| I've been taking muay thai kickboxing for about 3 | | | | calesthetics. |
| monthsnow, twice a week on Mondays and | | | | We generally train technique for 20 to 25 minutes. |
| Thursdays. It has beenan amazing experience. The thai | | | | Andlike the cardio, kickboxing technique training varies |
| kickboxing workouts areintense, make no mistake | | | | fromclass to class. Sometimes you work your kicks |
| about it. Even though I am ina beginners class, the | | | | onto the padsthat your partners hold. Sometimes its |
| sweat pours like a hot summer rain! | | | | punchingcombinations. We work routines like front kick, |
| We start each kickboxing workout by lining up in the | | | | 3 punchcombo then right thai kick. It always is different. |
| gymfacing our Kru, or teacher. He bows to us, we | | | | Ireally enjoy the variety, it keeps the training from |
| bow to him,and he welcomes us with a few words. | | | | evergetting stale. |
| We then start withskipping rope. | | | | But we always finish with pain...abdominal pain. You |
| As crazy as this may sound, I found jumping rope to | | | | lieon the floor on your back, and raise your legs up off |
| beincredibly challenging. I started with 25 extra | | | | theground until they are straight up in the air. Your |
| poundsaround my waist, and perhaps my co-ordination | | | | partnerstands at your head, roughly with his or her feet |
| was a littleoff. The rope is covered in hard plastic, plus | | | | near yourshoulders, facing your feet. Your partner |
| I'm barefootand the rope would smack my toes and it | | | | pushes on yourfeet, forcing your legs back down to |
| really stings! | | | | the floor. You raiseyour legs back straight up, the |
| I would watch the more experienced students jump | | | | partner pushes them backdown...this goes on for 3 |
| rope andsee if I could keep up. Sometimes I could go | | | | straight minutes. Your abs areburning after 1, |
| 15-20 jumpsin a row before I would hit my toes or | | | | screaming after 2, and generally arenearing failure |
| head with the rope. | | | | before the session ends. Then you get toswitch and |
| But after a month I got the hang of it. We jump rope | | | | torture your partner! |
| inthe thai kickboxing workouts until we start to sweat, | | | | I honestly thought I saw an abdominal muscle on my |
| maybe | | | | bodythe other day in the mirror. It's impossible, I still |
| 4 to 6 minutes. | | | | haveat least 10 pounds of blubber to lose, but I feel |
| Then comes the tortuous part, the cardio conditioning. | | | | fantastic! |
| Every kickboxing class has a different routine. | | | | My energy levels are off the charts, I'm sleeping so |
| Sometimeswe do burpees, sometimes hillclimbers, | | | | muchbetter at night and I love it. I highly |
| always lots ofsquats, jumping squats, pushups and the | | | | recommendmuay thai kickboxing workouts for anyone |
| like. For the oldtimers it's like a real intense session of | | | | serious aboutgetting into top shape! |