Punched Out

Aside from doing BodyJam, I also engage in another Les Mills group exercise program, called BodyCombat. It’s a cardio and conditioning workout based on various martial arts, and it can get very intense because the combinations of punches, kicks, strikes, and katas are easy to remember and repeat. If you know the sequence, you can increase the intensity. I’ve even heard you can burn up to 1000 calories during the hour-long class!

I miss my Wednesday 7:30am class at Fitness First Greenhills with Mader Fhe; she could really get her students hyped and pumped up. Mader Fhe’s motto for us all was, “If you make a mistake, just smile!” She’s also the BodyCombat program coordinator for Fitness First in the Philippines, and I think she’s really whipped the program into the best shape it can be. The instructors now always show how to perform the moves properly, which is a good thing because doing the exercises with poor form increases the chance of injury.

We, her regulars, knew each other by sight and we all had our preferred spots within the group exercise studio. It even got to the point where we’d gossip about other regulars. There was this one guy who always dressed in matching colors: for example, if he was wearing a red shirt, he’d wear a red sweatband, wristband, jogging pants, and shoes to go with it. He’d wear his jogging pants hiked up to wedgie-height, too. He claimed he was an aikido black-belt and really liked showing off in class; problem was, he was off the choreography by about two beats and we all tried to stay clear of his flying offbeat kicks and punches. But it was all good because we were there to sweat it out no matter what others around us were doing anyway. Mader Fhe’s class always left us with endorphins pumping through our bloodstream. It was impossible to be in a bad mood afterwards.

I used to attend BodyCombat classes twice (sometimes thrice!) a week, but had to cut down to one class, on Fridays at 6:30am, when I got hired and couldn’t fit the later-morning classes into my schedule. I can’t not do BodyCombat, though; it’s different from my dance-based classes and works out different muscles which don’t usually get targeted when I’m dancing. BodyCombat always leaves me aching all over, but it’s a good kind of pain. Ü

Tags: , ,

0 thoughts on “Punched Out

  • November 21, 2006 at 4:07 am
    Permalink

    LOL I like going to Ramon’s classes every Tuesdays & Saturdays, but I don’t think I’ll make it today. Body Jam na lang with Rio later if I’m not too tired yet, because I seriously need to work on my sucky dancing.

    Reply
  • November 21, 2006 at 7:18 am
    Permalink

    Does Bodycombat also give you the capability to kick unscrupulous gonads left and right?

    Reply
  • November 22, 2006 at 9:09 am
    Permalink

    Xiaoyubeh: Ramon uses a laptop to play his music tracks, right? πŸ™‚ He also has a 7:30am class on Mondays but it’s too late for me because I’ve gotta be at work by 9am.Steel: Wow, gonads can have character? They can be unscrupulous? Or do you mean nondiscriminating? Haha. πŸ˜€

    Reply
  • November 22, 2006 at 11:52 am
    Permalink

    Wow, gonads can have character? They can be unscrupulous? Of course they do! What do you think makes me hate my balls so much sometimes? Yeah it’s such a bratty pair!Oh now they’re walking away! I think you hurt their feelings.

    Reply
  • November 22, 2006 at 3:08 pm
    Permalink

    here was this one guy who always dressed in matching colors: for example, if he was wearing a red shirt, he’d wear a red sweatband, wristband, jogging pants, and shoes to go with it. He’d wear his jogging pants hiked up to wedgie-height, too. He claimed he was an aikido black-belt and really liked showing off in class; problem was, he was off the choreography by about two beats and we all tried to stay clear of his flying offbeat kicks and punches.Aren’t the showoffs always the least skilled? =P

    Reply
  • November 22, 2006 at 6:26 pm
    Permalink

    hehe yeah, & weirdly yesterday daw they didn’t have any background music on! :)) or so says my friend, who joined his class while I was out paying bills elsewhere.

    Reply
  • November 24, 2006 at 2:44 pm
    Permalink

    xiaoyubeh: They’ve been having problems with the sound system since Tuesday morning. Our BodyJam class was punctuated by starts and stops. Quite anticlimactic. πŸ˜€steel: Who called your balls unscrupulous in the first place? πŸ˜‰ade: um, oh noes…

    Reply

Leave a Reply to ade Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *