So what if the closest you’ve come to kickboxing is a slap fight in the 4th grade. This is a great workout that only takes a few times through to get the motions down and feel right at home. Of course at home with this workout means sweating like a pig and struggling to catch your breath but it is completely worth it considering the massive amount of calories it burns (see below for calorie estimates).

True kickboxing has been around for hundreds of years and is a brutal sport that requires amazing cardiovascular endurance and speed to win. Though this video is not intended to train you for a fight it does take the spirit and physical demands of kickboxing and channel it into a challenging and fun cardiovascular workout that will help you burn calories like a prize winning kickboxer.

When going through this routine there are a few things that will help keep you injury free and keep your calorie burn up. First, be sure to stay on the balls of your feet and continuously shift your weight from leg to leg. Next, never punch or kick to a full extension, always keep joints “soft” by pulling your punches and kicks back just before reaching a full extension. This not only protects your joints from the risk of injury from hyperextension but it also increases the amount of calories you burn as well. Also, keep your core tight and move as quickly as you can both pushing and pulling the motion. The harder you contract your core and the faster you move with the maximum amount of force you can control can close to double the number of calories you burn during this workout routine.

Calorie Burn Estimations
We estimate that this cardio kickboxing workout burns between 10-15 calories per minute, or roughly 270 – 405 total.

The following is a quick description of the motions used in this workout video, just keep in mind that the motions performed here are for an aerobic workout only and not for use in competitive kickboxing.

Punches
- Jab (straight punch with hand on lead side of the body)
- Cross (straight punch from the trailing arm/rear arm)
- Hook (a hooking motion is done with either arm making a high swinging motion from the side generally aimed at the head)
- Uppercut (a hooking motion that starts low and comes up, generally aimed at the opponents face)

Kicks and Leg Motions
- Shin Block (bring knee up and elbows down in a crunching motion keeping hands in front of face, knee should meet and touch elbow of same side)
- Knee (drive rear knee up at same time as pulling "opponent" down into the lifting knee)
- Front Kick (drive knee up then extend leg straight forward, can be done with front or back leg)
- High Kick ( Hop rear leg to front leg position while simultaneously kicking the front foot up rotating your leg and hips to face sideways)

Stance Switch (quickly hop and shift feet, switching which foot is in front)

This is a direct transcript of the routine and the motions used in this routine. Feel free to use this for your personal use only.

Cardio Kickboxing Workout

Warm Up
30 - Arm Swing
30 - Arm Circle
30 - Torso Circles
30 - Torso Rotation
30 - High Knee March
60 – Standing Side Crunch
60 - Standing Crisscross Crunch
60 - Up and Out
120 - Jumping jacks / Jump Rope

Round One
(Start with left leg forward)
- Jab + Cross x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- Jab + Cross + Jab x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- Jab + Cross + Jab + Ducking Stance Change x 10 (5 on each side)
- Jab + Cross + Uppercut + Uppercut x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- Hook + Uppercut + Uppercut + Hook x 10 (switch Stance and repeat)
- Jab + Hook + Hook + Uppercut + Ducking Stance Change x 10 (5 on each side)

Round Two
(Start with left leg forward)
- Shin Block (F) + Jab + Cross + Shin Block (R) x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- Knee + Knee + Jab + Cross x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- Knee + Front Kick (F) + Front Kick (R) x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- High Kick + Knee + Shin Block (F) + Shin Block (R) + Ducking Stance Change x 10
- Front Kick (F) + Jab + Cross + Front Kick (R) x 10 (switch stance and repeat)
- High Kick + High Kick + Uppercut + Uppercut + Knee x 10 (switch stance and repeat)

Cool Down