If aerobics is too old-fashioned and boxing is too dangerous, you should try Tae Bo: In this endurance training, known since the 90s from America, elements of boxing, kickboxing and aerobics are combined. You improve your endurance, strengthen your muscles and train your coordination. Boxing gloves are worn at most for the show effect. The body burns up to 800 calories per training session – at least that’s what the inventor of Tae Bo, Billy Blanks, a seven-time world karate champion, promises.
Tae Bo: combination of aerobics and martial arts.
Tae Bo classes are usually offered in fitness studios – often under name variations such as Tai Bo, Thaibo, Thairobic or Taekbo, sometimes Fitbo or Boxaerobics. All combine basic elements of aerobics with martial arts techniques from karate and taekwondo, such as kicks and punches – but without physical contact. Aerobics means “performing with oxygen,” so it’s a movement workout designed to increase the body’s ability to absorb oxygen. Tae Bo uses just about every muscle, and you’ll work up quite a sweat if you want to keep up a 60-minute workout.
Punches and kicks: here’s how Tae Bo works.
In Tae Bo, there are many different steps and arm movements that must first be learned. Therefore, it is important as a beginner to participate in an introduction to the sport. Typical techniques in Tae Bo are:
- Punches: the legs are bent, the arms are bent and the elbows are close to the body. You put your fists in front of your face with your thumbs pointing to your chin. There are sideways and uppercuts.
- Kicks (kicks): here there are knee kicks, forward kicks, backward kicks, sideways kicks and half-circle kicks, each combined with step sequences and dodges.
Tae Bo is basically suitable for everyone, but a certain basic endurance should be present. In Tae Bo muscles and joints are heavily used. This can quickly lead to overload due to the frequent repetitions in the untrained. People with cardiovascular disease should not practice Tae Bo, because the load is too high. Older people are also likely to have problems with the pace and the high demands on agility and coordination. However, Tae Bo classes are now increasingly offered for this age group.
Advantages of Tae Bo exercises
Compared to real Asian martial arts, Tae Bo has several advantages: for example, elbows and knee joints are subjected to far less stress, and the risk of injury is enormously low when punches, kicks and jabs are executed precisely. Tae Bo strengthens the muscles, makes you loose and supple and promotes concentration, because you need your full attention to perform the exercises correctly. At the same time, you also reduce stress and aggression. The physical agility and elegance of the Asian martial arts flow automatically after some practice. All in all, Tae Bo is a very dynamic workout. The tempo and rhythm are sweaty, but also fun. It is important to perform an appropriate warm-up during the workout. In the warm-up, the muscles are prepared with stretching, light punch variations and standing marches.
Tae Bo: what to consider?
As with aerobics, you should also dose the load well in Tae Bo. For this, there are many medical studies that recommend first determining the maximum heart rate (the number of heartbeats per minute). The formula for this is: 220 – age = maximum heart rate.
The body’s endurance performance is only optimally improved if the cardiovascular system is stressed over a longer period of time (30 minutes or more). The pulse should be constantly at 60 to 80 percent of the maximum heart rate. It is also important that endurance training is performed regularly. At the end of the workout, there should be a relaxation phase in which the body slowly regains its composure. Due to the high intensity of the sport and the correspondingly high energy consumption, Tae Bo, together with a healthy diet, is also well suited for all those who want to lose weight.
