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Oct. 11, 1999
Risk of injury packs extra wallop
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
The first time Kathie Davis went to a kickboxing class, she landed in an intermediate routine, not the beginner class in which she belonged.
"I was way over my head," says Davis, executive director of IDEA, an organization of health and fitness professionals. She stayed in the class but took it at her own pace, doing the motions slowly and taking breaks.
She hopes others don't make a similar mistake when they begin taking martial-arts-inspired workout programs - wildly popular exercise classes being offered at fitness centers and martial-arts studios across the country.
There are many names for these programs: cardio-kickboxing, kickboxing, box aerobics. Fitness guru and exercise video star Billy Blanks has a trademarked program called Tae-Bo. Most programs incorporate different moves (kicks, punches, squats) from karate, boxing and aerobic dance.
Some signs of the trend:
- More than two dozen kickboxing videos came out last year, says Jill Ross of Collage Exercise Video, a Minneapolis-based catalog company.
- 69% of fitness facilities offered such classes in 1999, up from 44% in 1998, according to an IDEA survey.
"It's here to stay for a while because it has gotten a lot of attention and a lot of devotees," says Richard Cotton, exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a non-profit group that looks for unsafe fitness products and instruction.
Kickboxing can be a good workout, he says. The average fitness participant who takes a moderately intense kickboxing class will burn 350 to 450 calories an hour, Cotton says. That's about the same as a brisk walk (4 mile an hour), he says. (Blanks estimates his workout can burn 600 or more calories in an hour, depending on the size of the person and the intensity of the workout.)
Kickboxing also can help you get into shape for several sports, including tennis, softball, volleyball and basketball, Cotton says.
But it can be risky. Exercise researchers say some moves can be stressful to the hips, knees, ankles, shoulders or back, especially if they aren't performed properly.
Lorna Francis, a fitness consultant in San Diego who has studied other forms of aerobic dance and watched the Tae-Bo videos, says, "Some of the concerns I have are that a lot of time is spent on the support leg, and, for someone just starting in the program, it might be very stressful to the hip joint and knee joint in that leg."
Cotton says overweight, out-of-shape people shouldn't spend a lot of time on just one leg. "They don't have the muscle strength to support the joints."
In her travels around the country, Keli Roberts, a spokeswoman for ACE, says she has talked to people who've been injured from kickboxing, suffering from tendinitis in the shoulder and elbow, torn ligaments in the knees, torn hamstrings, and sprained backs, hips and ankles.
It's best to start kickboxing slowly, Davis says. "It's like starting a new sport, and you do need to be careful."
Here are some safety tips for kickboxing from IDEA:
- Allow yourself to be a beginner. Look for a simple program that isn't heavily choreographed, has limited repetition and isn't extremely fast.
- Go slow, low and easy with kicks and punches. Do not overextend kicks and lock joints. Do not throw full kicks and punches in the first class.
- Limit kickboxing workouts to no more than three times per week. Start with a workout once a week and gradually build up to no more than three sessions per week unless you are doing some other form of martial-arts training or sport-specific training.
- Select a qualified instructor who is trained and certified as a fitness instructor in addition to having boxing and martial-arts training.
- Look for an interval-training program. Find a program that alternates high-intensity bouts with recovery periods that offer slower moves. That reduces your chance of getting fatigued and sacrificing good form.
- Include strength and stability training in your fitness regimen.
- Don't ignore your feet. Consider jump-rope drills to strengthen your feet for the specific demands of kickboxing. Shoes need to be designed for pivots and lateral movements. For instance, you risk a sprained ankle if you wear running shoes on carpet.
- Always warm up. Your warm-up should be specific to the class and should include different stretching moves, including some kicks and light punches.
- Cross-train with contrasting activities. Non-impact forms of exercise, such as stationary cycling, walking and hiking, will complement your kickboxing program.
- Try traditional martial-arts training. It will allow you to learn at a slower pace and help you practice proper technique. That is especially important if you are new to exercise.
- Check with your doctor before beginning a program. If you have arthritis or other joint degeneration, kickboxing might not be the physical activity for you. |
