The latest fitspo trend is clubbercising— an energetic and free style dance aerobic workout with glow lights
A dimly lit venue, sound tracks of 90s club anthems blaring out from the speakers and waving around glow sticks in hands with a bunch of people you don’t know! — a perfect combination of all of these popularly known as ‘clubbercise’ will surely inspire you to move your muscles.
‘Clubbercise’ is an energetic and contemporary style dance aerobic workout. “It combines the benefits of both dancing and aerobics. It is best done in a dark room with lights turned off and the instructors hand out glow sticks to those present,” explains city-based gym instructor Poonam Sharda.
Clubbercise includes easy-to-follow routines and traditional weights being replaced with glow sticks, thereby making it a fun activity. “The whole idea of doing a workout like clubbercise sounds more like a night out than a sweaty session! It could actually make you forget that you are doing exercises in the first place and within an hour’s session you won’t even realise that you have burnt nearly 500 calories!” says zumba instructor Surbhi Pratap Singh.
Busting out of the gym and breaking a sweat with not-so-traditional workouts like clubbercise, doga (combining the elements of dance and yoga), moga (combining music with yoga) etc. is attracting the attention of city youngsters. “The best part about such workouts is that they are really simple, fun-filled workouts that break the monotony of conventional gyms,” says fitness enthusiast and amateur runner Sonali Deshpande. She adds, “Clubbercise is a holistic activity in the sense that while you move the glow sticks in a swirling pattern, you are working on your biceps and triceps and since it involves dance movements it helps in the complete involvement of knees and legs.”
Elaborating on the pros and cons of clubbercising, another gym instructor Niti Panicker puts forth, “Since nobody can really see you in a dimly lit room, so who cares about how you look while working out or dancing in the floor! But that’s also the downside — sometimes it’s a bit difficult to see exactly are your students doing and if they are doing the right steps or not. Clubbercise is excellent for those who refuse to leave the dance floor on a night out. It is like an extended weekend party minus the heels and the hangovers.”
The benefits of a dance and music based workouts are many. “From toning your muscles, to attaining flexibility and increased attention span and focus, there are several benfits of the workouts that combine dance and music. They help in relaxing and energising your body, mind, heart and soul,” adds Niti.
Hip hop, trance or funky jazz soundtracks make for a perfect workout session. “Those really old and nostalgic tracks by Fatboy Slim, T-Spoon, U2, Baby D, Vengaboys, Bobby Brown, Capella etc. among several other club hit artists and DJs are best to glow, dance and do some exercises. Addition of peppy music keeps you going. You’ll be having such a whale of a time that you’ll barely even notice you’ve worked up a sweat,” concludes Surbhi.
