After a decade of encouraging people to step up and down in the name of fitness, Gin Miller has another deceptively simple idea: Step forward. Step backward. And do it on a fancy, rubber-covered incline.
Called Ramping, Miller’s new cardio workout complements step training, the popular group fitness workout she developed in the early 1990s. The workout drew many people to aerobics for the first time. But though step and other cardio workouts develop the quadriceps and emphasize a forward motion, Ramping targets the often-ignored muscles of the back of the leg including the glutes (butt), calves and hamstrings. Miller said she recognized a need for a complementary workout to step years ago but only recently came up with the concept of Ramping.
The key to Ramping, said Miller, who recently was at Chicago’s McCormick Place demonstrating how to use the tri-colored incline, is the backward motion. The workout centers on the push and what muscles kick into gear when you’re stepping back off an inclined surface.
Slower and gentler than step, Ramping is nothing more than stepping back and forth on a stationary object to music. It’s ideal for beginning exercisers or those who are overweight and severely out of shape, Miller said. But with telescoping legs that can adjust the incline angle between 15 and 20 degrees, it can be modified for more advanced Rampers.
“The future of fitness is programs that make our bodies injury-proof,” said Miller, who calls Ramping “booty camp.” “When strength and stability are balanced with flexibility and mobility, you have an injury-proof system.”
Miller was also searching for something to revitalize step training, which has fallen from 3.3 million health club participantsin 1993 to 2 million in 2002, according to the International Health Club and Racquet Sports Association. Group exercise–which once only meant aerobics–now includes tai chi, yoga, Pilates, spinning and cardio kickboxing.
“What we’ve seen is an explosion in the diversity of classes, which helps clubs keep their veteran members interested and engaged and makes group exercise more accessible for people who don’t feel comfortable with more dance choreographic classes,” said Bill Howland, director of research for the association.
But Miller’s camp believes that with rising obesity rates, the trend is away from more meditative workouts and back to cardio.
“You’re not going to get calorie burning in contemplative programs like yoga or core classes like Pilates,” said Phil Trotter, manager of the Ramp Co., which produces and markets the product for Miller. “We’re where we were in the early 1990s. There is a lack of innovative things that can sustain themselves. We’re bringing in something that new people can come in and do.”
At the recent Club Industry Expo, Miller, a vibrant 47-year-old, tirelessly demonstrated the equipment: a green, blue and purple half-circle that tilts slightly toward the ceiling. Ramping uses four basic moves, called presses, lunges, rocks and chops. When done on an incline, it focuses on the extension of the leg muscles, rather than flexion.
About 20 U.S. gyms have purchased Ramps for a class, but a home Ramp and video kit for less than $100 are due in time for Christmas. A strength training program and a yoga program are due next year.
“It’s not just working the quads like in step, it’s working the back of the legs and isn’t as tightening for the hip flexors,” said Kelly Nyhan, group fitness manager at Lakeshore Athletic Club Downtown in Chicago, who has tried Ramping and also teaches step. “It’s nice for beginning or older exercisers or those with a lot of overuse injuries.
