Kickboxing is Fun!

A friend of mine at work, Jennifer, is a member of a local gym, and they had a "bring a friend" day the other day. She and Leanne, another coworker, go to a kickboxing class, and both of them had been saying how much they enjoyed it. So, when she invited me, I had to take her up on it. What could be more fun than kicking and punching things? Especially on Thursday, when I had a really stressful day at work.

The lady who was teaching the class was the regular teacher. Both Jennifer and Leanne said that when they first started, they thought she was really tough and mean, but they had grown to like her. The teacher was not what I expected. Instead of some skinny, muscular, workout princess, she looked like a regular person. She was a little chunky, but very muscular. She also wasn't dressed in fancy workout clothes, just a t-shirt and sweats. That made me feel a lot more comfortable.

In the yoga class I take, the instructor starts out by chatting a little bit before getting started. Not this lady. Instead, it was turn on the music and let's go!!!! I wasn't familiar with a lot of the moves, but I tried to keep up and when I wasn't sure, I would either move a little bit or just stop and watch. My main goal was to not hit anyone. The class lasted for an hour, and after a while I allowed myself a peak at the clock. I thought for sure it was about halfway through. No such luck! 15 minutes in and I was drenched with sweat. And if that wasn't enough, time for Turbo! Which is instructor speak for "the next three minutes are even higher intensity and a living hell". Actually, I didn't mind the turbo so much, since I couldn't really keep up. The best thing was after turbo you got a short break-enough time to towel off and gulp down some water.

At that point, I didn't think I could make it anymore, but I had to tough it out. I couldn't be a wimp in front of my friends. So more lunges, jabs, cuts, bob and weaves, and two more turbos. After that, we did some stretches to cool down, which I was more comfortable with since they were very similar to yoga stretches. Even so, by the time I was done I was DONE. I think a couple gallons of sweat left my body that night. During our breaks, Jennifer and Leanne kept asking me if I liked it, and I honestly couldn't answer.

When I got home, I was a serious couch potato. I fully expected to be sore the next morning, which I was, but not to the extent I thought I would be. They also warned me that it would take two days. I gotta admit, it was really hard to get out of bed this morning, but as the day has gone on I feel a lot better. They asked me again today if I liked the class, and after evaluating it I really did. If I end up joining the gym, I think I will make it a habit to attend that class.

Next up, bellydancing! That's on Wednesday, with the lady who teaches my yoga class. I'm really looking forward to that!