30-Minute Cardio Kickboxing Barre Workout

How To Do Chair Pose and Tricep Kickback to Balance Press

1. Begin standing in mountain pose, feet together with your big toes touching. Hold a set of light weights at your sides, palms facing in.
2. Bend your knees, bringing your thighs as parallel to the floor as they can get. Your knees will project out slightly over your feet. Bring your pelvis and hips down as low as you can. This is chair pose.
3. Hold chair pose as you bring the dumbbells to your sides (palms facing your body) with your arms bent at 90 degrees. Think shoulders down and back away from your ears.
4. Perform a tricep kickback with the dumbbells. ‘Kickback,’ extending the elbows so your arms form a straight line as you push the dumbbells back past your hips.
5. With control, slowly return the dumbbells to the starting position. As you do so, stand tall, shifting your weight into your left foot.
6. Then, perform a knee drive by driving the right knee up towards your chest, stopping so right knee is in line with right hip.
7. Hold the knee high as you perform an overhead shoulder press, pressing the dumbbells directly overhead, locking out biceps near ears.
8. With control, lower the dumbbells back down to your shoulders, then down to your sides as you lower the right foot back to the mat and repeat the sequence.

Modification: Option to omit the balance element, keeping both feet on the ground as you perform tricep kickbacks and overhead presses.

How To Do A Front Punch and Press Jack

1. Start standing feet hip-distance apart, knees slightly bent. 
2. Hinge forward slightly and bring your fists up to chest level. Option to hold a pair of light weights.
3. Maintain this loaded stance as you jab your right hand forward, punching the air in front of you. Keep your left arm in towards your chest.
4. Then pull the right arm back in towards your chest as you immediately alternate, jabbing your left hand forward to punch the air in front of you.
5. Then “jack” both legs out wide as you press the dumbbells overhead, locking out biceps near ears.
6. “Jack” your feet back together and return the dumbbells to shoulder height. Repeat for a second press jack, then return to the starting position and repeat the two front punches.

Modification: Option to make this a low-impact exercise by tapping your feet out instead of jacking them out.

How To Do Second Position Pulse and Front Punch

1. Find second position by stepping wide, heels in, toes facing out towards the corners of the room. Imagine your back is pressed against a wall. Slide your back down the wall, lowering into a wide squat position. Tuck your tailbone, anterior pelvic tilt, to engage your core.
2. Hold a light set of weights in front of you, palms facing in. Bend your knees, lowering into the bottom of your pliè squat. Shoulders should remain directly over hips. As you squat low, flip the palms so they’re facing the ceiling and press them directly out in front of you as if you were serving a platter.
3. Drive through the heels to rise up as you move your arms in a circular motion, this time flipping the palms down so they’re facing the ground. Think of dumping the platter rather than serving it. Keep a slight bend in the knees to maintain constant tension in the legs.
4. Repeat this pulsing squat movement as you continue to circle the arms, rotating between serving the platter and dumping the platter (palms up versus palms down).

How To Do A Sumo Squat High-to-Low Punches

1. Stand with feet wider than hips, heels in and toes pointed out (sumo squat stance). Option to hold a pair of light weights in your hands. Bring your hands or knuckles up to “defend” your face in a guard position.
2. Bend your knees to lower down into a wide squat, pushing your knees out towards your pinky toes as you drop your hips parallel to your knees.
3. Punch your right arm overhead and out to your right side as you hold the bottom of the sumo squat. Keep your left arm in your defensive position.
4. Keep a loaded squat stance and pulse up and down about an inch as you bring the right arm in, then immediately punch it back out, this time punching the arm a little bit lower as you simultaneously sink into a lower squat.
5. Continue to maintain the squat pulse as you punch the right arm out four consecutive times, punching lower each time as you continue to sink into a lower squat.
6. After you’ve performed the lowest punch at the bottom, drive through your heels to stand tall as you bring the right arm back in.
7. Then repeat the sequence. Punch on the right side for the timed interval, switching sides on the next set.

How To Do A Jab, Cross and Speed Bag

1. Start standing, feet hip-width apart, knees bent, core engaged. Open your hips to the right so your left foot is forward and right leg is back. Bring hands or knuckles up to “defend” your face in a guard position.
2. With your right arm, “jab” forward towards the front of the room. Pull your right arm back to your defensive position.
3. Then punch across your body with your left hand (crossbody punch). Pull both hands back to the defensive position.
4. Then imagine you’re hitting a “speed bag” (think of any kind of boxing movie you’ve seen, this is the classic move!) for a two-count. Make large circular motions with each arm as you “hit” your imaginary boxing bag.