Walking into the dance studio at the RAWC, I didn’t know what to expect from the turbo kick class. I knew there was going to be kicking involved—but, I asked myself, how could I get a workout from kicking?
The trainer, Justin Thackray, was already there greeting people with a smile when I arrived. “This class can be as intense as you want it to be; you can go low-impact or you can go high-impact. It all depends on you,” Thackray said. “You can burn up to 700-800 calories if you go high-impact.”
We started off with a simple warm-up, jumping up and down to get our limbs loose. Then Thackray proceeded to teach us the many easy-to-learn routines involved in the class. One of the steps had us hopping on the spot, whirling both of our arms in a circle on the left side for about six seconds, and then punching three times while bouncing to the right. Then we did two uppercuts with each arm while raising the opposite knee high off the ground.
Except for water breaks, there was non-stop motion for the entire hour in the dance studio. Thackray’s voice echoed through the room as he called out the steps to follow, inviting everyone to move along with him.
This class had only six people this week because of midterms, but there are usually about 20 to 25 people attending in any given week.
Although we got three water breaks, I was exhausted and had to go get more water, considering that I’m a rookie at this. After another 15 minutes of intense turbo kick routines, and with the sweat dripping down my t-shirt, the class ended with a soothing yoga session.
“I wanted an intense workout, because I don’t like just going to the gym and running,” says Priyanka Sodhi, a second-year psychology student who also took the class for the first time.
The exact choreography is changed every month, but is always performed to the current club hits.
If you want to take part, show up at the dance studio on Mondays at noon. You will feel the burn.
