Kickboxing Experience - WOW!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Well, last week I went to another kickboxing class! You can see the bags we kick & punch above. Those babies are hard suckers!!! Being a holiday week, it was a small class & loved that! The owners, husband/wife team, were there for the class too. I have a lot in common with the wife. She is 4 years younger than me but we got to talking women stuff & hormone stuff. I know, TMI for most & I will not bother you with that part! 
But, she is in great shape! She does the boxing/kickboxing, a lot of yoga & eats healthy! It shows!
So, the day was not the best so no outside in the parking lot warm up. BUT, Jessica made up for it inside with a great warm up that had me sweating like crazy before we even started the kickboxing stuff! Included in that warm up were frog hops (could not find a video on this one the way we did it), bear crawls, burpees or harder burpees and squat jumps or squat jumps like this. We did all of these without & WITH our boxing gloves on! We don't just stick with one bag. We use one of those boxing bags above but intermixed in the kickboxing class is continuous cardio too so we are moving & doing the frog hops & bear crawls back & forth thru the aisles of bags! We stop, do some combination punches & kicks & maybe some squat jumps or burpees, more combinations & back thru the bags to the other side to do more combinations. It is non stop!
We also do a lot of push-ups throughout the class. Now, I have posted a lot about my love of push-ups! Well, it is a bit hard after already doing my normal early morn gym workout & then A LOT of push-ups along with all else going on!
Last week, it had been a cardio & chest day for me in the gym. I already had done my weight chest workout along with a ton of push-ups.... well, doing more in that class, was to say the least, challenging! And with boxing gloves on too!
At the end of class, we hit the boxing ring for core & more push-ups! See that ring here. The push-ups started with our feet on the bottom rope with 5 reps each on each rope & we worked our feet to the top rope where we had to do 10 push-ups & then worked our way back down again!!!! HOLY CRAP! I do incline push-ups a lot but after the morn workout, this in itself was a challenge! I FELT IT! Course, I like that!
What did I learn: Things I already knew ..... change, no matter how hard you have worked out before, brings an amazing awareness to new ways to work those muscles! I do plyometrics & throw in burpees, crawls & so forth here & there.. BUT that constant up & down the aisles doing them, my traps & shoulders were screaming like crazy for a few days! Of course, my shoulders felt the punching portion of the workout but not as bad as last time and of course the shins! I think I may be one that if I kept this up, would use shin guards. I really want to kick harder during class which makes it a better workout BUT I know my shins are not going to survive it. I know their type of boxing does not use the shin guards but for me, it would be worth it to kick that friggin bag harder! Get back at it!
And of course, I had to play with the speed bag here. I love that thing!
So, again, I can't emphasize enough that change is so important to working out. Even my regular workouts change regularly! The body is smart so you need to keep it guessing by changing it up! Force that bod to improve & look better! And exercise does not have to be the treadmill or the gym or the lifecycle. There are many ways to get a good workout. Find ways to do things you like. Even mixing up the gym with classes that do other things like dance or martial arts or self defense & outside fun workouts. It all works you! Don't limit yourself & DO NOT LET YOUR MIND LIMIT YOU!
Well, last week I went to another kickboxing class! You can see the bags we kick & punch above. Those babies are hard suckers!!! Being a holiday week, it was a small class & loved that! The owners, husband/wife team, were there for the class too. I have a lot in common with the wife. She is 4 years younger than me but we got to talking women stuff & hormone stuff. I know, TMI for most & I will not bother you with that part! But, she is in great shape! She does the boxing/kickboxing, a lot of yoga & eats healthy! It shows!So, the day was not the best so no outside in the parking lot warm up. BUT, Jessica made up for it inside with a great warm up that had me sweating like crazy before we even started the kickboxing stuff! Included in that warm up were frog hops (could not find a video on this one the way we did it), bear crawls, burpees or harder burpees and squat jumps or squat jumps like this. We did all of these without & WITH our boxing gloves on! We don't just stick with one bag. We use one of those boxing bags above but intermixed in the kickboxing class is continuous cardio too so we are moving & doing the frog hops & bear crawls back & forth thru the aisles of bags! We stop, do some combination punches & kicks & maybe some squat jumps or burpees, more combinations & back thru the bags to the other side to do more combinations. It is non stop!
We also do a lot of push-ups throughout the class. Now, I have posted a lot about my love of push-ups! Well, it is a bit hard after already doing my normal early morn gym workout & then A LOT of push-ups along with all else going on!
Last week, it had been a cardio & chest day for me in the gym. I already had done my weight chest workout along with a ton of push-ups.... well, doing more in that class, was to say the least, challenging! And with boxing gloves on too!
At the end of class, we hit the boxing ring for core & more push-ups! See that ring here. The push-ups started with our feet on the bottom rope with 5 reps each on each rope & we worked our feet to the top rope where we had to do 10 push-ups & then worked our way back down again!!!! HOLY CRAP! I do incline push-ups a lot but after the morn workout, this in itself was a challenge! I FELT IT! Course, I like that!What did I learn: Things I already knew ..... change, no matter how hard you have worked out before, brings an amazing awareness to new ways to work those muscles! I do plyometrics & throw in burpees, crawls & so forth here & there.. BUT that constant up & down the aisles doing them, my traps & shoulders were screaming like crazy for a few days! Of course, my shoulders felt the punching portion of the workout but not as bad as last time and of course the shins! I think I may be one that if I kept this up, would use shin guards. I really want to kick harder during class which makes it a better workout BUT I know my shins are not going to survive it. I know their type of boxing does not use the shin guards but for me, it would be worth it to kick that friggin bag harder! Get back at it!
And of course, I had to play with the speed bag here. I love that thing!So, again, I can't emphasize enough that change is so important to working out. Even my regular workouts change regularly! The body is smart so you need to keep it guessing by changing it up! Force that bod to improve & look better! And exercise does not have to be the treadmill or the gym or the lifecycle. There are many ways to get a good workout. Find ways to do things you like. Even mixing up the gym with classes that do other things like dance or martial arts or self defense & outside fun workouts. It all works you! Don't limit yourself & DO NOT LET YOUR MIND LIMIT YOU!
Are you thinking about change to your workouts in 2010? OR EVEN TOMORROW! What ways might you change your workout to get more out of the experience? Are you thinking about doing a totally different type of exercise routine or just stepping up and/or changing your existing one? JUST DO IT, AS THEY SAY!
What ways might you change your workout to get more out of the experience? Are you thinking about doing a totally different type of exercise routine or just stepping up and/or changing your existing one? JUST DO IT, AS THEY SAY!
Great report, Jody!
I credit the martial arts more for getting me into lasting overall good shape than any other activity that I have done.
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Dr. J, today I did a straight boxing class! More on that next week BUT I am having trouble typing on the computer!
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You are really enticing me to try this. I am going to have to place some calls and see if I can find someone around here that offers this type of training.
To answer your question - yes, I am going to be changing things up a bit, but not until I hit the walking goal.
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Steve, as I said to Dr. J, today I did the boxing class... what a workout! Loved it & really worked things I did not know I had!
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Sounds like fun!
I definitely mix things up now and then. It keeps me interested!
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Cammy, it is fun! I mix it up a lot in the gym but this is major mix & a good one too!
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I'm not good with change. The desire is there, especially during quiet moments like going to bed or sitting in church. Once I get up (and running behind), I'm on automatic and just do what I see in front of me that needs to be done (feed kids and the pets, clean this and that, etc). And, because I usually don't see me in front of me, I don't get done.
So, as far as working out, before I can step it up, I have to have something to step up. In other words, my change is to get a real work out in.
I wish I had one of those bags in my kitchen/dining/living area. There's moments where I just want to punch something.
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Change is hard but good, Gina. Just starting is a good step.
Hey, you can buy these bags. They are fun to punch! Gets the aggression out!
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This is so true! Where is the pix of you in action? would love to see it...better yet a video!!
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Sian, it is lame but I don't know how to do the videos for the blog yet. Need to get hubby help. I will see about the front desk person taking my pic next time.. from the back! My face without make-up... NOT GOOD!
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This is a great lesson. I know that I get stuck in the routine of doing the same old thing in the same old way every day. Whenever I move outside my routine, I feel it the next day, even if the workout doesn't "feel" as strenuous while I'm doing it.
Good for you for pushing yourself in new ways, Jody. You're truly an inspiration.
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Jack, I work out really hard & this makes me feel muscles that I know I have but I feel them in different ways!
Plus, I love that punching stuff!
Thx for your kind words. I don't consider myself an inspiration. I just am trying to keep up with you younger folks!
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I love how you challenge yourself to the max all the time! I need to make sure I do this more often!
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Lori, you do challenge yourself from what I read! Amazing! Always fun to mix it up if ya get the chance. I will miss this once my time is up!
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So hardcore!! Variety in fitness is definitely key. Got to avoid those plateaus as much as you can.
Thanks for sharing the pics - the speed bag DOES look like a lot of fun...could take my daily frustrations out on that thing
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Amanda, that speed bag along with those big bags will definitely help you work out some aggressions!!!
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I think from now on you should only post your kickboxing posts... because it makes me wanan hit up my heavy bag, even though its -20C over here in Canada right now.
SO instead I went snowboarding over the entire weekend and now I'm back. Busted up to the MAX. I haven't fallen on my ass this many times since the time I learned how to walk. Oww..
No pain, no gain. I can no officially snowboard.
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FJ, sounds like you really did a job on yourself but fun! My youngest stepdaughter loves to snowboard! -20C is a bit too cold for me!!!!
I did straight boxing today & will post about that next week!
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No one would ever say that you don't have a lot of courage, stamina and focused goals. You are an inspiration to me everyday!
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Diane, thx to you, I got to experience this! I sure will miss it when my time is up! You are the inspiration to me!
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