Week 1: Kickboxing

Kickboxing!!!
What a great way to officially start this marathon!! This is such a great workout in every aspect; you get your cardio in, your all-around strength training, coordination, and even self defense! Now ladies of the blogging world, tell me that doesn't sound amazing! It's also a lot of fun and boosts your self esteem, not only because you are whipping that butt-er cream into shape, but you'll feel more confident and get to feeling sorry for any loser who would dare mess with you!
My shameless plug of the day, my two teachers of this subject were 1) Silk Manning, and his '80s/$6 DVD that I got off of ebay, and 2) Vanessa Moffett who teaches at South Plains College, and who I really do want to be when I grow up! So this beginner's guide I've come up with comes from both of these people and thank you for your time and instruction!

IMPORTANT: 1) It's always important to warm up and cool-down in any exercise regimen. I will either devote a week to warm-ups and cool-downs or they may come up as a Bonus Post! 2) 90% of kickboxing is kicking and punching, so make sure you take care of, not only your arms and legs, but the power behind them! 3) Have fun! Exercise is always more productive and beneficial when you have fun doing it! A good way to ensure this is to set each workout to music!

WARM UP: Make sure you do an even amount on the left and the right side, and do about 3 or 4 sets of each!
Since I will have a warm-up post, I won't take the room here. Just make sure you focus on stretching out your arms and your legs, and loosening up those shoulders before kickboxing! Since this is a cardio workout, try to do standing stretches, and get moving! Jog in place or jumprope, you're body will thank you later for it.

WORKOUT: I will just give you the basic moves. You can do them in this order, or you can take this and combine them into a You-Specialized workout!! The punches will work your arms, the kicks will work the legs, but for those out for ab crunchers, I'd recommend the Side push kick, Kneestrike, and the Roundhouse kick for your obliques!

For self defense practice, keep your arms up in a guard! This just means your arms are bent and in a guard position, protecting your face, and ready to move into any block/attack you need.

Get that heart rate up!  This is a cardio exercise, so make sure you are moving.  I like to do the boxer's shuffle throughout a lot of this exercise. This just means you are bouncing on the balls of your feet, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. Use this when you mix your punches together, or transitioning into your next move.

Punches: With doing just one kind of punch, make sure one foot is always slightly forward. Use your hips to drive your punch!

*Jab: With your left foot forward, punch in front of you with your left arm. This one is hard to use your hips, but lean slightly into the punch for a greater effect. Switch to the right, right foot forward, punch with right.
*Cross: Left foot foward, punch forward with your right arm. You will be crossing your body. Rotate the back foot so that you use your hips to energize this punch! Right foot foward, punch with right.
*Hook: Left foot foward, bring your left arm around as if you are punching someone in the side of the face. Rotate your front leg to power this punch with your hips. Right foot foward, punch with right.
*Uppercut: Left foot forward, bring your right arm up, as if punching the attacker in the chin. Rotate the back foot slightly to bring power with your hips. Right foot foward, punch with left.

Kicks: Do your best and forget the rest! Don't worry if your kick isn't as high or as straight as you want. Don't worry if you keep falling out of form! It's not a big deal, just make sure you keep going with your head held high and have fun with it!  With any kick, it helps your balance to lean the opposite way you are kicking! (lean back with a front push, lean to the right when side pushing to the left)

*Front push: This is basically a front kick. Act as if you are kicking them in the stomach or chest, or maybe kicking down a door.  Knee up, push out foward with your foot, back in, knee down. Keep your foot flexed. (Toes are pulled back/Flat foot)
*Back push: This is the same as the front only instead of kicking foward, you're kicking back, kind of like a mule kick. Foot is flexed.
*Side push: Just as it sounds. Bring your knee up, push out to the side, back in, knee down. Foot is flexed
*Roundhouse: No, you will not be doing a full roundhouse like Chuck Norris if you are a beginner! So this is the modified roundhouse. The foot is not flexed! Point your toes! Bring your foot behind you, and whip your leg around to the side. Your leg will look a lot like you are doing the side push, but your toes will be pointed and your shoelaces should be pointing to the front. Ideally, that is where your attacker would be when using this move.
*Kneestrike: Plant your left foot and bring your right knee across your body, and use your arms to meet your knee. Pretend like you are grabbing your attacker's head and bringing it to your knee. Do the same on the other side.

COOL-DOWN Don't forget it! It's just as important as the warm-up!
Just stretch everything that you used!

Remember, this is a very simple, beginner's guide! To describe a complete workout and routine would be entirely too long for a blog. I hope to eventually get to the point where I can teach kickboxing, along with personal training and other exercises! I wish I had time and space to go into more detail and come up with a routine! But you know You better than anyone, so anything I came up with would still just be a guide.

Until next week, Enjoy!