What to expect at your first STEPFIT class

The hard part of a first fitness class isn't the class. It's the twenty minutes before it, when you don't know where to park, what to carry, or whether everyone else has done this a hundred times.

So here is the whole thing, in order.

Getting there

Class runs at Casa 21 Restaurant Bar & Grill, 4235 W Waters Ave, Tampa, FL 33614. Parking is free and on site. Come in the main entrance — we are already set up inside. The bar is not open during class. If you want a map and the turn-by-turn version, that lives on our Tampa page.

Ten minutes early is plenty. That's enough time to grab a platform, put your water down and pick a spot. Classes are 18 and over; if you're bringing someone under 18, come fifteen minutes early, because a parent or guardian signs the form on their behalf and stays for the session.

Where to stand

Take the middle. Not the front row, not the back wall.

The back feels safer and it isn't. You end up watching the back of somebody's head instead of the instructor, and every move lands half a count late. The middle gives you both sightlines — the instructor in front, and somebody beside you who is slightly ahead to copy when a turn confuses you.

Setting up your platform

We supply the platforms. You don't own one, buy one or carry one in.

Setup takes about ten seconds. The deck sits on risers and the risers set the height. Start with the deck flat on the floor, or on one riser. Height is the intensity dial in a step class, it stays your dial for the whole hour, and nobody is going to ask you to raise it.

The first ten minutes

Class opens with a warm-up on and around the platform at a lower tempo — basic steps, marching, a few taps. That opening is not filler: the National Institute on Aging notes that a warm-up lets heart rate and breathing rise gradually, which is exactly what the first few tracks are doing. It is also where you pick up the vocabulary you use for the rest of the hour: a basic step up and down, a V-step, a tap-up, a knee lift. Four or five moves. Most of the class is built out of them.

Yohana Veitia has led every STEPFIT class so far. She breaks each sequence down before the music picks up — counts it slow, adds the arms after the feet, then runs it. You are not expected to have it the first time through. Who is teaching a given date is on the instructors page.

The middle, which is the part that feels like a night out

Then the tempo climbs and the blocks stack. A sequence gets taught, the music comes up, the room runs it together, and it repeats and builds. Music is Latin, hip-hop, house or a mix, and every class is posted with its theme, so you know what you are walking into before you book.

This is the stretch people mean when they say it doesn't feel like a workout. The room is dark, the sound system was built for a dance floor, and you're counting music instead of reps. Then you notice you're breathing hard.

You will miss steps. Everybody misses steps. There is a base step running under every sequence, so when you lose the pattern you march in place until the next eight-count comes around and you drop back in. That is the entire recovery technique and it takes one class to learn.

The last ten minutes

The intensity comes down, the class finishes with slower work and a stretch, and that is 55 minutes, door to door.

What people said after the first one

Fifteen people came to the first class. This is what came back:

Very cool. Had a great time. Very active. Very dynamic. Very happy. Very fun. Very different.

Is this class for you?

This is an impact class — you'll be stepping up and down on a platform for most of 55 minutes. If you have knee, hip, or ankle issues, check with your doctor first. The platform is optional, and the choreography works without it.

The short version

• 55 minutes. $19.95. Platforms supplied.
• Casa 21 Restaurant Bar & Grill, 4235 W Waters Ave, Tampa, FL 33614. Free parking, main entrance.
• Athletic shoes — no sandals. Bring water, and a towel if you want one. The full kit list is here.
• Ten minutes early is plenty. Fifteen if you are bringing someone under 18.
• Up to 30 people. Most of them have never taken a step class either.