Boxercise

Utilising the age old training principles of Boxing and adapting them to form a fun, safe and stress busting work out, Boxercise  is a high energy fitness class that really gets your heart rate up and your body working!

With over 1.2 million men and women in the UK regularly undertaking Boxing based workouts, this training is suitable for all ages and fitness standards. This is the first fitness class of its kind to hit Switzerland. Don’t miss out!!

It is a full body Cardiovascular workout and you can burn up-to 420 calories in just a one hour session! You use a huge array of muscleswhile working on your body movements, agility and momentum.  Boxing is one of the most effective, concise ways to get in shape and maintain your physical health….. and it’s a lot of fun too!

 

What do I get out of Boxercise?

Boxercise is one of the most effective forms of cross-training available today. Not only will your strength, power, and cardiovascular fitness improve but you will also see improvements in focus and concentration, energy levels, muscular and core strength, stamina, hand-eye coordination and mental agility too. As if that was not enough, training through boxing also stimulates your mind boosting your mental well-being and self-esteem!

Classes can take a variety of formats; a firm favourite however is a circuit style class including: shadow-boxing, skipping, hitting pads, kicking punch bags, press-ups, shuttle-runs and sit-ups. As no class involves the physical hitting of an opponent, it is a fun, challenging and safe workout.

 

  • Improves hand-eye coordination You may not think about the importance of hand-eye coordination and its effect on total health, but hand-eye coordination plays an important role in a person’s gross and fine motor skills. With boxing, your body will improve evenly on both sides, reducing postural misalignment. This is particularly important during ageing, as coordination and balance become compromised, increasing the risk of falls.
  • Increases stamina – The sport has been estimated as approximately 70-80% anaerobic and 20-30% aerobic. Anaerobic means to conduct an activity without oxygen. Anaerobic exercise, like boxing, stresses the muscles at a high intensity for short periods of time.
  • Increases mental agility: Boxing is a great outlet for stress for two reasons: First, during a boxing workout you typically transition between high intensity bouts of exercise and moderate intensity recovery periods. When you’re pushing yourself through a couple minutes of high-intensity punching or kicking, you don’t have much mental power left to worry about how much you hate your job, or the fact your house is a mess. And even during rest periods, you’ll be focused on sucking wind and mentally preparing for the next round, not stressing over other aspects of your life in that hour. Second, there’s an incredibly cathartic release when you get to take some of your stress out on a punching bag. It’s an empowering feeling to punch the stress right out of you!!
  • Improves total body strength During a boxing workout, you may punch or kick a bag hundreds of times, requiring your upper body, lower body, and core to engage as you make contact with the pads/bag. Boxing improves muscle strength used in everyday activities, as well as the ‘fast twitch’ muscle fibres required for shorter, more explosive movements.

So, if you’re worried or nervous about stepping into the madness of a Boxercise class, please don’t be! Take my word for it, as soon as you’re in the class you’ll love it! Try it for yourself, come to the class on a Thursday evening at at 19:15 at ZüriFit in Adliswil. Book online now at; mbody@mbodypt.ch

 

 

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‘Harness’ing the power of the Bungee

‘Harness’ing the power of the Bungee…… a new and fun way to stay fit?

First hitting the scene last summer when it’s taster video went viral, bungee fitness has spread like wild fire. Originating in Bangkok, Thailand it is sweeping across the US, UK and Australia. It has now finally arrived in Europe, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

One of the hardest things about fitness training is ensuring your workouts stay innovative, targeted and fun. Standing on a treadmill 3 times a week can quickly get monotonous and makes the whole process of staying fit harder and quite uninspiring. Enter Bungee fitness, a revolutionary training methodology that is fun in large measures. This gravity defying workout will have you grinning from ear to ear as you glide, bounce and soar around the room. The best thing about it is, you will be having so much fun you won’t even realise how much work it is until your heart rate is pumping and you are left dripping in sweat!

It starts with you being fastened into a harness which is then attached to a bungee cord descending from the ceiling. From here, you will perform various acrobatic manoeuvres, ones which you’d never think you’d be able to perform without the safety of the bungee cord. One handed planks, cartwheels, dives and even one handed handstands are all just examples of the sheer diversity that can be incorporated into Bungee Fitness.

And what a killer on the core!! Bungee workouts really target the transverse abdominals, an area that a lot of workouts neglect. As well as being a highly effective way of burning calories and building muscle, exercising on the Bungee will also improve your movements and flexibility by taking the impact out of your leaps and bounds so your joints don’t absorb the shock; allowing you to move more skilfully as you fly around the room.

My personal favourite is ‘Bungee Tabata’. Tabata is a form of exercise created by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout, featuring exercise routines that last four minutes*. Performing Tabata on the Bungee allows you to be more creative with your movements while you’re working out to your max during the 20 second active period: running, jumping, spinning and diving through the air.

I have been leading Bungee Fitness classes for the last month now and one of the most rewarding parts of the workout is seeing how the ropes bring out the child-like nature in all the people that I have trained so far. I have seen people of all ages and abilities throw themselves into this workout and come out wanting more.

You can check out our classes and packages via the bungee-fit.ch website. Click on the link and take your first leap into the world of bungee fitness.

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HIIT – Breaking down the fat!

High intensity interval training, or HIIT as its better known, is a form of exercise in which you give 100% effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, rest periods. HIIT has become very popular and well-known for its benefits: it helps build muscle mass, increases the amount of calories you burn during a workout session and most importantly its a fantastic fat-busting workout that continues to burn fat for up to 24 hours after your workout has ended. The bursts of intense periods of exercise followed by the intermittent recovery periods all contribute to the metabolic adaptation that enables you to use more fat as fuel under a variety of conditions. This promotes improvements to your endurance as well as your fat burning potential.

A great example of a HIIT workout is sprinting close to your maximum speed for 30 seconds followed by walking for 30 seconds. The workouts usually involve specified work and rest intervals, as well as a number of sets to complete. The above example would be described at a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. What is key here is that the exercises must be performed at 80% to 95% of your maximum heart rate*. The rest intervals should then be performed at 40% to 50% of your HRmax. The good news, for those of you with a busy schedule is that the optimal HIIT session can be completed in just 20 – 30 minutes. If your workout lasts more than 30 minutes you’re probably not working hard enough in that time to realise the benefits.

Numerous studies have even pointed to the benefits of HIIT reversing some changes in protein expression that are linked to ageing, including some related to our mitochondria function. Now, it won’t turn back the hands of time when it comes to your skin, but on a more technical slant HIIT can help to breath new life into the protein building factories in our cells and enhance the energy producing capacity of our cells powerhouses, known as mitochondria. As we get older, the ability of our mitochondria to produce energy gradually diminishes and so improving their efficiency, in theory, helps to fight off the effects of old age.

As if that isn’t enough, the other fantastic thing about HIIT is that you can perform it anywhere be it in the gym using equipment, outside utilising varied cardio formats or at home with weighted or bodyweight exercises. There are many ways to take advantage of this training method. You will need to bring your motivation though, as this type of workout provides optimal benefits when you are pushing up to your maximum heart rate, so get prepared to struggle, sweat and give it your absolute all. If your not going all out and sweating buckets, you’re not doing it right!

Now, lets have a look at a couple HIIT workout options. Always remember to warm your muscles up first for 5 to 10 minute with a good warm up using either the treadmill, rowing machine, or doing some dynamic stretches.

Option 1 – HIIT you can do at home

Jump squats – 45 seconds

Mountain climbers – 45 seconds

Bum kicks – 45 seconds

Burpees – 45 seconds

Alternating side lunge – 45 seconds

Alternating Jump lunges – 45 seconds

Do each of these moves for 45 seconds, resting for 15 seconds after each exercise. Repeat this circuit twice.

Option 2 – HIIT you can do in the gym

Standing Shoulder press – 30 seconds

Weighted Squats – 30 seconds

Battle ropes – 30 seconds

Cardio – Rowing machine – 90 seconds

Do each of the resistance exercises for 30 seconds and rest for 15 seconds in-between followed by 90 seconds of Cardio. Repeat 3-4 times.

Option 3 – Varying your intensity on cardio equipment

Stairclimber – 60 seconds high speed/60 seconds low speed, repeat.

Bike Tabata – 20 seconds sprint/ 10 seconds rest, repeat.

Treadmill Sprints –  40 seconds / 20 seconds of: walk/incline walk, walk/jog, or run/sprint respectively.

These are just a few options to get you started. There are many ways to create high intensity intervals by adapting the timing of your MAX workout vs your rest period. 2-3 days a week is a solid amount of HIIT and you will see the results of your hard work in no time. If you want to workout 4 times a week, I would suggest doing 2 HIIT sessions per week with 2 Resistance Sessions as well.

For additional information on HIIT or to book in for your first session visit www.mbodypt.ch and get in touch. I would be happy to discuss your goals and aspirations before creating a training program designed specifically for you.

However you decide to incorporate HIIT training into your workout programme you know you have plenty of options to choose from. So pick your playlist, grab your water bottle and lets HIIT it!

* The basic way to calculate your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you’re 45 years old, subtract 45 from 220 to get a maximum heart rate of 175. This is the maximum number of times your heart should beat per minute during exercise.

 

 

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