kickboxing faq

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I used to do kickboxing at home on a big punching bag stand with gloves and I lost 15 lbs doing that consistently and eating well.
I want to get back into kickboxing because it was so much fun and I had good results with it.

I am curious if I am simply kicking and punching, squats, jumps, etc without any equipment- will that still be effective?
Also - the first day I tried this for ten mninutes as it had been a couple of weeks since I had exercised at all , and years since I had done any kickboxing. I was so sore in my shoulders the next day. I'm curious if that's normal? Not sure if I was doing something wrong then? To be sore that fast?

Also will kickboxing help build muscle? I wanted to skip weight training for a bit and focus on kickboxing and slowly add in weight training. Only because I find that I get distracted fast and I want to build this into a routine first properly. I'm wondering if punching and kicks and squat jumps and sucking my stomach in while doing all of this will be helping tone up and build muscle?
I know that a good workout is useless without a good diet so ofcourse my diet has become relatively good now :)

Thanks in advance

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  • cehinton
    cehinton Posts: 15
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    Hi,
    So, you USED to do it on a punching bag, but now you're not going to use one? Or do you intend to still use the bag?
    If you're NOT using a bag, then I would say that it will still be good exercise, and you still will build strength somewhat in your lower body (especially if you're adding in the squats and jumps as you've stated), but you will not build much, if any, strength in your upper body. Reason being: there simply is no resistance there without the bag. The reason your lower body will still strengthen is because it has to support your upper body weight.

    Now even if you're using a bag, you still won't build a TON of muscle kickboxing, obviously, but you can greatly tone and strengthen your muscles, bones, and joints, just not to the point that weight lifting might. Add in a heavy bag and you'll get lots of great upper body strengthening, and core!
    I think your idea of building it into a solid routine first as you take a break from weight training sounds good. You might find you're getting all the strength and conditioning you need without the weights, but again, if you're not using a bag, then kickboxing can still provide a great cardio workout, and if you happen to enjoy it a lot then that makes it a lot easier to keep up with consistently.

    Good luck to you, and if you have any further questions, please let me know. Take care! :smile: