Workout #45
I have taken boxing-style classes before: Cardio Box, and Flyte Time to name a few, so tonight was my opportunity to see what the difference was between those two classes and Turbo Kickboxing. I was pretty sure they were all cut from the same cloth, but I was about to be surprised.
First of all the instructor was crazy, I just know it. No one has that type of in-your-face enthusiasm and can still be called sane. Secondly, the class had that sort of circus atmosphere vibe where the wackier you behave the more you get out of it. Lastly, if you stand in one place for too long you’re bound to get run over, so it is wise to keep moving even if you’re not exactly sure what you’re doing. Figure it out some other time.
We start off with the usual warm up routine, except with a lot more perkiness than normal. Some of the basic boxing moves are demonstrated, but you are encouraged to put a cartoonish spin on them. A basic jab in a regular boxing class looks more like a bang-zoom-to-the-moon in this class, and an upper cut originally meant to punch someone under the chin is now intended to send them into orbit too. Correction: send them into orbit with a huge smile on your face. Regular kicks are now landed with comic theatrics either before or after (or both), and a duck and weave can look more like a limbo stick routine complete with a shimmy.
I have to admit that I am somewhat enjoying the madcap energy in the room now that I know the whole point of Turbo Kickbox is to be rather zany, but then the instructor yells out, “Ok, here it comes! Are you ready for it?” I’m not sure if I am…what could it be? Then she wanted to know if we were excited. Some of us indicated that we were excited, but I held my tongue not knowing what I was agreeing to. That’s when she pulled back the veil and said, “This is what we were waiting for! Here comes the TURBO!!! Now GO!!” What? I thought we had already been doing the turbo, no? No! The turbo started and it was everything we had been doing, except louder, grander, peppier, bigger and with a lot more bounce and cheer. I hadn’t thought it would have been possible for her to become more enthusiastic, but it happened right in front of my eyes. The reckless abandon, the wild-eyed glee, it was absolutely infectious as if to say, “Go Kristin, it’s your birthday! Go Kristin!” Who wouldn’t enjoy this?
After the cooldown I looked at the calorie burn on my BodyBugg system and it said that I burned 380 calories in 45 minutes. I got a lot of bang for my buck in Turbo kickboxing, and I think you will too.
Description of the class from the class catalog: “Maximize your workout with ab sculpting moves and a fat burning cardio set to the hottest dance music. The workout that feels like the party has finally arrived.”
Class size: 22
What you should know: Bring some water with you because you will get thirsty. Otherwise, just go with the flow and enjoy the energy in the room.
