Step at Three Heights: One Routine, Three Intensities

The whole class dances the same step routine, but each student chooses their platform height (no risers, one or two) based on heart rate and perceived exertion. Students learn to adjust intensity within a group fitness class without dropping out of the group.

How to play

1. Safe technique: whole foot on the platform, step up facing it and step down close to it (3 min).
2. 32-count block: basic, V-step, knee up and over the top (7 min).
3. First song with all platforms at no risers; afterward, a 15-second pulse count and a Borg rating (4 min).
4. Each student picks a height for songs two and three, aiming for a Borg rating of 12 to 14 (7 min).
5. Debrief: what height each person chose, whether heart rate matched how it felt and what they would change next time (4 min).

Rules

• The whole sole of the foot lands on the platform: the heel never hangs off.
• Never step down off the platform backward.
• Platforms are at least 3 feet apart.
• Anyone who feels dizzy or has pain lowers the height or marches on the floor.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: does the routine with the arms and adjusts intensity through movement speed.
• Visual impairment: platform edges marked with high-contrast tape and verbal descriptions of the steps.
• Knee injury: platform without risers and low-impact steps.

Learning goals

• Adjust exercise intensity using objective and subjective data.
• Perform step moves with safe technique.
• Connect heart rate with the Borg scale.

Equipment for a class of 25

• step platforms: 28
• speaker: 1
• stopwatch: 1

Teacher tip

Put students who choose two risers in the back rows so nobody compares themselves. A heart rate zone chart on the wall speeds up decisions.

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