Today's sporty adventure however came along for altogether more - shall we say - ingenious reasons.
This was the conversation with my best Husband yesterday night*:
M: Seen as our plans for tomorrow have just been cancelled, does this mean we can make new plans?
A: Yes! I was just thinking that maybe we could go Shop...
M: Err, I was thinking we could paint the spare room that you keep going on about?
A: Tomorrow?
M: Yes.
A: Ah, you see, tomorrow I can't.
M: What? Why?
A: I'm busy.
M: Busy doing what?
A: Errrr, hummm, SPORTS!
M: Which sports?
A: (Come on, council gym website, load already....) Pilates!
M: You've already tried Pilates.
A: Just checking that you're keeping up to date with the blog. Tomorrow I'll be trying out.. err. (scroll, scroll...)..Mummy Yoga.
M: Anna, you are not trying out Mummy Yoga. It's for mothers.
A: Ahahahahah, hahahaah, how funny, my Swiss accent made it sound like I said "mummy yoga" Hahaaha (scroll, scroll, scroll, waiting to load...), no, what I said was tomorrow I'll be doing Box Fit.
M: What does that involve?
A: I don't know, but I hear it's veeeeeery hard work. You can't use your arms for DAYS!**
And so poor Anneka fund herself dragged yet again along to a class - I say "dragged along", she actually likes sports and has done this class before, so this bit I've invented purely for added dramatic effect.
Up to this point, I thought the class would involve punching things. And it does, but a cold shudder run down my spine when Anneka said "... and then when you do the running between repetitions...". Everything after that was a bit of a blur. I didn't know there would be running.
The class is designed similarly to a HIIT work out:
- You work in pairs
- There is always one partner punching and one partner holding the pads
- There are 4 sets of different punches
- You do each set of punches for 4 rounds of 30 seconds each
- After each round of punches, you have a 20 second cardio blast (running, jumping jacks....)
- After each cardio blast, you've earned your 10 seconds rest. Note: 10 seconds is not enough to take your gloves off, open your bottle, gulp, close bottle, gloves back on. So you can either not drink, or use it is a clever ploy to reduce your 30s punching time... I'm not judging no-one.
So I'd like to tell you at this point that I performed fantastically well in this class. However, that would be another lie. Unfortunately about half way through the class, I felt myself covered in cold sweat, unable to catch my breath and light headed. I had to sit out a few rounds and (yet again for added dramatic effect), a large fan was brought in.
I had this happen before when exercising, and whilst I don't know what brings it on, I know it usually passes very quickly if I stop, calm my breathing down, and have some water. Luckily, this was the case here and was able to join in again. I didn't want to deprive Anneka of practising her strong defence.
However, because of my outstanding effort, I'd say I definitely still scored in the top 5 members of the class.
Would Box fit be a good way of getting back your punch?
1. I'm all for efficient work-outs, and so far I've enjoyed all the HIIT based classes. It's really hard work whilst you're there, but you can clearly feel that you've worked afterwards and that gives you the endorphin boost that will keep you going.
2. It's a good mix of strength and cardio, so you get a bit of both.
3. It is good fun to punch someone, especially if you have someone like Anneka to aim at.
4. I also felt it worked my sense of coordination, as sometimes we were changing the types of punches within a set - at one point I seriously got confused between my left and right, and several times I'm sure I've lifted the wrong leg.
5. the group we joined was very small, as it was a Monday morning, which felt like harder work because you can't hide. The upside was that we got very personalised support from the coach. I guess that just depends on the class available near you.
6. As you can see, normal gym wear and trainers are perfect - and definitely do remember your bottle of water!
*This conversation may have been slightly different in reality. If I recall correctly, it went like this:
A: I might try Box Fit tomorrow.
M: OK.
** This bit is probably actually true. It's intense on the arms.
Anyway, apparently there is a wall waiting to be stripped....
