海角大神

Treadmill聽dancing has gone viral on YouTube, but one fitness expert says she鈥檇 like to it go viral in real life, too, just like聽spinning or Zumba.

What began six years ago on Feb 26, 2009 ago with a music video by the band OK GO for their song 鈥溾�� has become a challenge dance of sorts, playing out on YouTube and on the sly in gyms across America.

聽became a viral sensation on Jan 7, 2013, when his fluid, balletic聽treadmill聽moves were captured by a fellow gym patron and uploaded to YouTube. Numerous videos, often taken surreptitiously, have been posted to the video sharing site, heightening the practice's popularity.

It鈥檚 a fitness practice that鈥檚 caught the eye of at least one major fitness guru, says fitness trainer Teresa Tapp, founder of聽聽workouts based in Tampa Bay, Florida.

鈥淚 just love, love, the聽聽video [by Carson Dean] and I think it鈥檚 going to be something much more than just a few fad videos,鈥� says Ms. Tapp in an interview. 鈥淭his is going to inspire people to stop using their聽treadmills聽as clothes hangers, dust them off and have some real fun getting in shape.鈥�

Ms. Tapp is known for her work with people of all ages and fitness levels to build the connections between what you want your body to do and what it actually does, which she terms 鈥渂iomechanic execution鈥� and 鈥渕ind-to-muscle鈥� techniques.

鈥淲hile some people are born with some degree of natural talent for doing a聽treadmill聽dance it鈥檚 really something that can be taught,鈥� says Tapp.聽

Tapp says she bases her opinion of the fad morphing into a class after she viewed a video made by the Nordic Track聽treadmill聽company titled 鈥�!鈥�

"We just had our big fitness industry trade show called IHRSA to introduce this concept to fitness centers. It will be available to consumers in the fall of this year," says聽Colleen Logan a marketer for Nordic Track's parent company.

鈥淚 know that the owners of聽聽here would have to probably sit down and think hard about letting this become a class because of the potential risk of personal injury,鈥� says Reynaldo Heywood, a representative of 24 Hour Fitness in the Bronx. 鈥淭hat being said, people who are interested in doing it are mostly going to be people who already have a level of knowing what they鈥檙e doing. Some people trying it for the first time may stumble a little. It could become a thing though. You never know.鈥�

Tapp adds, 鈥淚 can see a gym putting together all its聽treadmills聽and running聽treadmill聽dance classes. While she won鈥檛 be organizing any such classes she says she would eagerly sign-up to take one.鈥�

鈥淥h I鈥檓 dying to try it myself,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 athletic funky fun. People didn鈥檛 think Zumba or spin classes would catch on and now look at them.鈥�

Tapp says her first step will be to get on a聽treadmill聽and 鈥渟tart with a simple shuffle-ball-step you see in many aerobic classes.鈥�

Then she plans to practice walking backwards and making turns.

Tapp concludes, 鈥淭he best thing about聽treadmill聽dancing starting as a viral video and particularly the Uptown Funk one, is that the guy is so manly and cool that it鈥檚 like a crossover fitness for men. It鈥檚 also an extremely athletic thing to do.鈥�