Hybrid Workouts

While hybrid cars may be the latest trend on the road, hybrid workouts are becoming the latest fashion in the gym. Some creative trainers have mixed and matched various components of staid, traditional exercises to give gym goers a refreshing challenge, with some interesting results. Which are best? Here’s what the pros selected.

Cardio Tennis
This hour-long class allows you to play tennis but with aerobic moves and exercises in between. “We set up footwork stations along the courts to be utilized within the drills,” says Group Exercise Director Kathleen Goldring of the Saw Mill Club in Mount Kisco. One of the exercises is a three-stroke baseline drill where you practice three strokes in a row, sprint to the net, and then return to the baseline. But on the return, you will go through a specific footwork drill through cones set up along the court. The class is $15 for members and $30 for nonmembers.

KickFit Circuit
Want to burn 800 calories an hour while learning how to fight? Try Muay Thai kickboxing taught by Peter Belmar of Belmars Martial Arts and Fitness in White Plains. Muay Thai, a martial art, is referred to as “the science of eight limbs” because you use each of your shins, elbows, hands, and knees, which differs from American kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do where the moves and kicks are usually done above the waist. “In Muay Thai, you punch, kick, knee, and elbow the kickboxing pads,” Belmar says. The Muay Thai kickboxing circuit is a 60-minute training session followed by 15 to 20 minute floor exercises. Belmar recommends training two to three times a week. There is a six-week-long beginner’s course for $160, or you can sign up for three months for $280.

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Explosive Strength Training
It happens in nearly every gym. The “cardio” people are on one side and the “weight-lifters” are on the other. Well, now with personal trainer Dan Calabrese’s Parisi Speed School workout, you do both. You get a total body strength-training regime combined with sprints on one day and jumping exercises the next. The routine allows you to build strength and improve speed. “It is a good way to obtain explosive full body exercises that will burn fat and build muscle,” Calabrese says. Hour-long classes cost $20 to $45 at Parisi Speed School at Club Fit in Jefferson Valley.

Zumba Kickboxing
It is not enough that Zumba is a relatively new way to burn those calories, but the Saw Mill Club in Mount Kisco has incorporated kickboxing into its Zumba class. For those who don’t know, Zumba is a series of dance moves that are matched up with songs. “By adding kickboxing movements, you’re increasing the intensity of the workout,” says Group Exercise Director Kathleen Goldring. The Saw Mill Club offers the workout once a week, which is included with a paid membership that ranges in price from $1,000 to $3,000.

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