Saturday, February 5, 2011

BodyAttack 101: 03 Aerobic

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway." -Mary Kay Ash

Two down, 10 to go! The good news is, if everything is done correctly up to this point, this is where the participants get their first challenge of sorts. Mixed impact can arguably be done entirely low, but even if half or more is done high, the heartrate is still climbing. In the aerobic track, the heartrate is up in the training zone. The entire song, you're burning calories at a pretty steady rate. As implied, Aerobic is Aerobic in the BodyAttack 3D world.

This track features what's probably THE signature BodyAttack move... the Superman. (This is a different Superman then you see in track 5/upper body... more on that later). The superman features one leg pointed out at a 45-degree angle with the opposite arm up and out at a 45-degree angle. The fist is flat as if holding a candlestick. You'll see this move in a lot of the Attack marketing materials, and in almost every aerobic track there ever was (I can only think of one track that doesn't have any). In some older releases, it's also featured in tracks 8/interval and/or 9/power, but it's been a while since we've seen that.

Other common moves in the aerobic track include single knee lifts and double knee lifts with single or double arm punches, crossover knees, shuffles, and Attack style jumping jacks. A standard combo includes either single or double knees followed by double knees, supermans, and either a shuffle or jack. Recent tracks have played with this a little bit, and we've even had one track with a completely different move (see below).

One thing I find interesting is that musically, I have the most problems with this track. There aren't that many that I love. At this point in the post, I haven't written my "Top 10" yet. Let's see if I can make it to 10!

  1. 67 - Gimme Gimme More - It was in my training release and to this day I still think it's the best (it's one of only 2 songs from my training release that I actually did for about a year after training... training gives you serious burnout from a release!) The song is a lot of fun (everyone knows it) and provides lots of room to play with the lyrics! In addition, the choreography blocks build nicely and there's a really fun combo at the end where you do 3 crossover knees followed by a forward turn. It takes a few times to get the hang of it but once you do, you really feel like you've got mad skills!
  2. 55 - Work Me Down - I love the song first of all (everyone knows I'm a song person... if I like the song, I'll like the track). The choreography isn't cookie cutter. It features a run forward with punching arms, followed by a ski jump. At the end of the track, there's a shuffle-pivot turn combo. It's not done too often at my club, probably because the pivot turn is HARD (I can't really do it right myself!) Have fun with it, and "work work work!"
  3. 58 - La La - Ashlee Simpson? I like the remix much better than the original here. Combo is more typical of a track 3, although there is a combo with a single knee lift and raised arm followed by a clap back. It's also got a fun booty-shake right at the end that my members love when I do it (because I'm a dork, not because of my booty!) It's just got a fun spunk to it. What does it mean to "La la" anyway?
  4. 57 - Little Don - The energy of this one is insane! There are only 2 combos, but they are both intense! Done correctly, this track rivals a track 9 for intensity. The crowd has a lot of fun with it too!
  5. 70 - Me Against The Music - This is the track that doesn't have any Supermans! (Or is it Supermen? Anyway...) Lisa introduced a fun new move called a bow-tie run. You run diagonally to the right corner of the room, run straight back, run to the left corner of the room, and then back again. Eventually you sub in running back for a shuffle, then a jump jack. This was a really fresh take on the Aerobic track. It's nice to see something different that really works. I'll often pair this track with either an older 8 or 9 that has the Superman, so that they get it one way or another (similarly to using a Plyo track with no lunges and a track 9 that has plyos).
  6. 68 - Fire Burning - A more recent top 40 song. The moves are standard, with basically only 2 combos in the entire track. But the song is incredibly popular, the moves fit it perfectly, and my Attack trainer Brent presented it on the DVD. What's not to like? :)
  7. 66 - Fly On The Wall - Although the song isn't my favorite, there's a shuffle combo as well as a step behind combo that are unique to this track. 66 really pushed the mark higher choreographically (if that's even a word!), as every track features rarely seen moves and innovation, and they all do it REALLY well! A creepy little, sneaky little fly on the wall...
  8. 63 - I Hate Myself For Loving You - The odd part about this track appearing on my list is that I don't know it! I've only done it as a participant, haven't yet learned it as an instructor. I know it's got a lot of different moves in it, but most of them are standard for track 3. The song pushes me to work harder, and I love singing with it. You took my heart away-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay!
  9. 61 - Disco Energy - As I've said for both tracks 1&2 from 61, this track is FUN! It's so different, and the combos are tricky. But it's such a departure that it's become extremely useful for variety. I don't do it very often, but when I do we have fun with it.
  10. 47 - Hot Stuff - Who doesn't know this song??? I just learned this one but it's super fun! Looking at these older tracks, you can absolutely see the program development. Tracks use different choreography, have different BPM requirements, and the overall feel is just a bit different. Still... they're oldies, but goodies!

And there you have it! A run-down of the aerobic track. Although it's not my favorite track in Attack, it definitely serves its purpose!

4 comments:

  1. What?! Hot Stuff at the bottom of top ten? The ultimate Aerobic track rated that low? Hmmmm, there's definitely something wrong with that list... Reverse it and it will look a whole lot better! ;-)

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  2. Haha!! I just learned Hot Stuff!! I'm sure it's amazing and will grow to be one of my new favorites! How's it goin Han??? We just launched 71 here... all is going well!

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  3. You need to see the masterclass to get truly inspired by Hot Stuff. This track is explosive!
    We're mixing out 71 in its entirety. It just didn't click that well with members...

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  4. Bài viết của Bạn thật hay, thank bạn đã chia sẻ.
    Trang tham khảo : quần áo aerobic

    ReplyDelete