Sunday, December 28, 2008

Cardio Kickboxing - Versatile and Effective Calorie-Burning Workout

By Robert Vecchioni

Cardio Kickboxing is truly a full body workout. The class involves both upper and lower body work, combining punches, kicks, simulated rope skipping and a variety of other drills designed to increase your cardiovascular fitness, as well as your overall strength and fitness.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), a leading organization and certifying body in the field of fitness, notes that during a one hour kickboxing class, an individual can burn up to 800 calories!

At Electra Health Club and Spa, our own cardio boxing/kickboxing class “takes it up another notch” by utilizing free-standing punching bags. The addition of actual contact with a bag adds a great deal of intensity to the class, and by using strikes such as punches, kicks, elbows and knees with both power and speed, it is very possible to not only burn a large amount of calories but also to sculpt, build and tone muscle.

Another element of this class is that it provides a tremendous stress relief. Of course, any class that raises heart rate and releases endorphins is a natural stress reliever, but there is something about punching and kicking an object (and not hurting anyone!) that absolutely relieves stress in human beings. Sort of like a high energy pillow fight that goes on for an hour; who doesn’t feel great after that?!

A caveat is that this class is a high impact, intense class, so in the classic textbook definition, may not be for everyone. However, by making appropriate modifications both for your fitness level and your body limitations, it is a class that should be suitable for just about everyone.
Lastly, while this class does involve using a combination of kicks, punches and other strikes, it is not a class in which a person will necessarily develop self-defense skills. It is an aerobic based class, in which you will have fun burning calories and building muscle!

Electra does have a martial arts program onsite that is specific to the skills and techniques of self defense, and we encourage anyone who is interested in such to come in and visit our martial arts offerings.

1 comment:

Benjamin said...

Jenny has the best cardio kickboxing class in the area. Her intense traning will give a great workout plus a leaner look to your body. You have to do cardio at least once a week to increase your training in other areas of conditing.
If you train on weight lifting, the cardion class with Jenny will get you that extra rep you have been looking for. Leaner mucsle builds faster when you are not pushing fat or flaby muscle.
Go see Jenny she is great!!