Kickboxing, which has gained popularity through movies like Kickboxer and Death Sport, is a fighting sport which blends Muay Thai, Karate and boxing into one striking martial art.
Even though they are very similar, the difference between kickboxing and Muay Thai is that the latter is known as the “art of eight limbs” while the former is just punches and kicks. The reason why Muay Thai is called that is because, apart from kicks and punches, a person can even incorporate knees and elbows while striking.
Over the years, kickboxing has enjoyed itself as a great cardio workout for people who don’t want to get into competitions.
Those who don’t enjoy running for hours or going on the treadmill for years to lose weight can switch to kickboxing as a cardio and fitness workout routine. Kickboxing is essentially a cardio workout, increasing your heart beat through powerful movements of your hands, legs and moving around. The workouts are very high paced and are generally high intensity workouts. Kickboxing is a great way to lose weight if you’re looking for a new fun way to shed those pounds or to even get toned.
Kickboxing workouts don’t require any weights at all and the workouts are done with your own body such as pushups, squats, lunges, burpees and planks. This won’t necessarily make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it will tone your body and make you very muscular over all. Kickboxing works out all your major muscle groups at the same time.
An example of a kickboxing workout to melt those calories in a quick way would include:
Warm up
- 15 pushups
- 20 squats
- Three sets of 10 burpees
Workout one – Upper body
- Throwing a Jab Cross combo x 20
- 10 pushups for five rounds
Workout two – Lower body
- 20 Front kicks
- 10 Roundhouse kicks
- 10 squats for five rounds
Workout three – Abs
- One minute plank
- 20 sit-ups
- 20 cross sit-ups
- 20 Jack Knife crunches
- 20 V-ups
- 20 leg raises
These workouts will even improve your flexibility as great emphasis is given to stretching and balance. A person who practices kickboxing will need to be flexible so that they may be able to throw devastating head kicks, making it useful as a form of self-defense as well.
As a person learns how to kick and punch with proper technique, certain gyms will even have sparring practices to spar with other people so that you will know how to react in a real life confrontation.
Your body is not the only thing kickboxing works out. Your mind is a very powerful muscle, and this martial art forces you to focus on the task at hand, teaches perseverance, and patience. When an instructor asks you to do a certain exercise, technique or punch, your concentration must be there at all times. Respect and the value of hard work is also another great aspect to this sport and form of exercise.
For some people, it can take weeks and months to become proficient at kickboxing. Some might take years. The point to understand is that kickboxing requires hard work, but that hard work is paid off when the sweat is dripping off and you are burning those calories in a more interesting way. The workouts and the sport itself are very tough initially, but it gets easier with time.