Examples of Dance Steps for Cardio Warm Up Routines

You need to warm up all of the major muscles used during a cardiovascular routine to prepare the body for exercise. This reduces the chance for injury and prepares you for more complicated dance sequences. If you incorporate certain dance steps at the beginning, your muscles and joints will be ready and you can enjoy the routine with the addition of fun dance steps. Use traditional dance, country line, Latin, belly dance and other styles for inspiration.

  1. Grapevine

    • The grapevine is a basic dance move (country line dancing) that can be used to create more elaborate dance sequences later. To perform it, stand with both feet together. Then step out to the side with the right leg and cross the left leg behind the right for your next step. Then the right leg steps again to the side and the left leg steps next to the right so that you have feet together as you did at the start of the move. Reverse the steps to move to the left. You can perform a grapevine right and then left, link two grapevines together or add turn steps and more to this basic step.

    Mambo

    • The mambo is a Latin move that uses leg and hip muscles. Standing with feet together, step forward with the right foot, pick the left foot up off the ground and back down in place and then step back with the right foot and pick the left foot up again and down in place. This can be performed with the opposite leg next. You can add arms or not. You can also do a right mambo then three steps in place (either as marches or as a cha-cha-cha) and then do a left mambo. You can also perform the mambo as a step back instead of a step forward.

    Hip Circles

    • Hip circles are a belly dancing move.

      There are many belly dancing moves that make great warm up steps like shimmies, isolations, and hip circles. To perform hip circles, stand with your feet about 6 to 8 inches apart. Then make small circles with your hips and pelvis clockwise. Do not move your legs. Repeat going counterclockwise. You can add to this move by performing figure eights --circle your hips to the right first and then to the left.

    Samba

    • The samba is a Latin dance move that warms up the abdominal and hip muscles. Essentially, you step to the right four times leading with your right leg and hip. Then you step to the left four times, leading with your left leg and hip. Hold your arms above your head or out to the side while performing these steps. Be sure to contract your stomach muscles and push with the leading leg and hip and then drag the back leg along.