Kathy Smith's Timeless Collection: Step Workout

Now a staple of gym culture, step aerobics is a perfect at-home exercise. Kathy Smith offers a complete run-down of stepping techniques in her...

Kathy shares her program for sexier buns and thighs.

Kathy Smith's Step Workout is a splendid introduction to step for the novice, and a solid workout for intermediates. The main workout consists of three 12-minute, progressive step segments. Beginners do only the first, then fast-forward to the cool-down; intermediates do the first two; seasoned steppers may do all three. The beginning segment uses very simple moves repeated frequently: the basic up-up-down-down, knee lifts, toe taps, leg curls, and leg lifts. The intermediate segment introduces more...

"It's fun, it's exciting, you burn lots of calories and fat, and you tone your hips and legs," Kathy Smith says about aerobic stepping. This workout uses "power stepping," adding jumping and hopping to the regular low-impact step aerobics. You can do the workout without the power moves if you're a beginner, or add in some of the power moves appropriate to your fitness level, or--if you're advanced--use all the power moves for a high-intensity workout. Smith teaches a solid 8-minute warm-up plus three...