches, all of the twisting, bending and shaking certainly works the abs.
One new move:The most fun move we did was "Stomp and Pop," which basically consisted of stomping, then popping up and extending your arms to the right and then to the left. The best part of this move was saying "What?" when you extend your arms. It gave students a chance to have fun and interact while exercising. Plus, it made everyone act more hip-hop in attitude and movements.
What's different:It's fun! It's not very often that you can say that about your workout. Plus, there is no equipment. All of the work you are doing is purely with your own body.
The entire experience was a step out of the ordinary for an indie-rock fan like myself, but I found myself getting more into the moves and getting more of that important hip-hop attitude.
What I loved:It was fun and the workout went by fast. I was more focused on remembering the choreography than I was on the workout itself. It was like working out and not realizing it.
What I didn't like: It was hard for me to remember all of the choreography, especially at the end when we did the entire dance.
Inspiration: Hamm said that having fun is her main inspiration for teaching hip-hop. "I'm inspired by the people that come," she said, "When I see people enjoying it, it inspires me."
How I felt after the class:A little bit winded.
How I felt later:My legs were a little sore but otherwise I felt good.
