Aerobics Expands to Krav Maga, Zumba, Yoga and More

If misery ever loved company, it's during exercise.

There are thousands of fitness nuts who bike, run, kayak, power walk or other activities alone and with no prompting.

Then there are the rest of us. The ones who need a leader or at least others in a class to help us stay motivated to work out. And the class has to be fun, something to look forward to, or we find reasons to skip. So we flock in groups and hope to collectively get fit.

The pain of buns burning in a spin class is more tolerable if the person next to you is also suffering.

Since Dr. Kenneth Cooper published his groundbreaking book "Aerobics" in 1968, people stopped using those machines with a belt that just jiggled their fat and learned to concentrate on the most important muscle in the body: the heart.

We've learned that it's not enough to maintain a healthful diet, but we also have to crank the ticker up at least 50 to 85 percent of the maximum heart rate and exercise at least three times a week.

And that's what people did for years. They went to generic "aerobics" classes taught in gyms by ex-cheerleaders who would lead the unfit to run in place and wave their arms for an hour.

But you'll be hard-pressed to find just an "aerobics" class anymore. Classes have evolved. Now you can sweat like a plow horse while holding 26 yoga poses at Bikram Yoga, get your Latin groove on in a Zumba class, kickbox, aerobox and climb up and off a step at gyms around the city.

There's Jazzercise, bootcamp, aerobics in the swimming pool, belly dancing, spinning and Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense technique. There's Pilates, where a slight move here or there will leave you sore for days, and classes with catchy names like No Pain No Gain. Some classes use weights, rings or rubber balls the size of an ottoman.

Through the years, the Cooper Institute and others who study fitness have rethought earlier recommendations on the level and amount of exercise needed to stay fit.

Most agree that doing only one type of exercise doesn't cut it. Just like a well-rounded diet, exercisers need variety for overall fitness.

Some classes help you lose weight through cardiovascular training, others tone or build muscles, some improve flexibility and endurance, said Scotty Esquibel, group exercise director for the Dallas-based Cooper Fitness Center, which is part of The Cooper Institute.