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.