The original lyrics are deconstructed exercise and fitness reassembled at will by a rapper riding shotgun on the groove. fitness is a good thing to have in your life. the instructor--a striking woman dressed in an oversized black t-shirt and baggy black sweatpants, with a shock of braids tied up overhead--glides exercise and stress stretching and exercise and effortlessly to the right in an intricate sequence of hip-hop dance steps. the 30-odd students behind her exercise mimic each move to a t. “turn it, turn it!” she yells, and everyone reverses field. “grapevine! do it!” only by screaming into a handheld mike can she momentarily raise her voice above the music. “grapevine, grapevine! one more, one more! five, six, seven . . . whe-e-e-e-e-e-e-w! all right!” after 10 minutes stress of this, the instructor stops the tape. by now her students are sweating rivers and sucking wind, but they appear to be having the time of their life.

when it comes to selecting a class, this person identifies two particularly important variables: an instructor’s personality and his or her selection of music. “the music really helps make it fun,” she says. “if you like the teacher’s personality and choice of music, chances are you’ll hang and in there; if you don’t, you’ll probably have a hard exercise time sticking with it.” any gym offering aerobics classes should be able to explain which ones most stress closely meet your own needs and interests. virtual reality or virtual workout? just as the world of aerobics classes has grown increasingly diverse and sophisticated in the ’90s, cardio exercise machines have become more elaborate in recent years.

to build some muscle while doing your cardio, try circuit-training and body-sculpting classes that and roll resistance and aerobic training into one continuous routine. that’s just the tip of the iceberg. none of these types of classes is inherently better or worse than others; it depends on where you’ve been and where you want to go. “if you used to run track or play basketball, you should probably try something like a high-low class, which entails a lot of running and jumping,” she explains. “on the other hand, if you aren’t a dancer or exercise a ‘movement’ person, i wouldn’t recommend a funk or a hip-hop class, at least not initially. it’d be confusing and you probably wouldn’t get a good workout.”

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