This post is part of my 2017 New Year’s Resolution to try every group fitness class offered at my gym, The Equinox in Chestnut Hill. See the full list of reviews here.
Progress: 31 Classes Down, Approximately 12 To Go (class offerings sometimes change)
Today’s Class: Cardio Sculpt with Kristy Discipio
Class length: 55 Minutes
Description from the Equinox: A total body workout for both muscular strength and endurance. Continuous movement to great music keeps the heart rate up for a sweat-drenched sculpting session.
What Class Was Like
SURPRISE! This is a kickboxing class! (I didn’t get that from the description, you?)
Luckily that was a pleasant surprise for me; I loved this class. We went back and forth between kickboxing and weight exercises using small to medium weights. (Most people had 5-10 pound dumbbells.)
I was so afraid this was going to be 55 minutes of burpees and jumping jacks and I was ecstatic to be doing kickboxing instead.
Kick-boxing sequences were well demonstrated and moves were practiced individually for technique before adding them to the existing sequence. What started out as three jabs and a cross punch ended up becoming a long kickboxing sequence by the end of class; but thanks to the gradual build-up it was easy to memorize and execute.
Weight work was just long enough for my heart rate to recover from the cardio segments, and made it feel like a well-rounded workout.
No mat work or ab-specific work was included, but my abs feel worked from staying tight during the kickboxing sequences.
Sample Exercises:
- 3 jabs, 1 cross, front kick, back kick, uppercut, hook, uppercut, hook, roundhouse, squat roundhouse, squat (all practiced individually and then added onto the starting sequence one at a time)
- dumbbell rows and lifts
- burpees into high knees
- squat to straight standing overhead dumbbell presses
Who would love it?
Anyone looking to sweat in a cardio workout and have some fun, all without neglecting strength work. Great for someone who is interested in taking The Cut! but who’d like a little more instruction and repetition of the moves first.
Kickboxing is great because it’s so much more than just cardio. You’re squatting after a kick, balancing and switching feet to go from a front kick to a back kick, increasing flexibility with your roundhouse, engaging your core so you can move with precision, etc. I felt a lot of different muscles being utilized, including my brain, to execute the workout to my best ability.
Know before you go
- Wear sneakers and definitely bring a water bottle.
- Watch where you’re kicking, and make sure you pick a spot with enough room to move
- When in doubt, bring earplugs. Volume is a preference and they might be helpful here.
PSA – Rumor has it that Equinox Chestnut Hill is getting training bags and people will get the chance to do more than shadow-box pretty soon! That’s a good reason to retake the class, right? I mean you guys should probably hear about how that goes. A favor for you. Not a distraction from my overall goal, for sure.
PPSA (PS and PSA? No? Not a thing?) – the chilled eucalyptus scented towels are absolutely fantabulous post workout. Just trying everything. That was the point of this, right?
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