Pump It Up

After dancing all day, all you wanna do is collapse on the couch. Hours of classes and rehearsals are more than enough exercise, right? Well … with all the stopping and starting you never really get in any aerobic fitness, which you’re gonna need if you want the stamina to perform 20-minute pieces. Ailey’s P.T. director Shaw Bronner says their dancers regularly swim, run, power walk, bike ride, or climb the stair master to keep up with Ailey’s fierce rep. Whatever you do, pump your heart rate up to 80 percent of its maximum for at least half an hour every other day. Don’t worry: as long as you use proper form, you won’t bulk up. You’ll actually turn your body into a fat-blasting machine, still burning calories long after your 30 minutes are up. Won’t it be nice to get outside and actually enjoy that summer sunshine for once?