build your beautiful self

Roll your little butt sleepily out of bed on a Saturday morning at 7:30am

Drink 2 cups of coffee

Get your gym bag ready

Freshen up your face, brush your teeth and be sure to put deodorant on.

Grab your gym bag, your keys and get your butt out the door by 9am.

I do this routine Saturday mornings because my absolutely favorite group fitness class is at 9:30!  I LOVE my cardio kickboxing class! When my son was younger we signed up for a Tae Kwon Do Class together. I would get off of work, pick him up and head to the gym where our class was. I lifted while he was taking his class, then my class would start right after. You want to talk about a work out! Holy cow! That class was all about full body strength with some added super core moves for a bonus!

The gym is no longer around and the instructor has moved on to other things in his life, but I still wanted to get that same workout but with more emphasis on cardio.

I, for one, HATE cardio! I can’t stand running or jogging, I hate the cardio machines and I despise anything that has to do with cardio. I needed to fit some cardio in my life, however, and since I am no longer a 20 something that goes to the club to dance every weekend, I needed to find something that was fun for me to do that pumped my heart rate up there.

I went to the cardio kickboxing class at my gym and was instantly in love! I got my heart rate up, I sweated out my frustrations, and I got to still practice moves that gave me my amazing muscle tone. I thought I would dedicate this WORKOUT WEDNESDAY to cardio kickboxing!

So here are the benefits of cardio kickboxing:
1) It burns 750 calories in one hour if you really dedicated yourself to adding power to the moves you are doing.
2) It is an aerobic exercise which burns more fat and is better at reducing overall body fat by burning an average of 67% more calories then resistance training classes.
3) It engages your entire body. You end up working all of your major muscle groups. You build core strength by spending most of the workout balancing and twisting your body to throw those kicks and punches. You get a great butt with all the kicking you do because you are kicking in multiple directions with emphasis on the kicks so you are using all of your butt muscles to engage your “opponent.”
4)You are able to take out all of your stress and frustration from the week before. Nothing is a better stress relief then punching pads and bags. The endorphins released are also a benefit to you as you actually feel better!
5) You build confidence and learn how to defend yourself. I seem to walk down the street with my head held a little higher knowing that I have strengthened my punches and can land a good roundhouse kick to the face of any person that gets in my way!
6) You gain a sense of belonging and gain a new group of motivating friends The other people in the class are there for the same reasons you are! Why not strike up a conversation with them and see if you can get an accountability partner. After all, if you told someone that you would be at the class, it makes you a little more motivated to attend. You should also make friends because, in life, you should align yourself with people who will lift you up and who have the same goals.

This is the best workout to tighten and tone your body. It also counts for some cardio because you do work up a sweat in fun way! Join me on Saturday mornings for a kick butt workout or find your local kickboxing class and go! I swear you will feel like a million bucks when you are done!