Cardio kickboxing is a popular way to lose weight and improve overall health and fitness by imitating traditional martial arts moves as an aerobic workout. The main goal of cardio kickboxing workouts is to improve heart health, but some gyms also advertise them as a way to learn self defense skills or even meet someone new. Some kickboxing workouts are designed for both men and women, while others are aimed at one gender or the other.
Kickboxing as Exercise or Fighting Training
Kickboxing workouts can be designed purely for exercise or in the context of training for an actual fight, such as a competitive kickboxing or Mixed Martial Arts bout. There are female competitors in both kickboxing and MMA, but woman-oriented kickboxing workouts may not stress this aspect as much. Men or women who are training for an actual fight against a trained opponent need to be at a very high level of physical fitness and conditioning, and a workout based on kickboxing has the advantage of contributing to both fitness and fighting skill.
Workouts for Men
A men's kickboxing workout can begin with a series of stretching exercises before moving on to warm-up moves such as the squat and lunge. This is followed by a series of kickboxing techniques executed in 45- to 90-second bursts with rests between them for a total of 30 to 45 minutes. Low-intensity stretching or walking completes the workout. The emphasis is on correct performance of the kickboxing techniques, not just their effectiveness as an aerobic exercise. The main difference between a kickboxing gym catering to male students and one catering to female students is the male-oriented gym is more likely to include hard contact in the workout.
Workouts for Women
Not all women are comfortable with the hard physical contact, competitive mindset and aggressive atmosphere of a men's martial arts class. Kickboxing workouts designed exclusively for women emphasize the absence of contact, competition and aggression. The class is designed to feel friendly and welcoming, and any contact is very light. The elements of the workout itself are largely the same as for men. The main difference is in the mental approach.
Workouts for Both Men and Women
Some kickboxing workout classes are designed for both men and women and may even emphasize the social aspect and the chance of meeting someone new as an incentive to take the class. If the participants are not training for fighting or competition, a kickboxing routine basically is just an aerobic workout and does not need to have the elements of competition and aggression that might discourage some women from training side by side with men.
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