A mix of aqua aerobics, boxing, karate and zumba, Aqua combat is a new and colourful sports activity.

Maïa Baudelaire, Nutritional Expert in Food Behaviour and Founder of the Maïa Baudelaire® Method I Love My Diet Coach®  (the first online slimming coaching site reimbursed by the healthcare) bravely jumped into the pool to try out these boxing classes.

Saturday morning. Rather than getting into an overcrowded swimming pool, I decided to jump into the small pool for an aerobics class. And here, … by complete surprise, there’s a novelty: Aqua combat!!! Well, now that I’m in, I’m sticking around. I put on some boxing gloves and waited for the coach’s instructions who, just as with water aerobics, always seems to stay dry.

Let’s go, 45 minutes of exercise!!

For the warm up, it’s the same as a water aerobics class. We jump on the spot, we run a little to the left, and a little to the right, we do some breaststrokes and then we adopt the “position of the warrior” as the coach called it. And that’s when I say to myself, “Well, warriors in bikini … And why not?.” So here we are, good little soldiers in swimsuits and boxing gloves, crouching down and ready to punch!

The music speeds up, the rhythm makes us smile, finally, we are ready to fight against all of today’s worries. The coach starts his sequences, left-hand punches, two shots to the right, an uppercut, it’s easy to see how much fun it is.… Moreover, with the underwater movements we don’t risk hurting ourselves like you would if punching into the void.

Then come the kicks. Even if the coach has no trouble kicking forwards, back or to the side, I can assure you that in water, it’s a whole other matter.

The moves get faster and faster, we jump and jump and we hit it out again and again at our imaginary enemies.

Once the battle is done, we do some gentle stretching to lower our heartbeats and we congratulate ourselves for the 300 calories that we have just valiantly got rid of.

Verdict and advice:

It’s a discipline that allows you to work on your cardio, your buttocks, your thighs and to a lesser extent, your arms. But above all, it’s a radical way to let off steam. Combined with other sports such as jogging or cycling, Aqua combat is a great way to slim down and feel good. Remember to drink lots of water at the end of each session to avoid dehydration and feeling any aches and pains.

Pauline tells us about it:

Aqua combat is like a slightly improved version of water aerobics; I couldn’t really see anything else in it than that. We moved, we had good fun but on a pure sporting terms, I’ve done better. I recommend giving it a go, at least once, to see for yourselves what it involves and then going with a bunch of friends to have some fun, but don’t imagine losing all your extra kilos from doing this