Box You In

Despite what you see in the movies, you don’t have to be able to catch chickens with your bare hands and run up the Philadelphia Art Museum steps to be a boxer. And you don’t have to be a boxer to have a body that looks like every ounce of fat just melted off your frame.

The 45-minute Everlast Shadow Box class is 24 Hour Fitness’ answer to one of the hottest fitness trends this year. The class is a total-body conditioning workout that focuses on core while building agility, speed, and strength. “So much of boxing is done using your obliques, so it’s a great core workout,” says Linda McHugh, Group X programming manager. “It’s also a good combination of upper-body and lower-body work. Even though you aren’t punching something, the fact that you are tightening your arm and going through the motion builds strength.”

With a the backdrop of “in-your-face” music that will drive you to kick butt, the class rolls through a series of punch combos, jabs, upper cuts, hooks, and defense moves, interspersed with a athletic conditioning drills that include mountain climbers, pushups, plyometric lunges, quick feet, and jumping jacks.

McHugh is confident Everlast Shadow Box will draw more men than some of the other classes, but she says beginners shouldn’t feel intimidated. “Regardless of whether you really want to box or not, you’re going to get into great shape. It’s stuff you’ve probably done before,” she says. “You can modify every drill and not stand out: if you don’t want to do the exact same intensity level that someone else is: you can march in place instead of jumping rope for example."

Power Up
Three moves to build strength, agility, and speed.

Plyometric Lunge
Preparation
1. Stand with feet in a staggered stance.
2. Feet should be pointed straight ahead and knees over second and third toes.
3. Both knees should be bent at 90-degree angles, front foot should be flat on the ground and the back foot should have the heel lifted off the ground.

Movement
1. Jump up into the air, using arms and extending them overhead (as if reaching for the sky). For added resistance you can hold a medicine ball.
2. While in the air, switch legs so the back leg moves up and the front leg moves back.
3. Land softly in a controlled manner back into the lunge position with the legs now in an opposite position (back leg now in front and vice versa). Keep feet straight, knees over midfoot. Maintain control of the entire body and repeat.

Mountain Climbers
Preparation
1. Begin in a push-up position with hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and legs fully extended.
2. Draw in abdomen and contract glutes.
3. Keep your back flat (do not arch low back) and head in line with your shoulders (do not allow head to jut forward towards the ground). Imagine creating a straight line from with your body from your head to your feet.

Movement
1. Start the movement by bringing the right knee to the chest and back to starting position. Make sure to keep abdomen drawn in and optimum posture through your spine.
2. Quickly alternate to the left leg and continue this movement for a desired time period.

Medicine Ball Pushup
Preparation
1. Begin in a push-up position with hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and legs fully extended.
2. Draw in abdomen and contract glutes.
3. Keep your back flat (do not arch low back) and head in line with your shoulders (do not allow head to jut forward towards the ground). Imagine creating a straight line from with your body from your head to your feet.
4. Place a medicine ball under one hand.

Movement
1. Slowly lower body toward ground, by flexing elbows and retracting and depressing shoulder blades.
2. Stop at first point of compensation.
3. Push back up to starting position, by extending elbows and contracting chest. Do not allow head to jut forward.
4. Roll medicine ball to opposite hand and repeat for desired number of repetitions.