WORKOUT

Focus & Ben­e­fits: This cardio/​strength blend of kick­box­ing and upper body strength is a sis­ter work­out to the fiery but fun Car­dio Kick­box­ing Com­bos with Low­er Body Strength: Sin­gle Dumb­bell and Body­weight Exer­cis­es rou­tine. We use the same warm-up and cool-down as the low­er body coun­ter­part and fol­low the same for­mat – short seg­ments of kick­box­ing com­bos alter­nat­ed with sin­gle-weight, uni­lat­er­al upper body strength exer­cis­es. The com­bos are just a lit­tle bit spici­er than those in the low­er body rou­tine to bump up the inten­si­ty, increase mind-mus­cle engage­ment, and chal­lenge the upper body and core’s apti­tude for agili­ty, coor­di­na­tion, and spa­tial aware­ness. Thus, this is an effi­cient work­out for tar­get­ing two train­ing modal­i­ties in one ses­sion (car­dio and strength) and also makes for great prac­tice at move­ment automa­tion. The more you prac­tice your punch­es and kicks, the more sec­ond nature these move­ment pat­terns become, allow­ing you to move with increased vig­or and pre­ci­sion (to get the most ben­e­fits out of each train­ing session).

Equip­ment: You will only need one mod­er­ate­ly heavy weight for each exer­cise dur­ing the upper body strength cir­cuits, but you should bring along a range of at least two to three dif­fer­ent weight options rel­a­tive to what you can accom­mo­date for the exer­cis­es includ­ed in this work­out. Your weight choice(s) should be chal­leng­ing but man­age­able, mean­ing you should choose weights that allow you to com­plete reps with­out long breaks dur­ing each work­ing interval.

Tips & Help­ful Infor­ma­tion: There is an inher­ent rhythm and flow to kick­box­ing com­bos; there­fore, if you’re ever lost or con­fused, just move your body in what­ev­er way feels nat­ur­al to you! The goal dur­ing the com­bos is to keep your heart rate ele­vat­ed while stay­ing in motion so you can sub­sti­tute what­ev­er kicks and punch­es help you achieve this objec­tive. After all, the work­out should be fun/​invigorating not frustrating!

Dif­fi­cul­ty & Mod­i­fi­ca­tions Explained: This work­out is rat­ed as a lev­el 4 because of the coor­di­na­tion required to string togeth­er the kick­box­ing com­bi­na­tions and the tem­po work includ­ed dur­ing the strength seg­ments. To decrease the over­all dif­fi­cul­ty of the work­out, decrease your speed dur­ing the com­bos or sub­sti­tute punches/​kicks that work for you (as men­tioned above) and/​or decrease your weights or omit the tem­po work.

Clos­ing Notes: Make sure to also check out the cousin work­out to this rou­tine, Car­dio Kick­box­ing and Upper Body Strength: With Uni­lat­er­al Strength and Car­dio Moves. And last but not least, enjoy yourself!

Work­out
Warm-Up: 30 sec per exer­cise, no rest between exer­cis­es (4:00)
‑Jab-Cross – R
‑Hook-Upper­cut – R
‑Front Kick + Side Kick – R
‑Jump Rope + Feet Shuffles
‑Jab-Cross – L
‑Hook-Upper­cut – L
‑Front Kick + Side Kick – L
‑Jump­ing Jacks

***30 sec off***

Kick­box­ing For­mat: 45 sec on / 15 sec off / 2x = Com­bo #1 alter­nat­ed with Com­bo #2 (each com­plet­ed twice, round #1 = R lead and round #2 = L lead); Fin­ish with 90 sec com­bi­na­tion of Com­bo 1 & 2.
Strength For­mat: 30 sec on / 10 sec off / 2x; Fin­ish with 60 sec of Burnout Exercise.

My Weights – 1 mod­er­ate­ly heavy weight per cir­cuit (not a rec­om­men­da­tion, just a reference):
‑Range: 15 lbs. (6.8 kg) – 30 lbs. (~14 kg)

Kick­box­ing Com­bos #1: (5:30)
‑Com­bo 1: 2x (Jab-Cross) + 1 Squat Thrust + 1 Side Kick (front leg)
‑Com­bo 2: 2 For­ward Trav­el­ing Jabs + Hook-Upper­cut + 4 Jump­ing Jacks (reset/​switch leads)
***15 sec off***
‑90-Sec­ond Fin­ish­er Round: Com­bine Com­bo 1 & Com­bo 2 (alter­nate between R and L lead)

***30 sec off***

Upper Body Strength Cir­cuit #1: (6:30)
‑Tem­po Push Press – R (1−0−3)
‑SA Mil­i­tary Press – R
‑Tem­po Push Press – L (1−0−3)
‑SA Mil­i­tary Press – L
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Rain­bow Over­head Presses

***Water Break***

Kick­box­ing Com­bos #2: (5:30)
‑Com­bo 1: Front Kick (front leg) + Back Kick (back leg) + Blastoff Squat w/​Over­head Slam + Elbow Strikes For­ward + Back (front arm)
‑Com­bo 2: 4 Jabs in Horse + (tran­si­tion: squat thrust) 4 Jabs in Plank + Fast Feet (reset)
***15 sec off***
‑90-Sec­ond Fin­ish­er Round: Com­bine Com­bo 1 & Com­bo 2 (alter­nate between R and L lead)

***30 sec off***

Upper Body Strength Cir­cuit #2: (6:30)
‑Tem­po Low Row (1−0−3) – R
‑SA Biceps Curl – R
‑Tem­po Low Row (1−0−3) – L
‑SA Biceps Curl – L
***10 sec off***
‑Burnout: Mid-Range Biceps Curl Pulse (hold either side of weight, if shape allows)

Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 5:00)
‑Quads/​Hip Flex­ors Stretch – R
‑Hamstrings/​Hip Hinge Stretch – R
‑Fig­ure 4 Stretch – R
‑Quads/​Hip Flex­ors Stretch – L
‑Hamstrings/​Hip Hinge Stretch – L
‑Fig­ure 4 Stretch – L
‑Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch + Wrist Rota­tions – R
‑Over­head Triceps/​Lats Stretch – R
‑Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch + Wrist Rota­tions – L
‑Over­head Triceps/​Lats Stretch – L