Kicking the Winter Blues with Ping’s Group Fitness

Story by Melissa Thompson		    

           It’s officially winter in Athens and snow is on the ground, burying all motivation to work out beneath it. So here we are—cold and uninspired. However, despite winter’s gloomy forecast and the temptation it presents to sit in bed continually refreshing your Twitter timeline, beat the cold-weather blues by grabbing a friend and joining one of Ping’s free group fitness sessions.

            Take a look at the group fitness schedule for this quarter and you will see everything offered from Zumba to HardCORE. The fitness session that I thought looked the most interesting was the Kickboxing class. Ping offers kickboxing Monday, Tuesday and Saturday. Saturday’s group fitness instructor, Anna, creates energy within the room that envelops and sparks the class’ participants.

           Kickboxing class combines intervals and kickboxing combinations. Each interval lasts about five minutes and should be high intensity with proper form. Proper form includes a strong back, knees behind toes, and weight in the heels of the foot.  Below are two interval examples:

  

Squatting

  1. Start with squatting down and up at a steady pace. Remember to focus on proper form and getting low.
  2. Next add an alternating knee lift as you stand. During this step focus on keeping the core engaged as you bring your knee up.
  3. Proceed by taking the knee lift to a front kick.  Make sure you tuck the pelvis under as you kick and keep a slight bend in standing leg.  Check the squat in between kicks, remember to continue getting low.
  4. Lastly, finish the interval out with a set of eight pulsing squats.
    

   

Run on the Beach

  1. Begin with a standing jog. Anna will tell you a story about the three things that can happen to you while running on the beach.
  2. First thing that can happen, hot sand. When Anna calls out hot sand participants begin intense high knees as fast as they can. Pumping your arms is key! Anna will tell you when are passed the hot sand and can go back to a standing jog.
  3. Next, at the beach you encounter a sandcastle. This must be squashed so participants hit the floor to do a burpee. A burpee, also known as a squat thrust begins in squat position with hands on the floor. Then you kick your feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to the squat position and leap up. Keep your standing jog going after you complete your burpee.
  4. Last thing you may encounter on the beach is a log. When you encounter a log all participants do a tuck jump to get over the log. Make sure when landing your tuck jump that you are landing softly and quietly with control.

Combinations are 32-count kickboxing choreography. The choreography relies heavily on proper Beat-Per-Minute music, which you pick up when the music matches your intensity during the workout. During the choreography make sure you listen to the instructors safety cues. Your knees should never lock. In between each punch your guard (non-punching hand) should be up. When doing a roundhouse kick your standing knee should be slightly bent, kicking toe pointed, abs should be engaged, and your guards should be twisting toward your kicking leg. Included some examples combinations from the class to give you an idea of the fitness fun that awaits.
First Combination:

  1. 2 Hooks 2 Uppercuts
  2. 2 Roundhouse kick into a lunge
  3. 2 Kick front to back
  4. 4 Jumping Jacks

Second Combination:

  1. 4 Elbows
  2. 2 Roundhouse kick into a lunge
  3. 4 Squats
  4. 4 Jumping Jacks