The 40 year old kickboxer

how.gareth

I'm planning on taking up kickboxing this month with a few friends. We are all complete novices but have organized a private lesson and are planning on maybe taking 2 lessons a week if we enjoy it and don't break ourselves in the process, are we too old? Any tips or thoughts much appreciated

cletus

how.gareth wrote: »

I'm planning on taking up kickboxing this month with a few friends. We are all complete novices but have organized a private lesson and are planning on maybe taking 2 lessons a week if we enjoy it and don't break ourselves in the process, are we too old? Any tips or thoughts much appreciated

People ask this all the time. You're not too old. Go, enjoy yourself, and if it's something that you find yourself doing long term there are ancillary activities you can do to benefit your training.

The only thing I would day is that private lessons are fine, but being in a class environment is best, because you'll have to learn to deal with different body types, abilities etc, especially in sparring

how.gareth

cletus wrote: »

People ask this all the time. You're not too old. Go, enjoy yourself, and if it's something that you find yourself doing long term there are ancillary activities you can do to benefit your training.

The only thing I would day is that private lessons are fine, but being in a class environment is best, because you'll have to learn to deal with different body types, abilities etc, especially in sparring

Cheers yeah that makes sense, the main reason we thought about private lessons was to get a time that suits us all as work has us doing different hours. I'm hoping once we have gone a few times we might feel more comfortable going on our own to a general class

SVJKarate

There's no reason to let your age stop you from taking up the sport, but you do need to train in a manner that's age-appropriate. Unless you are already very fit and flexible, charging into this like teenagers is sure to wreck your bodies. You should expect a degree of pain - not just from the contact, but from using muscles that have not been used in a long time. So, a good warm-up and cool-down is essential, and try to pace yourself so that you're not trying to get to 100mph from the start . . . a lot of time should be spent at the start just getting used to the techniques (slowly) and then building up speed as you become more familiar with them.

Have fun!

how.gareth

SVJKarate wrote: »

There's no reason to let your age stop you from taking up the sport, but you do need to train in a manner that's age-appropriate. Unless you are already very fit and flexible, charging into this like teenagers is sure to wreck your bodies. You should expect a degree of pain - not just from the contact, but from using muscles that have not been used in a long time. So, a good warm-up and cool-down is essential, and try to pace yourself so that you're not trying to get to 100mph from the start . . . a lot of time should be spent at the start just getting used to the techniques (slowly) and then building up speed as you become more familiar with them.

Have fun!

Cheers yep really looking forward to it now. Only a week to go!

CIARAN_BOYLE

how.gareth wrote: »

I'm planning on taking up kickboxing this month with a few friends. We are all complete novices but have organized a private lesson and are planning on maybe taking 2 lessons a week if we enjoy it and don't break ourselves in the process, are we too old? Any tips or thoughts much appreciated

The question is not am I too old, but rather is the instructor capable of dealing with people of my age and body shape.

how.gareth

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

The question is not am I too old, but rather is the instructor capable of dealing with people of my age and body shape.

I feckin hope so with the money he charges!

SVJKarate

how.gareth wrote: »

I feckin hope so with the money he charges!

Out of curiosity, what does he charge per private lesson?

yomchi

I have plenty of 35+ year olds training with me in a beginners class. Two are over 50, so yes it can be done!

Don't get yourself ripped off paying exorbitant prices for personal training, the crack is all in the group classes - Everyone training, sweating and laughing together.

Let us know how you get on.

how.gareth

Cheers lads, I think it's €50 for the first person per lesson but only goes up an extra €10 per extra person, one of the other lads is organising it but I think that's it. I've no idea what to expect to be honest so am half excited and half nervous as to what it'll involve

SVJKarate

how.gareth wrote: »

Cheers lads, I think it's €50 for the first person per lesson but only goes up an extra €10 per extra person

I'd strongly endorse what Yomchi says about training in a regular class. Maybe one or two private lessons will give you confidence but really the best value and benefit is training in a larger class.

JohnMc1

how.gareth wrote: »

I'm planning on taking up kickboxing this month with a few friends. We are all complete novices but have organized a private lesson and are planning on maybe taking 2 lessons a week if we enjoy it and don't break ourselves in the process, are we too old? Any tips or thoughts much appreciated

Too old to do it for fun and fitness? No. Too old to be GLORY World Champion? most likely.

Unless you're really thinking of jumping into the ring this question doesn't matter.

how.gareth

Well we did the first one on the weekend and it was excellent. Good few laughs and actually far more punching and kicking than I imagined. Physically it was just at the right level for us with only a small bit of stiffness the next day so we are all booked in again for this week and raring to go!