Victoria’s Secret angel Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, and supermodel Gisele Bündchen box with their trainers for an ultimate fat burning and muscle toning experience. Fitness guru Dannielle Blaker tries the celebrity endorsed workout at the new UFC Gym in Dubai to learn how to punch and kick her way to a stronger body.
Motivated by recent images of Gigi Hadid looking strong and euphoric in a boxing ring, I told my trainer that I wanted to tone my legs and arms while blowing off some steam. He suggested the Boxing Conditioning class, which includes cardio, bag work, and core strengthening exercises.
Our session began with releasing tight muscles via foam rolling, which is somewhat new to me. Rolling is recommended both pre and post-workout to relax muscles. Place the foam roller under the muscle and roll up and down to increase circulation and blood flow. After rolling, we jumped into a 15-minute warm up of lunges, leg kicks, and squats to increase our heart rates.
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Next, we moved on to the punching bag area. Feeling like a true boxer, I punched and kicked the bag at full force for 30-second intervals that lasted for over 20 minutes. This was by far the most intense part of the session, and I was relieved when we moved to the floor to work on core strengthening exercises such as planks, sit-ups, leg lifts, and other abdominal exercises.
Without a doubt, the 60-minute session was a full body workout. During a boxing class you’ll work hard, sweat a lot, and burn up to an estimated 600 calories per session. The following day, I had soreness in muscles that I didn’t even know existed.
