Kicking some ...

You know those moments when you feel so stressed out and aggravated for whatever reason that all you feel like doing is laying back on your couch and eating everything in sight (and not just a bag of carrots but a whole pizza or bag of chips)? You might give into temptation, but when the moment passes and you can't button your pants the next day, you usually regret it.

Instead of heading to the pantry next time you're feeling that way, head to a kickboxing class. Not any kickboxing class either, but the kind where you hit and kick the punching bag until you feel all the negative energy leave you.

Those of you who are thinking kickboxing is putting in a Billy Banks Tae Bo tape have never been to the Buffalo Grove Martial Arts kickboxing class.

Standing in the warm room as the music starts, you have no idea that a warm-up in this class is like the crescendo in other workout classes. It is full speed ahead - beginning with running to one wall, falling into a defense position, pushing back up and then doing it again and again. Next come the squats, push-ups and suicides (which is sprinting and touching a mark and then running back to the baseline each time). Then you start on sprints and then back to squats and push-ups.

Sweat rolling down your back and adrenaline racing, it is time to put on the gloves and pull out the punching bag.

You start in a fighting stance, always keeping your hands up by your chin before throwing jabs using your nondominant hand all the while bouncing on the balls of your feet. Then, time for crossovers, hooks and uppercuts. And, if that's not enough, you've got to do the kicking part of kickboxing.

The music almost seems to pump with your muscles.

"Kickboxing is a total body workout," said Brian Bain the manager at Buffalo Grove Martial Arts who runs the kickboxing program and is a fourth-degree black belt. "When you are hitting a target, you are working all of your muscles making it more intense. You are working every muscle from your shoulders to your legs from the time the class starts until it ends."

Buffalo Grove Martial Arts, owned by fifth-degree black belt Bert Witte, offers a variety of programs from Isra eli Krav Maga, which is an aggressive self-defense program and fitness kickboxing to yoga and programs for children.

"We are not just a gym, but a private school," Withe said. "We teach children self-discipline, eye-hand coordination, team building, self respect and how to respect others. We are instructors not coaches."

The kickboxing classes aren't just a good workout. You can also learn how to protect yourself. The instructors show you how to punch and kick effectively and, although they let you go at your own pace, they are there to help when needed.

"I tell all my classes that when you go into a self-defense situation it is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental," Withe said. "The classes teach you self-motivation and self-discipline."

As you are laying on the floor the last 10 minutes of the class doing stomach crunches and bicycles, the mental is what gets you through, but boy does the physical aspect feel good when all is said and done. Keep in mind, the workout above is just one class; the instructors mix it up from one class to the next with different kicking and punching techniques.

On your way home, you'll find yourself wondering when you can go back at it. The atmosphere and endorphins will leave you wanting more.

A full list of the programs and schedules can be found at bgma.us.

Buffalo Grove Martial Arts

Town Center Mall at Buffalo Grove and Lake-Cook roads

(847) 215-8333, bgma.us/

Fitness kickboxing classes: 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday

Cost: $99 a month for four classes a month; $139 a month for twice a month