If you watched The Biggest Loser last season, you may have noticed that the emphasis in the gym was on martial arts. With trainer Cara Castronova‘s background as a 2 time Golden Gloves boxing champion and trainer Brett Hoebel‘s emphasis on Capoeira, as well as many past BL contestants who ha vediscovered a love of Muay Thai boxing, the exercise workouts were definitely not typical. What was the reason that these two completely different forms of martial arts were chosen?
At first glance, these two forms of martial arts have almost nothing in common. Muay Thai is an ancient form of combat fighting that utilizes all of the limbs, plus elbows and knees, in striking. Commonly called The Art of Eight Limbs, this stand up form of martial arts combines elements of boxing as well as stand up clinch techniques, as opposed to boxing which uses two (hands) and other forms of martial arts which utilize four (hands and feet).
Most competitive forms of marital arts place an emphasis on conditioning, and Muay Thai is no exception. Designed to help increase endurance for ring competition, most Muay Thai classes incorporate shadowboxing, jumping rope, running and often weight training. A cornerstone of Muay Thai training is working pad rounds, in which a student works one on one with a coach in hitting specially designed pads, called focus mitts. The focus mitts are created to absorb impact and help a fighter learn to hit correctly without harming their training partner.
Biggest Loser’s new trainers have introduced the masses to a new way to stay fit: fighting. New trainers Golden Gloves winner Cara Castronuova and Brett Hoebel have truly brought out the fight in each of their team members and it shows. While many thought that the only way to drop double digit numbers each week was with Bob and Jillian’s state of the art technologically advanced equipment inside the Biggest Loser gym, Cara and Brett have shown all you need to get a killer workout is a few ropes and a boxing gloves.
Fighting isn’t a new fitness fad, and you might catch a jab to the face for calling it so, but it is growing in popularity in the mainstream fitness community. Last night’s episode of Biggest Loser even featured Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA Gym, and for most, MMA is a term you aren’t familiar with- but should be.
The curiosity has finally been satisfied – Brett Hoebelis the new Biggest Losertrainer. For weeks Biggest Loser fans have been peering at silhouettes and the back side of his head, but now, we can introduce you to him.
Listen now to our exclusive interview to learn more about Brett and his new job as a “Loser” trainer!
Brett is a world renowned fitness expert, named one of the top trainers in New York state and the founder of Hoebel Fitness. He credits his fitness DVD program, RevAbs, a part of the Beachbody Brands which also produces P90X, with helping him finally land the gig, a job he repeatedly refers to as “an honor.” As well, “a lot of hard work and determination” and a chance to teach Jillian Michaels, who is currently in her final season with the show, Capoeira were all part of getting him on the show. His other fitness brand is called reVamp. Read Full Post >
Tae Bo is an aerobic exercise routine created by Billy Blanks in 1976, but didn’t really become popular until the 1990s. During the 1990s, it was the first successful ”cardio-boxing” routine to take over commercially with over 1.5 million copies of Blanks’ DVDs sold.
The combination of dance and mixture of martial arts and boxing took the world by surprise. After the craze of Tae Bo; health and fitness clubs started offering cardio-kickboxing classes (similar to Tae Bo) to their members. Cardio kickboxing has been extremely popular ever since, because with its mix of intense cardio and fun moves, it’s hard not to see results. An hour of Tae Bo or cardio-kickboxing will burn between 600 and 800 calories. Check below to see the benefits of these two aerobic programs. Read Full Post >
Muay Thai, the “Art of Eight Limbs,” is one of the deadliest forms of martial arts. It’s called the Art of Eight Limbs because it incorporates striking with hands, elbows, knees and shins to knock your opponent out or strike them into submission. Boxing, for instance, uses two points of contact (both hands) and many other forms of martial arts use only hands and feet.
Muay Thai was developed in Southeast Asia, but it has spread across the world with the popularity of mixed martial arts on television. Muay Thai is the stand up base for MMA fighting. It was once called the martial art of the kings because of the fact that in 1914 the sons of King Sen Muajng Ma fought until their death for the throne of their father.
Muay Thai has a heavy focus on body conditioning, designed to promote a high level of fitness necessary for endurance in the ring. In fact, the most important aspect in training in Muay Thai is extensive endurance. Cardio, strength, muscle gain and definition, plus fat loss are crucial to a fighter’s survival. Training regimens include running, shadowboxing, jump rope, medicine ball, weight training, and exercises to strengthen different areas of the body, including abdominals.
