7 Steps To Protect Joints İn Cardio Kickboxing
1. Keep Your Wrists Straight While Striking
A bent wrist with a lot of momentum behind it can cause radial nerve and joint damage.
2. When Punching, Make A Tight Fist
Tuck your thumb and make contact using the top knuckles of your index and middle fingers only. Even if you do not have a bag or a real opponent to strike, practice proper form. Keeping a tight hand will help you remember to keep a tight wrist, as stressed in step 1.
3. Never Lock Your Elbows
Though your hands and wrists remain rigid, your elbows should always have a little give. Locking can cause severe damage to them; and, if you are hitting a solid target, to the shoulders and collarbone as well.
4. Throw Your Entire Body İnto A Hand Motion
Stopping your own momentum by using just the arm can be damaging in two ways. It can tempt you to lock your elbow. And, it can tear your shoulder muscles and/or ligaments by literally ripping the arm away from its socket.
5. Pick Your Entire Foot Up İnstead Of Pivoting
Often in cardio-kickboxing classes you are expected to strike with one hand and then the other without switching feet. This is an effective exercise because, in addition to giving you the cardiovascular workout you came for, it's also working your obliques (side abs).However, if you simply pivot your back foot when you execute the second strike, you are putting your knees and ankles at risk. It may seem like more work to pick the foot up at first; but once you get the hang of it, your joints will thank you.
6. Never Lock Your Knees
The knees are one of the most frequently injured joints in cardio-kickboxing due to hyper-extension during kicks. It is even more damaging to lock your knees than your elbows since your legs are heavier than your arms, and the momentum can cause more damage.
7. Thoroughly Stretch Your Hip Flexors, Which Are The Areas İn Front Of Your Thighs
If your instructor does not usually do this during both warm-up and cool-down, do it on your own time before and/or after class. Examples of hip flexor stretches are the runners' lunge, split and half-split. If flexibility is not your strong suit, simply get on one knee in a padded area of your gym.As your flexibility improves, bring your front foot further and further forward. You may eventually be able to lift your back knee off the ground into a runners' lunge. Keeping the hip flexors limber is important because you use them every time you do front kicks. If they are stiff, it can affect your upper legs or even your knees due to tightness in your quadriceps.
You Might Also Like :: How to Teach an Aerobics Class
