Kickboxing is defined as a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Thai boxing and western boxing.

While it is known more as a discipline for self defense or as a contact sport, fitness kickboxing for general fitness and muscle toning is increasing in popularity.

Why fitness kickboxing can make sense

Kickboxing can make sense for a lot of us since it is an excellent adjunct to an existing workout regime which you are looking to tweak or enhance or in which you may have reached a plateau.

Kickboxing can also help break the boredom of the same old workout so that it can help to motivate you and keep you on track for further fitness gains.

Fitness kickboxing can help stimulate the metabolism anew and engage and challenge different muscles.

How fitness kickboxing works

Kickboxing can use a mixture of high power exercise routines and actual full contact fighting.

This can help strengthen the body, and enhance mental toughness, and also help increase stamina and muscle endurance.

We may not think of it in that way, but fitness kickboxing can be a very effective cardio workout since an estimated 500 to 800 calories can be burnt per hour of kickboxing due to the high intensity nature of the workout.

Since kickboxing can be a highly concentrated activity, a beginner may want to take it easy and begin slow, even if their personal fitness levels are fairly high to begin with.

Fitness kickboxing Basics – There are some basic moves that constitute kickboxing:

• Punches are of different types such as the jab, the cross, the hook, the upper cut, the short straight punch, the back fist, the flying punch, the cross-counter, the overhand, the bolo punch, the half hook and the half swing.
• Kicks such as the front kick or the push kick (derived from disciplines such as taekwondo) the side kick, the semi circular kick, the round house or circle kick, the hook kick, the crescent kick, the axe kick, back kick and sweeping kicks constitute fitness kickboxing.
• Knee and elbow strikes such as the straight knee thrust, rising knee thrust, hooking knee thrust, side knee snap strike, and so on are also part of fitness kickboxing routines.
• Defense or defensive maneuvers also are an important main constituent of kickboxing – slipping, bobbing and weaving, parrying or blocking, covering up, the clinch and so on are the defensive part of fitness kickboxing.

What is aerobic kickboxing?

This is a sport specific form of fitness kickboxing, which was developed by Frank Thiboutot and is also known as cardio kickboxing. This is an equipment based form of kickboxing that is designed specifically for attaining fitness goals and uses equipment such as training pads, heavy bags and so on.

The aim of aerobic kickboxing is to provide a dual benefit to the person; a cardio workout as well as resistance training that consists of kicks, punches, hand strikes and self defense moves as well.

Recumbent bikes differ from traditional upright bikes due to the position of the seat. Recumbent bikes have a bucket-like seat that takes the pressure off the rider’s lower back area.

When a rider sits on a recumbent bike, the body weight is off the pubic bone. This has the desired effect of distributing the pressure evenly across the buttocks and back area.

Recumbent bikes are often effective for people with injuries because they remove some of the stress on the joints.

Benefits of Exercising with Recumbent Bike

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, stationary biking can burn up to 250 calories in 30 minutes.

These exercise machines have the added luxury of allowing you to work out in the comfort of your own home during inclement weather.

Recumbent bikes are an effective alternative to traditional cycles. The rider can choose between various settings that simulate an actual bike ride.

You can customize a workout program to fit your fitness goals. Programs often include cardio, fat burning, hills, interval training and muscle building.

Professional cyclist legs are far from puny. Their powerful leg muscles have to push them up steep hills. If your goal is to have strong legs, a stationary recumbent bike will assist in developing bulging quadricep and gluteal muscles.

Recumbent Bike Exercise Routine

To pack on the muscle, you will need to pedal with resistance. Here are a few ways to do this:

Sprints

Pedal as fast as you can for one minute at a high resistance level. During the rest period, lower the resistance and pedal at a normal rate for one minute. Try to do at least five repetitions of this during a fifteen to twenty minute workout.

Hovers

Pedal in a seated position with your buttocks lifted about an inch off the seat. This is usually done on an upright bike, but can also be performed on recumbent bikes that have handles located near the seat. Use your hands and arms to brace yourself, while you continue to pedal. This will work different areas of the quadriceps and gluteal muscles.

For best results, limit your muscle building workouts to three days a week. You can still ride the bike on your off days at a lower intensity. This will give your muscles time to recover.

What Muscles Are Worked During Recumbent Biking?

There are five main muscles that help power the pedals during a recumbent bike workout. Every time you generate force by pushing down on the pedals, the fibers in the following muscles are actively recruited:

Hamstrings

These are the muscles that are located on the back of your thigh. They work in opposition to the quadriceps muscles in the front of your legs. They also help the knee to bend during the pedaling.

Quadriceps

These large group of muscles run down the front of your leg from the hip to just above the knee. These thick muscles are engaged every time you push down on the pedal.

When you add resistance, these muscles will do the majority of the work in pushing the pedals forward.

Gluteal Muscles

These muscles are compromised of the gluteal maximus, medius, and minimus. The gluteus maximus tightens and releases power during the pedaling movement.

The gluteus medius and minimus also assist in rotating your hips during the range of motion.

Soleus and Gastrocnemius

These are your calf muscles that are responsible for lifting your heels during the upward motion of the pedal. They also help to extend the ankle when your knee is straight.

Abdominal Muscles

Due to the angle of the bucket seat on a recumbent bike, your abdominal muscles are frequently engaged. To help employ these muscles during riding, tighten your stomach and maintain good posture.

Bottom Line

Recumbent bikes are an effective way to meet your cardiovascular goals. At the same time, they will challenge all the muscles of your legs.

These exercise machines are also easier on your joints and can be used in the comfort of your own home. Perhaps one of the best benefits of recumbent bikes is their versatility. They are a valid alternative for many people who are unable to run or ride an upright bike because of injury.

Most upper body exercises utilize the muscles, joints and tendons of your shoulders in some fashion. Sports that require overhead motion, such as swimming, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and tennis will also put physical demands on your shoulders.

Unfortunately for many people, this results in overuse injuries to muscles and joints of the shoulder.

Structure of the Shoulder

The visibly round muscle of the shoulder is known as the deltoid. This muscle is smaller than some of the main muscles of the body in the chest and legs.

Because of its smaller size it is often more susceptible to injury.

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that are responsible for turning the humerus bone of your arm internally and externally. The rotator cuff muscles also provide support for your shoulder during movement.

These muscles are known as the suppaspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapulapis, and teres minor. Due to the high range of motion required to move the shoulder, they often fall victim to injury.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, “The rotator cuff muscles enable the shoulder joint to produce numerous motions, while maintaining a balance between mobility and stability.”

Many recreational and professional athletes suffer from chronic shoulder pain due to rotator cuff tears and impingement. These painful injuries can make routine activities that require use of your shoulder very difficult. To help prevent injury, you should incorporate shoulder stability and strengthening exercises into your fitness routine.

Safe Shoulder Exercises

The following exercise will help build a foundation to improve athletic performance, while minimizing the chance of injury to the shoulder.

These movements will also help isolate and strengthen your rotator cuff muscles.

1. Isometric Movements

Start in a standing position and raise your right arm at your side to shoulder height and bend your elbow 90 degrees.

Have a partner provide resistance on your wrist and elbow, while you try to internally rotate your arm. Hold this position for 15 seconds, and then relax. Do this same movement with your left arm.

For the next exercise, remain in the standing position and internally rotate your right arm so that your forearm is at a 45 degree angle with the floor. In this position, your partner will provide resistance against your wrist and elbow.

Hold this position for 15 seconds, and then relax. Do this same movement with your left arm.

2. External Rotation Exercise

Start this exercise in a face down position on a bench with a light dumbbell in your right hand. With your elbow extended off the bench, flex it 90 degrees, so that your forearm pulls downward.

In this position, externally rotate your arm so that your forearm is parallel with the ground, and then move it back to the starting position.

Perform 15 repetitions of this exercise with both arms.

3. Seated Rotation Exercise

Start this exercise in a seated position with a dumbbell in your right hand. Hold the dumbbell vertically out in front of your body with your elbow bent.

In this position, rotate your arm up and towards your right side. Perform 15 repetitions of this exercise with both arms.

4. Lateral raise

Start this exercise in a standing position with a dumbbell in your right hand. Slowly raise your right arm with the dumbbell until it is level with your shoulder, and then lower it back to your side.  Perform 15 repetitions of this exercise with both arms.

Avoid These Exercises to Avoid Shoulder Injury

First and foremost, remember that your shoulder muscles are easily prone to injury from overuse. Unlike some of the major muscles of the body that can require a dedicated day of training, the shoulders can be effectively trained by incorporating exercises into your existing routine.

1. Wide Grip Bench Press

Wide grip presses can often lead to shoulder impingement. When performing a bench press movement, keep your elbows tucked close to your sides. Your elbows should remain in a straight line with your shoulders.  This will decrease the strain on your shoulder muscles during the movement.

2. Behind the Neck Shoulder Press

Many overhead movements increase your chances of shoulder injury. If you decide to incorporate an overhead press movement, its best to avoid lifting weight behind the neck.

This range of motion often increases the stress on the muscles and joints of the shoulders. Instead of bringing the weight down onto your shoulders, you can press it from your chest.

3. Upright Rows

This exercise should also be avoided by anyone with shoulder pain. During this movement, your shoulder is placed in an internally rotated manner. This position puts undue stress on the shoulder and can result in impingement.

Treadmill equipment is possibly the most popular kind of gym equipment with most commercial gyms as well as home gyms incorporating this most basic of fitness machines.

If many manufacturers report increases in the sale of treadmill equipment this is because treadmills facilitate the most basic of exercises – walking, jogging and running, for which no training, or skill is required and which can suit most fitness levels and body types.

Another reason for the popularity of treadmill equipment is that walking is a very effective load bearing (as against cycling that does not let the legs take all the load of the body) exercise that is low impact that can keep a person fit with little effort.

Further, treadmill equipment, unlike other gym equipment such as a multi weight station and so on, can fit along one wall of a room taking up little space.

Treadmills are also very versatile – not only can you increase the level of difficulty of your workout – from walk to jog to run as your fitness levels increase; but you can also increase complexity of your exercise by simulating walking up a slope or incline by making appropriate alterations in the equipment.

Before buying treadmill equipment, consider the following –

Continuous Duty Rating – This is something like the horsepower of the treadmill equipment and the continuous duty rating of 1.2 to 2.5 is what you should be looking for. With a treadmill “peak duty” is less meaningful than this continuous duty.

Treadmill equipment features that you should check out –

• One of the things that can destroy the best fitness intentions is boredom. And walking on a stationary machine each day for a considerable length of time can get really boring. So if a treadmill has several features such as variable incline and speed, preset programs and other add-ons such as a book holder or DVD viewing and so on then it is more likely to retain your interest for longer.
• Features such as a speed and heart rate monitor and an estimated amount of calories burnt indicator can also keep you motivated and interested in your workout. A heart rate monitor will also warn you if you’re overdoing it.
• Also check how comfortable and smooth the treadmill equipment is to use – it should be long enough to accommodate your longest stride and should be heavy enough and sturdy enough to take some rough handling. A wobbly or jerky treadmill is a no-no.
• Another thing to check in your treadmill equipment is the noise level. If the noise is going to jar or irritate, or drown out the music or TV, then obviously it is not a good choice.
• Consider the amount of space you have in the room where you aim to place the treadmill equipment – take a tape measure, in a large showroom it could look a lot smaller than it will in your more modestly sized room. Does it fold up and away when not in use.

Safety Features – Check if the treadmill equipment has console grips, handrails, an emergency stop button and so on.

Varicose veins are most commonly seen in the legs and ankles. They are large, twisted veins that can be seen near the surface of the skin. According to the Mayo Clinic, varicose veins occur when the vein walls are weakened and stretched.

In this condition, the varicose veins can no longer move blood back up towards the heart.

They essentially become too weak to fight the force of gravity and are unable to push blood back up the legs.

This causes blood to pool in the legs and increases pressure on the veins. This ultimately causes the veins to swell.

Sometimes, small blue or red varicose veins can be seen on the surface of the skin. These are commonly known as spider veins because they often resemble a spider’s web.

Are You at Risk?

Varicose veins can be hereditary. They are usually more common in people who are overweight, or who have to stand for long periods of time.

Symptoms of Varicose Veins

Some people feel aching or fatigue in their legs at the end of the day; otherwise, varicose veins often cause no symptoms, other than minor swelling in your feet and ankles.

In more serious conditions, your skin may become dry and itchy. In this case, your skin might break open easily and bleed. These open sores can also take a long time to heal. Also, if blood pools in your legs, your skin can look brownish in that area.

Home Treatment for Varicose Veins

Avoid Tight Clothes

Tight clothes can limit circulation and can help contribute towards varicose veins. Avoid stockings that leave red marks on your legs, tight pants, and tight belts.

Have Supportive Stockings

Regular support panty hose can occasionally help mild symptoms; however, for more serious cases compression stockings may be needed. These can be found at medical supply stores and sometimes require a doctor’s prescription.

Elevate Your Legs

When possible, lie down and elevate your legs above your heart level.  This will assist the blood in your lower extremities to circulate back to your heart.

When sitting, put your legs on a foot stool. Also, avoid crossing your legs while sitting.

Switch Positions Often

Sitting and standing for long periods of time can often contribute to varicose veins. If you have to sit for school or work, try to get up periodically and stretch your legs by walking.

Likewise, if you have to stand for an extended amount of time, try to switch positions frequently and sit down when you can.

Exercise Frequently

Try to get regular exercise by walking, biking, swimming, or whatever activity interests you. Recruiting muscles in your legs will help prevent blood from pooling in your lower extremities.

Exercise will also help keep your body weight down. This will assist in decreasing the amount of direct pressure on your lower extremities.

Medical Treatments for Varicose Veins

The traditional surgical treatment has been vein stripping to remove the involved veins

Newer, less invasive treatments attempt to seal the main leaking vein on the thigh.

Techniques, such as ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy, radiofrequency ablation and laser treatment, are available as well.

When to Call a Doctor?

If the skin over varicose veins starts to bleed heavily and doesn’t stop with direct pressure, call your physician.

Furthermore, if your legs swell and become painful, you could have other conditions that may require a physician’s assistance.