Les Mills: Combat 45 - Power Kata (Review)

It's been fun having a new workout system to go through.  Eight weeks gives me a while to do the workouts and then give you a good report on them.  The 45-minute Power Kata is fun - and hard work!

Power Kata builds upon the 30-minute Kick Start workout.  It's longer, more challenging, and assumes you now know what you're doing when you go through all the punches and kicks.

The trainers give you a warm up of punches and shuffles.  You then get a tiny stretch (tiny!) before getting down to business.  The main differences between Kick Start and Power Kata are:

-More complex choreography in Power Kata.  The combinations include more moves - 4 to 5 - and combine punches and kicks.  Most are pretty easy but even after doing this workout several times, a few of the combinations are still a bit tricky for me.  I have to stop and make sure I'm doing them right.  

-A higher level of cardiovascular intensity in Kata.  There are some series in this workout that are really challenging.  For example, one such series alternates knee strikes and jumping knee strikes.  My heart is pounding during this.

After about 40 minutes of stand-up cardio, you move to the floor for some stretching. 

All in all, this is a fun workout - more effective than Kick Start but not as long and intense as Extreme Cardio Fighter.  For a preview, go here.

Bottom Line: With only moderately complex choreography, this workout is great for anyone who knows basic kickboxing.  It'll make you sweat in no time!