Day 56: "Watch Out Mark, She's Got a Good Left Hook"

Paul Delgado, king of kicking

my ass

Mark has been working out a couple times a week at Delgado Boxing for the last six months or so and has been seeing really great results. Today, I learned why.

When I say 'boxing studio' I don't just mean a room in a gym where they set up a couple of punching bags and give you some gloves. Delgado Boxing is run by Paul Delgado, a top-notch, 20 years in the making, certified U.S. Amateur Boxing coach. He himself gets in the ring on a regular basis and coaches international talent. Seriously. This is not your typical gym-class boxing.

I was nervous all day for this challenge. Mark and I had originally planned to go on Saturday, but Mark was sick and in no shape to hit the gym. I had been hyping this workout up for days now, so my nerves were getting the best of me. I went into this pretty sure I was sealing my imminent death.

May I remind you that I do yoga? Yoga classes and amateur boxing workouts share very few similarities.

When I arrived, I instantly noticed the smell of sweat and rubber, and saw nothing but very strong, tough-looking guys all around me, reminding me that I was in a war zone of fitness.

We started warming up with jumping ropes, lunges, weight training, etc. and I was pretty sure after 15 minutes that I was going to keel over and die from a lack of oxygen and quickly failing muscles. Paul let us have our first water break, and I was hoping we would calm down a little, but au contraire, this workout started strong and never let up.

Suck on that, flab.

After some high-impact cardio, we started with boxing technique where Paul took his time to explain to me how to move my hands and legs to get maximum impact on the bags. He was so patient throughout this whole class, spending enough time with me that I got the principles down, but not smothering me with instruction. My bag partner was also really patient, reinforcing all of the things Paul taught me and giving me the "You got it!" type encouragement when it was warranted.

I learned all about punches and there numbers ("give them the old 1-2 punch" actually means something!) and how to move my body to unleash my inner fighter. I was surprised by how much I got into it for my first class. I think it's because boxing reminds me a lot of dancing. The whole, "Move your arm here while twisting your torso that way," "Turn your shoulders this way when moving there." It's a language that without a doubt I could master on a workout level, and it inspires me to kick a little ass.

I mean, I definitely I had to slow my pace significantly at certain points throughout this workout and messed up the 1-2-6-7-3 punch almost every time I did it. What made it worth it however, was Paul telling me he was impressed with my left hook and my endurance, warning Mark of what terrors may befall him if he were to refuse me chocolate for a long enough period of time.

Lastly, I give huge props to the students in the class we all incredible athletes and people. They were all there to work hard (allowing the teacher to really push the limits) and had great attitudes throughout the class. A couple people even approached me about how I liked my first class, paying me compliments and encouraging me to keep coming back. I really can't as for much more than great students and an unbeatable workout.