Is body combat better than Boxercise

Is body combat better than boxercise

After being a diehard Boxercise and or boxing training type of person I would refuse to go anywhere near a Less Mills Body Combat class, however today I thought I would be a  more open minded person on this subject and get myself along to the body combat class.

The first thing that I loved about this class was how pure it is, in fact it is as pure as running or dancing as its just you moving your body with non contact kicking and punching, crouching, lunging, jumping mixed in with some upper body spider press ups. The difficult part of this class is getting your head around the choreography but I was assured by Sue the instructor that after a few classes you will pick it up and after talking to some of the more regular class goers they were very much of the agreement. Another light hearted tip was that just imagine the person in front is someone you really hate and you want to hit, aim for their head (not literally punch them) to get full range of motion on kicks and punches. Like any martial art or combat class it’s a great stress relief good fun and you feel like you have worked hard. One thing with this class like a lot of Less Mills classes, the class structure will always remain the same and the music will change every quarter year (3 months). One thing i would recommend is that get your self a decent pair of tennis trainers, the reason being there is a lot of agility involved and changing direction and jumping, tennis trainers as appose to running shoes will protect your ankle from twists or strains.

Example of Plyometric Training

Lets take a look at the benefits of this class, first thing I noticed was the heavy breathing indicating this a great cardiovascular conditioning. This exertion on the cardiovascular system is subject to the plyometric exercises. Plyometric is shortening and lengthening the muscle contractions quickly and reversely, so for example the landing phase of the jump. Any form of plyometric exercise is great for improving running and sporting performance. The resistance strain of the lunging crouching and squatting is a great work for the legs, working on the muscle tone, also it’s a good thing to remember that any resistance will increase your metabolic rate for 48 hours.

Any form of combat, martial art or self defence class is a great all over body work out improving your range of movement and it’s a great confidence booster knowing that you can complete the moves. The pondering question that do you like the contact or non contact, some people don’t feel comfortable hitting an object like a punch bag or Mitt and other people love it. This class is a great alternative if you want to get the benefits of combat exercises without actually hitting anything or anyone.