In January, KickHouse hosted the 8-week Kick 2020 Goodbye Challenge. This Challenge pushed members to embrace the uncomfortable and unleash their inner resilience. With great success across the country, six winners were chosen overall based on their physical and mental transformations. The winners not only took home cash prizes but confidence in themselves that they can kick it up a level. KickHouse had the chance to ask these winners a series of questions about their experience with the KickHouse Challenge. Lance Kirkpatrick from KickHouse Frederick, our men’s third place national challenge winner, took home $3,000!
Meet Lance and read about his takeaways from the KickHouse Challenge:
1. The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding shut-downs were difficult for many. What additional obstacles did you face in 2020?
“2020 was a difficult period for many as it literally changed the way, people could interact or gather in any fashion, regardless of whom you were. Immediately losing access to the “fit-family” at the studio caused an immediate loss of regular planned fitness activity. Separation from aging family; my father who lives at a care facility for those with Alzheimer’s, was particularly unsettling. In addition, the additional stressors brought on by the media, reduction in work or even temporary suspension of employment caused an increase in depression and anxiety. Which without the ability to participate in the regular fitness regimen was challenging to manage. The shutdown of the studio was very disheartening.”
2. What inspired you to join KickHouse and what made you join the Challenge?
“Fortunately, the studio owner from our local studio rebranded under the KickHouse brand and allowed the “Fit-Family” to be reunited between members and our dedicated team of inspiring instructors and studio managers.
I really enjoy the format of the workouts at KickHouse. The flow from warmup into the bag rounds is continuous and seamless without any loss in heart rate or performance effort for the participant. The succession of build rounds, to power rounds, and to speed rounds flows into a well-structured training regimen, allowing me to work hard at my training and effectively track my progress. I can also evaluate dips in performance, to know if I am pushing myself hard enough or if a particular martial sequence was challenging or difficult to execute. Especially when I have to consider modifying the routine to compensate for my reconstructed knee disability.
I joined the Challenge because my wife inspired me to do so. We attend classes together whenever we can, it is part of our routine. My wife, Kim embarked on a journey to improve her self-health and I happily support that endeavor and participate alongside her. I also needed a focus to help me exorcise away the “Dad-Bod” and recover my lost Military physique I had while I served my country 20 years ago.”
3. How was your experience during the 8-week Challenge? Highs and lows?
“The Challenge gave me an opportunity to try a different approach balancing diet in concert with a fitness regimen. Learning a new way to manage and evaluate food through macro consumption in concert with a food diary taught me how to consider the choices made based on whatever I choose to eat or drink. But it never felt like I was on a restrictive diet. I just had to be honest and could see exactly how food choices affect the outcome of a balanced diet and fitness program.
As far as lows go, hitting plateaus with the weight loss, required some serious self-reflection over dietary choices. But the food Diary using the MyFitnessPal app made it easy to manage recipes addition for repeated use, provided a warning for overconsumption of sodium or sugars. Struggling to recognize the easily created excuses to drink a soda or eat a piece of cake became readily apparent as it had an effect on the scale. Not all improvement can be measured by the scale, visibly see the transformation was not possible until comparing the before and after pictures. Managing time to get into the studio to take a class and exercise 5-6 days a week could be frustrating; but the Challenge, under the coaching staff illuminated alternative ideas to at-home options to continue self-improvement.”
4. How do you feel kickboxing has impacted your health?
“Kickboxing has helped lower my body fat over 10%, reduced my resting heart rate from 88bpm to 62bpm. Increased my metabolism to reduce weight gain. Improved overall muscle mass by 20%, reduced total body weight from 240lbs (when I originally joined the studio) to 202lbs. Reduced overall body size by 4.5 inches ( I was 36” waist now borderline 32” waist in denim). And increased my overall total levels of energy and satisfied sense of self. Not to mention, providing an outlet to manage stress and engage with some truly fascinating people whom I never would have met without joining the studio. Additionally, it helped me regain some of my past physical self and confidence and motivated me to create an in-home Gym to cross-train with Weights, Treadmill Running, Cycling, Trail-hiking, and Swimming.”
5. What are your current goals?
“To continue maintaining a balanced healthy lifestyle. Specifically, I plan to continue my weight loss aiming for 185 lbs. as my target goal weight. Continued reduction in body fat percentage to a goal of 15%. While increasing overall body dimensional reductions through increasing weight training and developing leaner muscle mass. In addition to working out at KickHouse!”
6. What would you say to anyone who was thinking about joining KickHouse and/or the Challenge?
“KickHouse is a great community of people who chose to commit to their own betterment and self-improvement. KickHouse makes exercise fun, it makes you forget that you are exercising. Feeling frustrated, angry, over-worked, stressed out – go hit the bag, visualize the source, and HIT the BAG! Need motivation, positive reinforcement, camaraderie – show up in class and HIT THE BAG!
Joining the Challenge? AS the saying goes “We are all our own worst critic.” Make yourself accountable to yourself. Commit and use the opportunity of dedicated coaching to learn about yourself, your relationship with food and exercise, and see real results. You get out the program what you put into the program. Do not do it just for the Prize at the end. Do it for yourself and gain the reward of having completed the commitment. If you win something beyond that, then it’s a surprising bonus of accomplishment.”
About KickHouse:
KickHouse is a modern kickboxing studio offering a variety of class formats, each rooted in kickboxing but with additional fitness flare added in. The KickHouse mission is to help members and communities take their health and kick it up a level via a consistent kickboxing practice! The new kickboxing brand has quickly grown to over 35 locations across the country and is looking to grow to 100 kickboxing studios within the next six months. If you’re interested in becoming a fitness franchise owner and opening your own KickHouse studio, visit https://www.thekickhouse.com/franchise.