Whew!

So we have 2 weeks to go before my wife and I head off to Vegas and since the last posting I shredded through about 6 lbs. This weekend will be another round of kickboxing. I think we have this one and one more left, which if memory serves correctly we are going to save until after Vegas. Gotta work off all those frozen drinks some how. During that time I have incorporated a few things from the kickboxing class into my gym routine and cut out my cardio except on my core days. I know what a lot of trainers would say. "Wha? You NEED to have cardio."

However I am going to say that with what I am doing right now, cardio is the last thing that I am going to want to add in to a heavy weight and plyometric routine. Besides if I wanted to run or climb stairs after blasting my arms I will go hit a trail or run the stairs at Red Rocks, not turn myself into a zombie staring at the OWN channel. Actually I would never stare at the OWN channel. Mother Fu**in SPORTS!

With that being said I am going to throw at you a core routine that I picked up from Men's Fitness, it's circuit one of a 2 circuit ab routine that Ryan Reynolds used to develop his core for the Blade movie.

Don't let this deceive you, because I did. It looks easy at first but once you hit round three of the circuit you are going to wish there wasn't a fourth round. With that being said, let's move on.

First you are going to start off at the cable machines, lower the cable link to hip level. We are going to start with wood choppers. Set the weight to where you can do 15 to 20 reps. Do not change the weight as you progress, the goal is to push yourself and burn yourself out. Scott Herman Fitness has a good video on how to properly execute these on YouTube here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAplQXk3dkU).

Next, you are going to go to a decline bench and bust out 15 to 20 reps of decline situps. If these are easy for you put a weight on your chest and up the level of difficulty.

Finally, you are going to either lay on the ground and do leg lifts or use a leg lift rack often used for captains chair lifts. Same reps (15 to 20).

Rinse and repeat until you have gone through 4 sets. That's it. Seems pretty easy huh? Give it a try on your off days and you will start to see a nice tapering in and engaging of your core like you haven't seen before.

I kept my ear

Last year I went all gun-ho on exercise. I was, and still am, obsessed with dropping weight and putting on muscle. So when a Groupon came around for yoga I bought it, then something that I have wanted to try for a long time came around...kickboxing. Not only kickboxing, a location just down the street from our home! Awesome!

Today, my wife and I took advantage of that Groupon. (We never did get around to the yoga) Upon entering we were met by smiling faces and warm greetings. I felt as though I was home walking into a dojo again. Justin our instructor had us start out with warm ups, jogging, high-knees, etc. Then the rope ladder came out and we were doing footwork exercises at which point I rolled my right ankle. Yay! Did that stop me? Only for a moment. I got back up and pushed myself, and pushed myself...looking back, I pushed too hard.

Kicking, punching, panting and sweating. I felt like I was in a romantic interlude with Mike Tyson and I was just hoping that I wouldn't die or get my ear bitten off. My wife went at her own pace as we were instructed to do, I went as hard as I could. I still need to work on my form and I have to remember not to drop my hands from guard position. By the end I felt used up, drained and both us were hating arm circles, but good overall.When we got home we both stepped on the scale and saw that we each lost about 2 lbs. just from this workout.

Looking back on our first experience, I am glad we took advantage of this offer. We not only are receiving 4 classes but also a pair of light boxing gloves each. As I sit here with an ice pack on my ankle all I can think about is how much I can't wait for my ankle to heal so I can go back in there and do it again.

If you would like to look into kickboxing as an extra boost to your regular work out routine ilovekickboxing.com has a really good introductory offer on their website. The class can be intimidating, but the participants who have been there for a while are willing to jump in to help out beginners.