Kickboxing can benefit all fitness levels, many weight loss goals

It’s no secret that working out can be an opportunity to vent frustration and stress.

It’s a benefit that comes with all types of exercise, but some types of workouts lend themselves better to emotional release than others.

Kickboxing is one of those workouts. After an hour of kicking and punching, it’s hard to be as wound up as you were when you came in — you’re too tired, anyway.

I Love Kickboxing, a boutique kickboxing gym with a new location in Bucktown and several locations in the suburbs, hopes to make the workout accessible to people of all fitness levels.

In an hour-long class meant to spike heart rates, build muscle and burn fat, the gym’s trainers teach its members to uppercut, jab and roundhouse kick a standing punching bag. First-timers are given a personal trainer to work with them during their initial class, to show them the five key moves and correct form to make sure no one gets hurt.

“We do that because kickboxing is scary,” said Alyssa Penna, manager of the Bucktown gym. “It’s our job to get them comfortable.”

Unlike a kickboxing or MMA gym, I Love Kickboxing’s focus isn’t on learning to fight. The class’ combinations of punches and kicks are meant to ramp up the cardio or muscle-training in each class.

The class begins with a 15-minute high-intensity interval round, with short bursts of burpees, push ups, sit ups and other plyometric moves that change daily. The goal is to spike your heart rate and capitalize on the energy you have at the beginning of class, Penna said.

The punching you came to do starts next. Each class includes seven bag rounds, each of which may focus on one of the five moves or a combination of them.

Once you’ve learned how to pivot your feet — which are bare, like in martial arts — or twist your torso to deliver a hook or front kick, a trainer will tell you to let the bag have it.

There are usually several trainers on the mat in addition to the class’ leader to help tailor those rounds to the gym members’ individual skill levels. During a round, the trainers may encourage you to do a more complicated combination than what the class is doing, or help you scale down the class’ routine to something you’re more comfortable with.

You’ll want to pay attention to their advice — it hurts to kick the bag wrong, or to land a punch funny. But finding your rhythm helps, and it gets easier with each class, Penna said.

“Even when you think you’ve mastered everything, there’s something to learn,” Penna said.

The class flies by, in part because of the separate rounds, which are designed to encourage you to go as hard as you can in short bursts. The class’ high-intensity interval training design is what helps members burn between 450 and 800 calories per class, according to I Love Kickboxing spokeswoman Deborah Straus.

Decades of research examining high intensity interval training for weight loss have shown a relationship between this style of physical activity and a decrease in body fat percentage.

In one 2008 study, women who did the high-intensity exercise in short bursts lost more body fat than those who did steady-state exercise like jogging or moderate cycling for longer periods. The results were more pronounced in women who were overweight, according to the study.

I Love Kickboxing touts its members’ weight loss in posters on the wall featuring the winners of its twice-yearly national contests. The company, which is based out of Merrick, New York, holds 45-day Transformation Contests for members nationwide, awarding the member who makes the most dramatic transformation with $20,000.

The winners are chosen based on their weight loss and physical changes, as well as their personal story, according to the company. The gym’s Aurora location has had a member place in the top five in the last three challenges, Straus said.

If weight loss isn’t your goal, the trainers work with you to help you get what you want out of the class, Penna said.

But no matter what you come for, you’ll get to punch something.

Diana Novak Jones is a local freelance writer.