Watching sports on television or live is engrained in American culture like nothing else.  In fact, baseball has long been labeled as the “Great American Pastime.”  Through cable TV, access to sports telecasts has never been greater.  The variety of sports activities available to our children is also on a steady increase.  Given our obsession with sports, have you ever wondered which sport demands the most of its athletes?  

An ESPN panel of experts set out to find the answer to this question by analyzing 60 professional sports from football to fishing.  They identified 10 categories/skills that contribute to athleticism and assigned a score of 1 through 10.  These skills included endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude.  The sport that came out on top:  Boxing! 

Boxing rated highest in endurance, power, nerve and durability and was second in power only behind football.  The panel’s assessment was clear:  boxing requires the most of its athletes, thus producing the best athletes!  Interested in reviewing the results yourself?  Go to https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

The sport of kickboxing amps up the degree of difficulty by combining the use of the lower body (kicks and knee strikes) with the use of the upper body (punches and elbow strikes), requiring a more total-body effort.  

Are you wondering why all of this is relevant to you, the average person who simply wants to increase their health and fitness?  Here’s why: kickboxing utilizes training regimens that can be achieved with simple pieces of equipment and that can be adjusted easily based on an individual’s skill and fitness level.  The most important component of a kickboxing training program is the trainer, who skillfully designs workouts to challenge and advance the athlete.  These workouts include aerobic training (cardio), resistance training (achieved primarily through striking heavy bags, body-weight exercises, and light-weight/high-rep sets using free weights) and anaerobic training (high-intensity-interval-training HIIT).  

Regardless of who you are, what you do, and what your goals are, a well-designed and expertly delivered kickboxing training program is a wonderfully effective and efficient way to improve your health and fitness.  Whether you are an elite athlete looking for an effective cross-training program, a working Mom in need of a quick and effective way to stay fit, or a patient with Parkinson’s looking for an effective way to battle the effects of the disease, kickboxing could be your answer!    

If you are determined to achieve improvement in your health & fitness, regardless of your age, sex, current physical fitness, or restrictions, the sport of kickboxing is tough to beat and accessibility to quality programs delivered with expertise continues to grow right here in Southern Maine. 

Come to 9Round Fitness, 109 Main St, Gorham, to learn more!