Ripped Out & Toned Up

Photo by: DJCodrin
When you’re on a workout program the best thing you can possibly hear is a compliment on how you look. It fills you with bright and shiny feelings and maybe all those hours you spent dripping buckets of sweat and guzzling gallons of water were actually worth it. On Saturday all of those bright and shiny I’m-a-fitness-rockstar feelings were all mine thanks to my semi-dedicated attendance at LA Boxing.

Saturday night I ended up club hopping with a few old college buddies who had decided to pop into town for a little girlfriend time. By the second bar, we were finally warm enough to shed our almost parka like coats (Colorado in March can be so cruel). That’s when one of them noticed my stomach, or apparent lack thereof, thanks to the skin clinging tank top I’d opted to wear. I’ve never had much of a tummy so I hadn’t really noticed that it had changed that much, but apparently it had enough to get some attention.

Miss Jen has never been shy so she quickly proceeded to poke my abs with a little “Damn, that’s solid!” thrown in. That was queue for the others to poke away and for me to shamelessly start grinning. And yes, thanks to two dirty martini’s and my lack of an inhibition, I was soon pulling up my shirt for a firsthand look at the abs, as well as taking everyone in the vicinity to the gun show.  Those bright and shiny feelings were working overtime.

Over the years I’ve jumped into numerous workout programs only to find myself shamelessly straying within a few weeks. It’s not that I don’t like to work out, I’m big on fitness. I just have a very limited attention span and I get bored easy. I can’t do the same routine day in and day out. I can’t have a perky instructor bouncing around me in circles encouraging me. I need variety. I need someone to push me. And I need results. Lucky for me I recently found that at LA Boxing.

LA Boxing is a gym that totes its workout generates 800-1000 calorie burn in one hour. That sounded awesome to me, as well as a just a little intimidating. I know how much a generally burn in an hour of working out so I had an idea of how hard I was going to be pushed to hit even 800.

But that wasn’t the only thing that drove me to try it. The instructors at the gym I go to are actual fighters. Some are retired pros and others are amateur. But during each of the classes I hit up, I’m working with someone who actually knows what they’re doing. You’re not only punching a bag, you’re learning form and that actually makes a huge difference. Throw in some ass kicking cardio, muscle ripping ab exercises and a different setup and routine each class and I’m definitely hooked!