By C. J. Doyle, Personal Safety Expert
On a cold winter day thirteen years ago my son Charles, our first child, was born. It was a wonderful day and something to be celebrated for sure. Within a few days my wife Lesa, a martial arts black belt, was ready to get back into shape and get back into classes. Well, as most moms know, it isn’t as easy to throw on your workout gear (in this case it was her karate uniform and black belt) and rush off to a step class like you did before your pregnancy. She was recommended to take it easy at first and participate in some low-level aerobic classes to build back her stamina. So she went off to the gym and for the next month participated in many different classes. The only thing she gained was the knowledge that she was bored. So bored that she went and was certified as a fitness instructor.
During her certification she realized that the martial arts has many different ways of working your body, cardio endurance, flexibility, confidence, and your mind that it was time to get back into some type of martial arts class. But instead of jumping back into karate classes she came up with the idea of taking the warm up and fitness part of karate and blending it with music. And she decided to get a few of the moms of some of the karate children and ask if they wanted to be part of a new type of fitness class (called KAROBICS). So the first Karobics (eventually evolved to Kardio Kicks) program started.
After the initial trial all the moms wanted to keep it going and other people were asking if they could join. It was even featured on CityTV!
In the last thirteen years the Karobics program went through a few changes. We changed the name to Kardio Kicks, there are no uniforms, and we have incorporated heavy bags and other training equipment into the classes. The next nine paragraphs will explain why moms will get a kick out of participating in regular Kardio Kicks classes.
Kardio Kicks Combines an Aerobic Workout with a Resistance Training Workout
Doing either an aerobics workout, i.e. running, Stairmaster, stationary bike, etc. or an anaerobic workout such as lifting weights, Nautilus, callisthenics, etc. will not give you the best or quickest overall fitness results. You need to do both. If you are a runner, for example, you can choose to do a little bit less running if you add some strength training several times per week. You will also find that you will feel stronger on your runs. Conversely, if you like to focus on lifting, your muscles will be more pronounced and you will get more definition if you add some cardio. Personally, I find these types of workouts too "one-dimensional". Why not get your cardio and resistance workouts in the same session?
Kardio Kicks is a Total-Body Exercise
You must exercise your entire body not just specific body parts. "If spot reduction worked, people who chew gum would have skinny faces", says Lesa. People with love handles and some excess fat over the ab muscles attempt to do more crunches to reduce their mid section. This may actually increase the size of the waist if done without a cardio component in an overall exercise program. Everyone has ab muscles. Some are more developed than others, but in order to achieve the coveted washboard effect, the excess fat covering them up, which varies from individual to individual, must be reduced so that the abs can be seen. Women generally complain the most about their hips and thighs.
The conventional wisdom is for them to do squats and lunges. That will certainly tone up the muscles in that area. However, the fat still covers the now developed muscle underneath and low and behold the legs and buttocks also get bigger! You must work the entire body and do both a cardio and resistance workout.
Kardio Kicks gives you an Efficient Use of Time
There are 168 available hours in a week. All you need is three hours for this workout which is approximately 1.8% of your time. Counting travel time to the martial arts school will bump that number up to maybe 4% with 96% of your time to pay attention to everything else in your life. This "inconvenience" of incorporating fitness into your lifestyle will have immediate as well as long lasting benefits. You will feel better now with a long term objective of increasing your longevity. The quality of your longevity is also important. The Kardio Kicks program contains the five components of physical fitness: cardio respiratory fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition and flexibility. You don't have to workout at the same pace and intensity level as a fighter, but this routine provides the very same valuable fitness benefits.
Kardio Kicks Provides Valuable Self-Defense Skills
Since you will be working out anyway, learning valuable self-defense skills at the same time is an added benefit. You will, however, not learn the practical application of the techniques that you practice in the air until you apply them to a target or bag. Learning to gauge distance and effectively landing your punch or kick flush on a target takes practice on a target. You just can't pretend to punch and kick, you need feedback. Most aerobic kickboxing formats set up the participants with a false sense of confidence. They are in for a rude awakening if they think they can actually use these techniques for self-defense unless they are ingrained and there is a total understanding of their application. Each Kardio Kicks class has over 20 minutes of proper bag work!
Boosts Confidence and Self-Esteem
Exercise, in general, helps make you feel better physically. Learning Kardio Kicks helps make you feel better mentally. When you really sense you have genuinely become proficient, it transfers over into your social life and even to your profession. You carry yourself differently and confidence in your overall abilities is enhanced. Most people, for example, are scared to death to give a speech.
The more they know about a topic, however, the more confident and comfortable they will become in front of any variety or size audience. They may even be able to deliver an interesting ad lib lengthy talk even without notes. You have to know your stuff especially when the questions are asked when giving that lecture. You also better know your stuff, if someone is really intent on doing you physical harm.
Kardio Kicks Relieves Stress
Picturing the person's face on the bag that was a source of your aggravation for the day on the heavy bag while you pound it with a kick or punch, is better than going postal. Options to relieving stress could be drugs or alcohol, overeating, or distractions like going to a movie, etc. All have their price both literally and figuratively. Relieving stress in a negative manner simply leads to more stress. Exercise, obviously would be the better approach. Exercise increases the amount of hormonal-like chemicals known as endorphins which are released into the body by the brain to relieve pain and even depression. Stress, however, produces enzymes that reduce your supply of endorphins.
If you don't exercise to stimulate that supply of endorphins, you will consequently not feel as well as you could. Kardio Kicks, for whatever reason, as an exercise, works even better for most people.
Kardio Kicks Increases Energy Levels
Exercise boosts your energy levels, but if you workout too much, it will have quite the opposite effect. Rest is an important factor when you are involved in any exercise program. Since you only need to workout three days a week, you allow your body time to recover rather than overtaxing it by working out to excess. I also believe that too much exercise can become an obsession which may be masking other psychological or emotional problems. Many couch potatoes who decide to get back into shape do so too quickly. In other words, they do too much too fast and then become discouraged. It's wiser to gradually increase the frequency, level of intensity and duration of your workouts. The circuit training format of the Kardio Kicks program is designed to allow you to work out at your own pace and skill level as well.
Kardio Kicks Improves Productivity
With increased energy levels, you are more alert and able to get things done more efficiently. You become more valuable to your employer and have more quality time to spend with your family. Sticking with any fitness program, especially as the intensity level increases, requires at least some self-discipline. This trait is needed in every profession and is a natural carryover from the gym to the workplace. Self-employed people especially will not usually be successful if they are not disciplined enough to focus on the task at hand, particularly if it is a rudimentary or menial task. Procrastination is the kiss of death in any business or in life. The ability do get done what needs to be done through self-discipline often means the difference between success and failure.
Kardio Kicks is Fun!
Unlike a traditional martial arts class, the music adds to your stimulation and motivation. Unlike an aerobics class, there are numerous techniques you can learn beyond the basics to maintain your interest level. Classes go by fast because there is so much going on that you sometimes don't even realize you are working out. We have witnessed first-hand over the past thirteen years the expressions on people's faces when they're participating in Kardio Kicks. The most demure feminine women turn into very scrappy fighting machines with controlled aggression. I encourage them to try to catch their own facial expressions in the mirrors particularly when they are at the bag work session. Their faces alone would discourage an attacker!
They also don't drift off and participate in a rote manner during the workout because there is so much happening that demands their full attention. The workout is like no other on the planet!
For those students who do not like to compete in conventional programs for athletes, they can derive the health and fitness benefits afforded to them with participation in this program as well. Exercise is important for everyone at all ages. But, since there is the added self-defense benefit that comes as a by-product of the Kardio Kicks, it also improves their self-esteem, channels aggressiveness, and enhances their assertiveness.
If you have read through to the end of this article then you must have felt a need to at least give a few Kardio Kicks classes a try right?
So, I have arranged for ten complimentary week passes at the Academy of Martial Arts to try the Kardio Kicks classes.
All you have to do is give the Academy of Martial Arts a call (905-278-7234) to reserve your place in class.
