Kickboxing Bootcamp Exercises

Kickboxing

• The kickboxng portion of bootcamp workouts do not vary much. Combinations that involve kicks, punches and knees are used in rapid succession; the tempo is usually higher than that of a traditional kickboxing class. A bootcamp routine is likely to feature defensive drills such as head movement and blocking techniques. If you are a beginner, be sure to use proper form and focus more on technique rather than speed. Once your fitness level improves, perform them faster, aiming for a higher number of repetitions.

Bootcamp Exercises

• The use of body weights will train your body's balancing mechanisms.

  One exercise that has become popular in bootcamp kickboxing exercises is the body squat, sometimes called the prisoner squat. With your feet slightly wider than shoulder width, bend your knees and keep your back straight. You should look like you are sitting back into a chair. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor, explosively come back up. This exercise targets all the muscles of the lower body. For those who cannot get their thighs to parallel, get as deep as possible while maintaining good form. If working out on you own, you could lean against a exercise ball on the wall and lower yourself with the support.

  A second exercise that is often featured is the mountain climber. Place your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart (your feet, too). You should look like you are performing a push-up. Bring one knee up to your upper body without letting it touch the ground. Place that leg back and repeat with the other leg. This works the core while taking pressure off the lower back. If necessary, touch your feet at the top of the mountain climber before setting it back.

  The burpee comes in several variations depending on fitness level. The first version is performed by bending down until your hands touch the ground, then firing your feet backward. Now perform a push-up. Bring your feet back up and return to standing position. The variation with a jump will have the jump at the end as you come back up. For those who are beginners to these types of exercises, perform a burpee without a push-up or jump.

Other Features

• This workout should always have a warmup and cool-down period. The warmup should feature active stretching and light cardio exercises that will get the muscles and joints loose. The cool down will probably feature yoga-type stretches and active movements that will release tension in the muscles. Finally, it is important to drink plenty of water after completing one of these workouts. Ideally, you should consume at least 20 ounces.

Sample workout

• A bootcamp workout could like this:

  Warmup (five minutes)
  Alternating jumping jacks with high knees and active stretching.

  Boxing (three minutes)
  Perform simple combinations such as the jab and cross and the cross, hook and cross.

  Perform 20 body squats followed by a short duration of mountain climbers, whatever your current fitness level can handle.

  Kicking (three minutes)
  As you did with the punches, throw simple kicks such as the side kick and the round kick.

  Perform 20 burpees (any variation)

  Boxing with knee strikes (five minutes)
  Throw boxing combinations that you finish off with a knee strike. Examples are the jab and knee strike, or a jab, cross and knee strike. When mixing combinations, make sure it is one that can be performed at your skill level.

  Perform 20 body squats followed by 10 burpees (any variation).

  Boxing with kicks (five minutes)
  Perform this by throwing boxing combinations with kicks. As with the punches and the knees, make sure that it is a combination that you can perform correctly.

  Take time in between sessions to jog in place to keep your cardiovascular rate up.