Today's Tabata class came with a special twist - kickboxing!! If you know me or have read some earlier blog posts, you know coordination is NOT my thing. But we all know that if my Fitness Hero is teaching the class and my Gym Crew is with me, I will try anything.
The class format was 30 minutes of Tabata followed by 30 minutes of Kickboxing. This meant we were able to get through 6 rounds of Tabata. We started the class with one cardio round and the following 5 rounds were mostly focused on core and strength with bits of cardio. This included everything from renegade rows, plank walk ups with a hip dip, straight leg crunches to squats and lunges with heavy weights.
Then we moved into the dreaded kickboxing portion of class!! The interesting part of this portion of class was that mentally, I was so concerned with the potential coordination required that I did not consider how hard it is to move nonstop for 30 minutes. This was MAJOR endurance work for me. Tricia had us doing it all- jabs, cross punches, bob and weaves, front kicks and side kicks. Doing this without taking a break was challenging in a different way. The combination of thinking through the moves, staying in sync with the class and getting the physical workout felt so satisfying. I loved every minute of it.
What I did not realize is that the optimal workout actually follows this format - strength followed by cardio. My whole life I've always done the cardio workout first (to get my blood flowing) and then finished with strength. My body did feel different after the Tabata-Kickboxing format. I think ending the workout with the cardio/endurance portion helped me feel more energized. And I will say, for the first time in a long time, I did not feel tired in the middle of the day. Something for me to consider the next time I'm traveling and designing my own workout!!
Community Fitness was test driving this format today. Hoping they make it a permanent class on the schedule!
Workout Scale:
Cardio: 4/5
Core: 3/5
Legs: 3/5
Arms: 3/5