I once ran on a treadmill and the person I was with was tired and I was tired also. They asked me if the kickboxing I do was more difficult then that. I responded with a immediate yes! Don't get me wrong, running was challenging, especially because it was on a incline. But I tried to explain why the kickboxing was so much more intense. The reason I came up with was because it uses many muscle groups all at once. You are working your legs, abs, obliques, lower back, upper back, chest, and arms all at the same time.  And when you do a punch or a kick you are putting all of your effort into it. It is kind of like sprinting on the inline. It is a lot of fun and a killer workout.

 Just the other day I saw a student that has not been in for class in a while. She told me she had been busy and time got away from her. But she told me she would be coming in for class later that night. She happened to be with a friend and I told her to bring her friend along to class so she can try it. I even reminded her she would get 5 free classes if she signed up. Her friend jokingly laughed and said yeah right, me..... do kickboxing.... I would die. I am so out of shape. Now I understand that not everyone will like our fitness kickboxing class, and that is fine. But I wanted to find out why this friend said what she said and also if she was even interested in starting an exercise routine. It turns out she was interested in losing weight and all that, but she was just afraid that she would not be able to do the class. This is a belief I want to try and change among people. Everyone has to start somewhere and my kickboxing class is great for a couple of reasons. One is that I help you through your first couple classes to help you get the punches and kicks. I know how challenging it can be to learn something new like this. Also there is no expectation that you have to do X amount of push ups and X amount of laps. You do what you can and I am there to tell you to do 1 more :) That is how progress is made. After hearing all of this her friend said that sounds great. So I am glad I helped her to understand more about my class.

You hear this work "core" a lot. Developing a strong core is important to your health and your every day activity. When we say core we are talking about all the muscles around the middle of your body: abs, obliques, and lower back.  During our kickboxing classes we do exercises that target these muscle groups to help strengthen them. Then we get into the class and we are working on punching and kicking combinations. The great thing about this is our instructors teach you how to engage you core muscles with every punch and kick. So you are twisting your hips into every punch and kick. It is not the easiest thing to do at first. But once you get it you really feel the difference in your workout. Great things take time and your fitness is a great thing to make good :)