Lose weight with kickboxing?
Absolutely, kickboxing provides you with a full-body cardio workout that helps you burn a lot of calories. In this article, we will discuss why kickboxing is such a good way to lose weight.
Kickboxing has grown significantly in popularity in recent years. Many gyms, such as David LLoyd, Fitland, Basic-Fit and Fit4Free, have started offering group classes that include boxing/kickboxing training.
But why can you lose weight so effectively through kickboxing?
If you look at well-known kickboxers such as Rico Verhoeven, Alex Pereira and Nieky Holzken, you can see that these are two very well-conditioned men.
Now, I cannot guarantee that you will look exactly like these two top athletes, but what I can guarantee is that if you find a good boxing/kickboxing school with a good trainer, you will notice that you can burn fat very quickly.
Would you really like to learn boxing/kickboxing at a genuine professional school where competition fighters are also trained? Then I recommend looking around on Google Maps in your area.
Here you can find real kickboxing gyms near you.
What you need
- A pair of boxing gloves
- A pair of shin guards (only if you are going to do kickboxing)
- Boxing shorts
- A mouthguard (mouth protection)
- Groin protection
- Headgear (ask about it at the gym)
Are you looking for the ideal complete kickboxing set?:
If you think this is too big a step, or you simply prefer to train in a somewhat quieter environment, that is of course also possible.
You can visit your local gym and see whether they offer group classes that include boxing training.
Or perhaps you are a real outdoors person. In that case, you also have the option of joining an outdoor boot camp team. These are often smaller groups of people who enjoy training outdoors.
These types of group classes often also offer boxing training, and you take part in a fitness circuit. So you can also lose weight with kickboxing here.
Most gyms and boot camps lend you boxing gloves, but for hygiene reasons, I still recommend buying your own boxing gloves. I recommend one of these boxing gloves!
Of course, you can also do this type of training at home, but if you want to do so, I recommend finding a workout plan online or hiring a personal trainer to provide you with a plan and teach you the basics of punching and kicking.
During boxing/kickboxing training, you can do many different exercises, and you can make these exercises as easy or difficult as you want.
Jumping rope
Most boxing/kickboxing schools do this during the warm-up. Jumping rope helps you work on your footwork (being able to bounce on the balls of your feet) as well as your fitness.
You also train your shoulders by jumping for longer and rotating your arms, which causes your shoulders to burn.
The great thing about jumping rope is that you can make it as difficult as you want. Using tricks and sprint rounds adds variety to your jump-rope workouts.
Are you looking for a good jump rope to train with? Of course, we have one.
Shadowboxing
This exercise is also used during the warm-up and cool-down. The idea behind shadowboxing is to spar in your mind. It is important to keep it as realistic as possible by continuing to move, keeping your hands up, and not using combinations that are too long (you do not do this in a real fight either).
You can also make shadowboxing as difficult and challenging as you want. You can do sprint rounds, and you can also shadowbox with dumbbells, which trains your shoulders. This helps you keep your hands up.
Push-ups
For a good workout, you also need to train your muscles a little. Push-ups are one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do.
Push-ups train your biceps, triceps, chest muscles, and shoulders. They are therefore an important exercise for strengthening your punches.
You can also make push-ups more difficult or heavier as you get stronger. For example, you can do clapping push-ups, explosive push-ups, handstand push-ups, and, of course, push-ups using handles.
Push-ups using push-up handles allow you to lower yourself farther, putting more emphasis on your chest.
Abdominal workouts
Well-trained abdominal muscles not only look great, they are also highly functional in boxing.
They help improve balance and your ability to absorb impact. That is why abdominal workouts are definitely useful for good boxing/kickboxing training. You can train your abdominal muscles in many different ways.
From classic sit-ups to hanging leg raises. You can add plenty of variety to your abdominal workouts by experimenting with multiple exercises.
A very good abdominal exercise that I recommend is using an ab wheel. With an ab wheel, you train stability in your abdominal muscles. Just make sure to engage your abdominal muscles and keep your back straight.
Training pads
In this exercise, you practice combinations with a partner who holds the mitts for you. You can do this with a pair of mitts or simply with your boxing gloves. With this training, you learn the techniques best because you have a training partner who helps you with the exercise and corrects your technique.
Training on the mitts has many benefits. First, you train your technique; second, you train your reflexes. When someone instructs you to perform a specific combination on their command, you train your reflexes and the speed of your punches.
You can also improve your defense with punching mitts; by receiving punches, you practice your blocks and evasive movements. If you're still looking for a good pair of mitts, check out the collection of punching mitts & pads in our webshop.
Sparren
This is probably the very best way to lose weight through kickboxing, but also the scariest at first. Many people find sparren scary because they are afraid of being hit hard in the face.
Fortunately, at most boxing gyms, trainers pay close attention to how hard everything is, especially in recreational classes. Make sure you have good mouth protection and wear headgear.
Headgear absorbs most of the impact from punches and kicks directed at your head. If you're still looking for high-quality headgear, check out the collection of headgear in our webshop.
Punching bag training
This is probably the most popular boxing/kickboxing workout. A major advantage of the punching bag is that, of course, you don't have to take any hits yourself.
Many gyms offer group classes with punching bag training. And this was just a small example of the different types of training you can do in boxing/kickboxing.
Because kickboxing is such an intensive form of cardio training, you burn a lot of calories and build up excellent fitness. With boxing/kickboxing training, you also work on the power and speed of your punches and kicks.
You can do this type of training in many different places. You can do it at a gym, but also at home.
What you need for punching bag training:
- A suitable space (approximately 3 by 3 meters)
- A punching bag, which can be a freestanding and/or a regular hanging punching bag
- Good boxing gloves
- Handwraps/inner gloves
If you're looking for a good punching bag to train with, check out the collection of punching bags and speedballs in our webshop.