12 MIN Kickboxing Tabata // Christmas Workout

12 Min Kickboxing Tabata is a cardio tabata workout from Heather Robertson set to Christmas music. Heather is even wearing red and green. This was a really fun little kickboxing inspired workout. It’s very short so it is the perfect length to add onto the end of another workout to give you a burst of cardio. Which is how I used it this morning. I did Heather’s Low Impact HIIT Cardio + Legs and used this as a finisher to round out my morning of cardio. According to my FitBit I burned 118 calories. It wasn’t super intense but it did get my heart pumping plus it was lots of fun!

This workout is done using the tabata protocol. Tabata is a type of HIIT (high intensity interval training): 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery; repeat this 20/10 interval 8 times for a 4 minute tabata circuit. There are 3 tabata circuits in this workout. There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counting down your recoveries and intervals. During the first recovery in each tabata Heather previews the next exercise. After that Heather recovers with you while a graphic keeps track of which round you are about to do. This is not a low impact workout.

12 Min Kickboxing Tabata is 16:43 minutes; 2 minute warm up and 1:25 minute stretch. Equipment: light dumbbells and a fitness mat. Heather is using 2 pound hand weights; I also used 2 pound hand weights.

Tabata 1:

1. Shadow box (alternating front punches)
2. Jump squats (hold DBs in guard while in squat and push DBs behind you when jumping)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata 2:

1. Duck & weave (holding DBs together in front of you, standing with wide legs, shift side to side, lowering into deep squat while ducking down upper body when shifting to other side, at top of shift do one cross punch)
2. Squat & kick (squat + one front kick, alternate legs with a squat between each kick, arms are held in guard the when squatting, push straight arms behind you when kicking)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata 3:

1. Lunge & knee drive (reverse lunge reaching arms/DBs overhead and when you stand, do one knee raise lowering DBs to thigh as it raises, alternate legs)
2. Boxer jacks (jack the legs with alternating front punches in time with legs)
3. Repeat 1 & 2 three more times

For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.