LA Boxing - The Gym

Sure, you can take a boxing or kickboxing class at your regular gym. It will have lots of fast-paced music, kicks and punches. However, will each student wear authentic boxing gloves, work out with a professional boxer and hit a real punching bag of their very own? The answer is probably not. At LA Boxing, it is a completely different story.


This is not your ordinary gym and it is not your ordinary workout. Taking a class at LA Boxing is serious stuff. From the moment, I walked in to try out my month-long membership I knew this gym was a breed apart from all the others I have belonged to in the past. First, there is the ring. A real boxing ring where actual fights are fought on 'fight nights'. Pictures of famous heavyweights hang along the walls. I signed in and quickly received a tutorial in wrapping my hands and being fitted for gloves. I stowed my stuff in a cubby along the wall and took my place next to my own punching bag. For the next hour, I sweat like never before and worked out in a way that was all about stamina and technique. There were endless rounds of sit-ups, crunches, squats and push-ups. It never seemed to end. We jumped rope and did jumping jacks too. There was so much I did not know. I felt a bit awkward punching the bag as it barely moved. I had trouble remembering the different punching combinations too. I'm not the most coordinated person. However, by the end of the class, my hands were shaking, a bit bloody (which I kind of enjoyed) and I knew I had worked my core and lower body in a way that it needed and never had before. This is real boxing. This is not some fluffy gym with a spa and Pilate’s studio boxing class.

A few days later, still sore from my previous workout I took the kickboxing class. The instructor was different; the marathon pace of calisthenics and kicks versus punches to the bag was the same. I actually enjoyed the kickboxing class more than the boxing. I relished trying to control the bag with my kicks and learning the different steps and coordinated moves, that kickboxing offers versus boxing. Besides, my lower body needs more of a shaping up than my upper body. I still felt shaky and exhilarated by the "beating" my body took during this workout and found that just like the boxing class I could not wait to come back for more.

A class at LA Boxing can be taken in mixed-martial arts, kickboxing, or regular boxing. Workouts are tough, each one can help you burn about 800 to 1,000 calories in a single hour and build stamina. Jump rope is not fun for us women post-baby, if you know what I mean, but you get used to it. I found that after all the running I have done and Shredding I had more stamina than many of the regulars in the class. Still I was sore and felt like I had one of the best workouts of my life each time I attended an LA Boxing class. It is all about functional fitness here. Each class offers a complete body workout that strengthens and tones while building your endurance. It is cross-training at its best. The classes are small so you have a chance to work with the instructors all the time. The attention I received from each one was always different in technique and personality but great all the same. The instructors themselves are experts in their fields and that in itself is quite amazing to work with. Imagine being taught how to box by an actual prizefighter. You can at LA Boxing. The staff at the gym as a whole was always friendly and helpful too. I never felt intimidated by my lack of experience either.

Overall, I loved my time at LA Boxing. I didn't think I would either. My husband has been a member at two of their locations for over a year now and he loves it too. The transformation in his body and stress level is amazing. He has even fought in a real boxing match. Trainers (male and female) are available if you want to have a real ring fight. Because each class is small the gym itself begins to feel small but not in a bad way. It is more like people become friends and cheer each other on and help one another progress in their fitness goals. There are sparring clubs too. If you want an authentic boxing experience, without many frills, then LA Boxing is worth checking out. If anything, a trial class will kick start your body into better shape. I highly recommend it.




MPR Rating: Four Stars.

Disclaimer: MPR was not paid for this posting. Products were received and kept for testing purposes. The opinions in this review are solely my own.

Visit my other blog, The Mummy Chronicles, for more. 

Pulse Yoga Giveaway!

Want more tone? Want to strengthen and increase muscle definition without using machines in the gym? If so, then enter to win the Pulse Yoga DVD ($14.99)!

Using free weights and micro movements that primarily target areas like the gluteus muscles, abdominals, upper arms and lower back these micro movements with yoga postures are effective with results that are noticeable immediately.

Enter to win by commenting and a winner will be chosen at random on October 25, 2009.

Good Luck! Congratulations to Socmama on winning this DVD! Enjoy!

Tracy Anderson's Dance Aerobics DVD

Fitness through the art of dance that is Tracy Anderson’s philosophy. Anderson, a long time fitness guru to stars like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, has released a brand-new, first time ever, dance aerobics DVD that strives to turn any woman’s body into a dancer’s body.

When you think of a dancer’s body what words come to mind? Lean, long and sexy, am I right? Most of all you think fit. It’s what I thought of and I could not wait to get my hands on this new DVD, Tracy Anderson’s Dance Aerobics. The whole 45 minute DVD is based on ten years of fitness research. Anderson has transformed over 500 different women’s bodies into that of a dancer’s. Who doesn’t want that?

So I tried it. I did all 45 heart stopping minutes too. I was sore for about two days afterwards in places my normal workout doesn’t typically reach. My knees felt broken. I’m not an aerobics girl, but I love to dance. When I go to the gym I head for the elliptical machine, not the Step or Jazzercise classes. After it was all over what did I think? Have I been transformed?

First, really listen and use the in-depth instructional part of the DVD first. It’s there for a reason. It is two hours long but you need it! The four part dance segments go quickly and while they do repeat the steps you probably want that instructional section first so that you don’t spend you’re first viewing just learning the steps. The steps are easy to pick up and each segment is different which I liked. I wasn’t crazy about the music selection or the camera angles but I did like how it was a home workout like no other. This workout is not for the faint of heart or someone who is not used to doing a lot of cardio. You have to be seriously committed to changing how your body looks to get a lean dancers body. Every few eight counts target your muscles in different rotations which is why this DVD can work. Your muscles have to keep guessing.

I’m glad that I tried this DVD and will use it again when I want to mix up my workout routine. I know that if I keep it up and use this workout often my body will become leaner. It is hard work though and you have to know that going into it. It’s not some quick routine and magic formula. Finally, it is fun and has a definite L.A. look to it while not possessing that cheesy quality that some exercise DVD’s have.


For more information on The Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout DVD'>Tracy Anderson’s Dance Aerobics DVD visit her website here. The DVD also includes a personal interview with Anderson discussing her fitness philosophy while using the art of dance.