Aerobic Dance and Cheerleading

For over 30 years, aerobic dance has been one of the most popular forms of cardiovascular exercise in America. Step/bench aerobics has evolved from a high-impact aerobic “exercise dance” form with a high degree of lower extremity injuries to a safer form of low-impact dance. The reduction of impact shock to the lower extremities has aided in the reduction of the number of lower leg and foot injuries seen by the sports medicine specialist. Initially, aerobic dancers would participate in their workouts on a floor consisting of a thin carpet and padding overlying an unrelenting concrete floor. Both exercise physiologists and sports medicine specialists saw the need for change in the surface and promoted the high-tech air-suspended wooden floor surfaces. The reduction in these injuries has been multi-factorial. For instance, the aerobic dance instructors and the participants are better trained and much more informed than they were years ago. Cross-training and new facets to the exercise routine with the addition of “kickboxing” and “urban rebounding” have helped to break up the routine and help to reduce injuries. Health magazines, instructor certification, improved aerobic and cross-training shoe design, better supervised instructors, and a better educated medical community have all led to the improvement and prevention of injuries [1].