Here is a quick question for you – why do you enjoy boxing? How long have you been doing it and what changes have you noticed in your body? if you take the time to answer these questions, we might learn a couple of new things from you. Plus, you can help beginners get on the right path in order to achieve similar results as you or to avoid the mistakes you made in your journey. So, please, hit us up.

What Is Kickboxing and Its Benefits?

Fundamentally, it is a form of martial art that combines two moves – punching and kicking with your bare feet. There are many other variations of this move involving at least 2 moves (for the beginners) or more depending on your skills.

Generally, some of the benefits attributed to kickboxing workout include

• Weight control and reduction
• Muscle toning
• Increased cardiovascular fitness
• Improved strength and endurance
• Increased self-esteem
• Better body coordination and awareness
• Stress relief
• Stronger bones and ligaments

Getting Ready for Your First Class

There are a number of things you should be aware of before resuming your kickboxing workout classes.

• Prepare for the soreness, especially after the first day
• Get ready by taking a long rest the day before you intend to start
• Wear a form-fitting outfit
• Knot your lace two more times
• Have your bottle of water and protein shake with you

This mostly applies to you if you intend not to exercise from home, which is a great idea for starters.

Simple Principles for Kickboxing Workout

It does not matter what variations of kickboxing workouts you choose, you’re definitely going to deal with these principles we’re about to mention. These principles form the basis of the moves you make – distancing, defense, sparring, endurance, and timing.

Distancing

Here, you are expected to engage your mentality in calculating the distance between you and your opponent. This determines if you land your punches and kicks on the right place, and how much impact they make on your opponent.

The idea is not to be too close or too far away. You can choose to engage at a full, half, or close distance from the other person depending on what technique you have in mind.

• Full – enough room to reach your contender with a fully extended leg
• Half – enough room to strike with your hands
• Close – enough room for hooks and uppercuts

This may sound like a lot, but it is, none the less, an important skill required in a workout for kickboxing.

Defense

Defense comes naturally to us when faced with threatening situations. Your challenger is a threat to you and you and with defense skills, you can protect yourself when needed. Every fighter looks for a target in whoever they are fighting. Your ability to make it hard for them to find yours is what makes you a good defender.

You’ll not learn much about this if your routine is centered on kickboxing workout with bag. What you need is another human fighter like you. Here are some defense moves that can help you get ahead.

• Block – this move requires that you stop an attack cold and head-on.
• Sidestep – here, you step away to the side to avoid an attack. You can decide to make contact or not to.
• Dodge – this move gets you out of the way as your opponent forcefully approaches you. You’ll make contact, but just a little which you can leverage on.

There are many other ones; you can even make your own defense technique yourself.

Sparring

This involves freestyle kicks and punches. If you want to take things gradually as a beginner, you may want to avoid this until you’ve learnt most of the basics. You probably should stick to kickboxing bag workout for the meantime till your skills improve.

Some common examples of sparring moves are

• Shadow
• Focus
• Heavy bag
• Point
• Circle
• Dummy

These drills can be applied in controlled fight situations to avoid risk exposures.

Endurance

To win a fight, you’ll need a great deal of tenacity and endurance. This is what pulls you through when you’re tired or directly within the line of fire. Low endurance affects your posture, rhythm, speed, power, defense, and lateral movement.

To develop your level of endurance, you should do the following.

• Spar at least 3 times in a week, including hitting heavy bags
• Be consistent with your daily workout and make sure it includes cardio kickboxing workout, stretching, defensive drills, etc.
• Running at least 5 times a week

Staying on these drills will have you fit in no time, as well as the confidence required for mental and physical excellence as a fighter.