How To Kick and Punch Your Way To Health

Jab…Jab…kick…kick, something like that the instructors are shouting out to the class making everyone sweat their behinds off. I like to think that I have had especially of recent a decent workout ethic and I wasn’t too out of shape but let me tell you, this class I signed up for has kicked my butt to the moon. It has been a while since I have seen a puddle of sweat on the ground from a workout and we are not even talking 50 min. It’s so strange after the workout though that I am sweating like crazy, everyone has the same pain in their eyes but yet we all walk out feeling great. I mean after these classes you can tell everyone (after a few minutes of wanting to punch the instructors) walks out of the building with a smile on their face feeling pretty darn good. So, what is this type workout routine and class I am talking about?

If you couldn’t guess from the 500 hints, I am talking about boxing. Well actually I have been doing a kickboxing class, but I’ll combine the two since they are generally the same idea.

What entails kickboxing?

So, there are many franchises that have opened and have become popular it seems to be in recent years that focus on kickboxing and boxing. Now when I refer to this I am not necessarily talking about learning how to box or kickbox to become an amateur and start doing actual amateur fighting. I’m referring to the group fitness classes that give you a pair of gloves and focus the workout around punching and kicking bags. These classes are led by an instructor for less than an hour (typically) and focus on burning calories while providing an all body workout experience. For the kickboxing classes I have signed up for, our classes have an instructor shout out an action for you to do whether it be a certain punch or a kick and everyone in the group finds their own bag to perform the action called out. It’s a nice way to hold yourself accountable since the instructor is giving you the workout usually running up and down motivating everyone and you are watching everyone around you which helps when the energy level is high in the class. The workouts revolve around the punches and kicks (for my classes probably split half and half) and you have other body workouts sprinkled in as well. We have jumping jacks thrown in, a lot of abdominal workouts like planks and crunches, even some more leg thrown in with air squats etc. Overall, the workout itself is a quick 45 min or so of high intense level all body movements that can give you a solid complete workout.

What is the Learning Curve?

Ok real talk for a second. Since I always experience it and I am absolutely sure I am not the only one, these classes are very comfortable to show up for your first time and not feel out of place. Sure you may look like the new person in the group, but that is going to be the case with anything you try out for the first time. I would absolutely NOT be intimidated walking in, watching a class and potentially be thinking what the heck am I about to sign up for. These are designed to be fun, high intense workout classes that you get to work at your own pace. I need to repeat this because I think this is key. These classes are designed for you to work at your own pace. You can control how much you want to get out of each workout with the effort you provide. Honestly, I think that may be one of the best parts with these types of classes. Some days I just don’t have it and some days I am ready to take on every villain out there. Your output determines your result and each person in the class can individually determine that themselves.

Also, I want to mention how the expectation when starting out is you have no idea what you are doing which is everyone when they start out. So, don’t worry about not knowing what the class is doing since the instructors are helpful and they will help teach you the proper ways. I am talking from my experiences from both my current gym and the other gyms I have stopped in to checkout.

Who is this class really for?

These types of classes are really for all ages, sizes, fitness levels you name it. Like I have mentioned, with the classes really allowing you to control how much effort and output you want to use, it allows for all people to jump right in and join the group. From my experiences, I have seen older gentlemen, older women, young kids, people trying to lose weight, people trying to get tone, in shape and out of shape people. Literally everyone. I have seen people walk in with friends to try the classes and I have seen individuals say screw it and come in by themselves to check the classes out. And they all have survived.

Free trials

Most of these types of classes and gyms provide free trials where you get to check out the class and participate in it before you actually sign the dotted line saying, “add it to the card”. I think this is another great perk where you get to see not only if this is the right type of workout for you but if the gym is the right fit for you as well. Everyone is in their own unique situation, so even if a friend really likes this one gym do not be afraid to say it’s not a great fit for me and check other places.

Hopefully you got something out of this blog post with me talking about my experiences at a kickboxing gym and why I think it can be a really good option for you to checkout. I would absolutely 100% recommend at least checking them out and seeing if they are a fit for you. Thanks everyone for reading and check out my other blog posts as well.

Mike M.

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