I recently became hooked on kickboxing. Its upbeat and physically demanding workout routine really gets the blood pumping. Not to mention the weight loss involved and definition of my muscle's with each class I take. Kickboxing is a great way to reduce body fat, tone and condition your body, increase strength, cardiovascular endurance, and self-esteem, teaches self defense, and relieves stress.
This type of workout also works to improve your strength and endurance, muscle tone, coordination, balance and flexibility, plus it constantly challenges the body. The estimated calorie burn depending on your body weight and intensity is between 350-500 calories for a 60-minute class. If you are a local New Yorker, Crunch offers classes for both kickboxing and cardio kickboxing. (Check their class finder for a Crunch gym in other cities.)
Here are some beginner tips I found to be quite helpful (and avoid those bad aches):
• Never lock out your joints when performing punches or kicks.
• Only kick as high as you can to control good body alignment.
• Avoid doing too many repetitions of any one movement (for example, more than eight hops on one foot).
• Listen to your body -- if you feel any pain, stop.
Now I will be upfront, for those of you who have never tried this workout, it can be very demanding, especially if you are not used to it. When you get caught up in the moment, you can easily end up over extending joints. With experience though, you will learn how to work through a controlled range of motion when kicking or punching, and be able to execute techniques without locking any joints or causing harm. You also need to listen to your own body, and factor in your level of skill and take breaks whenever you need to.
So what do you expect from a routine class? You start off with 10-15 minutes of warm-up stretching. That's followed by a 30 minute kickboxing session complete with your fill of kicks, jabs, punches, ducks and knee strikes. Then you cool down and finish with stretching, which is important to prevent injury.
Most local gyms offer this type of class and it is a great way to relieve stress. So after the next hard day at work, head to the gym to kick your troubles away.
Comments (1)
Those push ups where a bit on the easy side. Especially for someone doing a Tae-Kwon-Do. Or any form of Karate for that matter. Talk about doing it on your fists...
Posted by BJJ | July 20, 2009 12:10 AM
Posted on July 20, 2009 00:10