Aerobox: Fight or Flight Round One

Michael Olajide
Year Released: 2002

Categories: Boxing/Kickboxing/Martial Arts


This is his newest Aerobox video and its all about the punching. He does have a section at the beginning with tips on stance and punching technique.

The video itself has a fabulously gritty, noir feel about it, with Michael ( providing the only colour with his gradual peel-a-way outfit) conducting the workout in a shadowy boxing ring. The music is techno with flashes of house ( and a little Carmina Burana!) and made me feel tough! There's a brief warm-up and then you're led through three rounds of punching combos with Round Three connecting the sequences learned in Rounds One and Two , done at lightning speed. In between you do plyo squats, jacks and you hold a deep squat forever ( okay it only seems that way). You lose the (optional but effective) handweights when you move into the faster combos. There's an abs section and then the cool-down.

The workout is a lot of fun and requires alertness and speed. If you brace your middle and hips and let the punches fly, you should be breathing hard by the end. The whole thing is about 50 minutes so its very effective when you don't have 90 minutes to spend on a cardio tape. I love this one and have been using it three times a week for a month now.

Caveats: The warm-up and cool-down could have been longer, at least in terms of holding the stretches. The abs section looks effective but he just shows you the moves, and so I don't know how many sets/reps I'm supposed to do.
Overall though, I'm a big fan and can't wait for the even tougher followups.

Instructor Comments:
Michael's clear calm instructing style is very motivating. I love it when he tells me to "bring it" when we get into the faster sequences. Plus, just watching him is a treat... his nickname "The Silk" is well-earned!

shimster

11/25/2002