Ina Vidyasankar, 20, is a Nottingham-based kickboxer and one of Myprotein’s NXTGEN ambassadors.
Ina has been a kickboxer for over 15 years and now fights competitively — so, if you needed some advice to get you started, few are better placed to give advice.
Here's Ina’s beginner’s workout routine, plus the supplements that get him through his training.
Get to Know Ina
What’s one piece of advice you would give to a beginner in your sport?
You need to know why you want to do it. If you train for fitness, your training may be different to someone who trains because they love the sport. Figuring out what you want to gain from kickboxing will help you to choose which school to learn from and pick coaches who will be able to better guide your training.
What’s your favourite song to work out to?
One of my favourites is Invincible by Pop Smoke. It just describes the mindset you need to have as a fighter.
What's your most embarrassing moment when training?
When you train regularly, you have many embarrassing training moments and one that happens to the best of us would probably be slipping over after throwing a few dizzy spinning hook kicks.
What's your proudest fitness achievement?
My proudest fitness achievement to date is probably my maintained weight loss journey. I came down from 110kg to 60kg in just over year and I have my weight controlled for fights now at around 70-75kgs after a phase of muscle building.
Favourite Myprotein product?
It has to be the Hotel Chocolat bars — they just don’t feel like they’re protein bars.
Ina’s Supplement Routine
THE Diet
Ina has one scoop of The Diet in the morning to break his fast.
He loves that it has 25g of fast and slow-releasing proteins, which mean he’s still getting the supplements he needs while fasted.
Vitamin Routine
Ina takes a range of supplements with his first meal:
- One Alpha Men Multivitamin Tablet. Each tablet includes calcium, vitamin D, selenium, pantothenic acid and biotin to boost everyday wellbeing.
- One Omega-3 Plus Softgel. This is full of highly concentrated essential fatty acid, that contributes to normal heart health.
- One Calcium & Magnesium Tablet. It’s an everyday supplement to help you reach your daily vitamin and mineral recommended intake.
THE Whey
Right before training, Ina has one scoop of THE Whey and adds 5g of unflavoured creatine.
This premium protein blend has 25g of protein to fuel your muscles and creatine increases the body’s ability to produce energy quickly.
Kickboxing Beginner’s Workout
[Reviewed by PT Simon Cushman]This workout should take you 30 to 40 minutes, with the aim being to improve the cardiovascular system and muscular endurance — ready for kickboxing rounds of 3 mins for up to 12 rounds in a championship fight.
The philosophy of this session is to train hard, fight easier — so you could focus on technique and winning points in competition.
Warm-up
Start with a 10-minute warm up. This could be any of the following exercises:
- Start with a 10-minute warm-up. This could include any of the following exercises:
- Skipping (for coordination, power and footwork)
- Running (treadmill or outdoors)
- Cycling (takes the impact out of the work but still increases heart rate and temperature)
- Rowing (great for a full-body warm-up)
Complete these 3 movement drills to help loosen up your hips and shoulders for better posture:
- Cossack lunge: Start crouched down on one leg on your toes, with the other out to the side on your heel, and take your hips over to the other side.
- Arabesque: On one leg, take the other one out behind you, and tilt down from the hips while keeping your spine long.
- Single leg raises: Lie on your back with one leg bent and foot on the floor, and the other straight. Raise the straight leg up and down to warm up the hip and hamstring.
Main Session
Complete each exercise for 30 seconds with no rest between (3 minutes total). After a full round, rest for 1 minute and repeat at least 4 times.
If you’re feeling adventurous, increase the exercise times to 40 seconds, or rest for 45 seconds to push the intensity.1. Reverse lunge into front kick (right leg)
- Standing on the left leg, step back into a reverse lunge.
- Then, power forwards, driving the right knee up off the floor and snapping the foot out when you reach a 90-degree angle, with toes pulled back towards the knee.
2. Battle ropes alternate arms
- Holding onto the battle ropes with one in each hand and lowering the hips into a quarter squat.
- Alternate arms to create ripples down the ropes.
3. Reverse lunge into front kick (Left Leg)
- Standing on the left leg, step back into a reverse lunge.
- Then, power forwards driving the right knee forwards and snapping the foot out when you reach a 90-degree angle, with toes pulled back towards the knee.
4. Mountain climbers
- In a press-up position, drive your knee towards the same elbow, with a jump change leg.
- Remember to keep your core tight and your hips in line with your shoulders.
5. Tuck jumps
- Perform a squat jump, at the top of the movement bring your knees as high as you can to bring back down and land safely.
6. Alternate roundhouse kicks
- Standing side on, pick up your rear foot, rotating your hips and keeping your knee high to turn into a long side kick.
- Aim for between hip and shoulder height with toes pointed (heel pulling towards the calf).
- Snap the leg back and change legs, with a jump if you can.
Make sure you follow this up with a good stretch of the groin, hamstrings, glutes, quads and shoulders.
Take Home Message
Kickboxing is a fun way to work out and has a great community around the competitive sport. If you want to know more about Ina, check out his Instagram here.
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