Fit4Miracles

Guest Post by Ben Clutter from MidwestFit

I started training with Jen in mid-April.  I have never consistently laughed that much in a training session, and not just the first session, but every session after that. It was usually a shared laughter stemmed from either some type of punch, kick, or story revolving around the newest fad in the fitness industry: Kitchen Boxing – Eclipsed with the Motivational Tunes of Rihanna.

That’s right, training sessions are supposed to be both fun and extremely efficient, which is one thing that makes Miracles Fitness stand out from the rest. In just 10 minutes on that day in April, Jen had become my new client. The first 10 minutes were spent on the very basics: feet positioning, hand positioning, and the quick 1,2 combo punch. Before I knew it, a couple sessions had passed and my hands were being assaulted with a flurry of 1,2,3,4 combos at different levels intermixed with explosive side-kicks that I’m fairly certain could take down a sturdy oak tree.

However, there was a boxing anomaly among us-the dreaded 3 punch.  It is a tight, short, low-cross torso shot that Jen had mastered in the realms of kitchen boxing, but when the glove came to pad, the form went bad. The majority of the laughter from our boxing sessions occurred shortly after a 3 punch or even sometimes in the process of a 3 punch. Luckily, the power behind her 4 punch made up for what Jen had cleverly christened as the “Popeye Punch.”   She had progressed extremely quickly and became such an excellent/powerful boxer that my hands would be sore the next day after our boxing sessions!

Unfortunately for our last 2 scheduled sessions, Jen had developed a nagging injury preventing her from beating up on me. To look on the positive side, she finally gave in to persisting fear that was acting as a barrier to her fitness goals! She was finally ready for another shot at working with a trainer.

The next 2 sessions were just as Jen described:  full of laughing, complaining, and different exercises that were able to challenge her in a way she was not quite used to. Yes, there was an exercise set where I was asked to avert my eyes, but at the time Jen was unaware of the fact that I was scanning my peripherals to make sure her form was correct 😉 In just two training sessions, Jen was able to improve upon fitness goals that had been eluding her in recent days and of her younger, joyous high school years! We had not practiced these exercises once in our previous boxing sessions. Amazing what a few boxing and more importantly, confidence-boosting sessions are capable of producing beyond the physical attributes commonly associated with a training session!

I have moved on to new challenges in my life, but unfortunately Jen has not had the opportunity to get back on track with boxing. I am confident that she knows the basics well enough to keep mixing boxing into her training regimen. So next time you see her, help fill the motivational void left by me and be sure to ask two things, “When are you getting a heavy bag, and how is the boxing going?”

Ben Clutter was a former trainer at Miracles Fitness in West Lafayette, IN.  He graciously agreed to write a response to my posts about boxing and training with him.  Ben is currently working in Houston, Texas, as a Health Fitness Specialist for MediFit/Halliburton.  Ben is also the Co-founder/Admin of the blog MidwestFit (www.midwestfit.com).  Check it out for great fitness tips and challenging workouts!