July 23, 2026

Kickboxing vs. the rest

Remy & Kev

Every sport has its fans, and rightfully so. But if you’re wondering where to spend your limited workout time, an honest comparison helps. Backed by real sources, because anyone can make claims.

Kickboxing vs. running

Kickboxing works your whole body and burns at least as many calories as running. The difference:

you barely notice. You're too busy with technique and taking your workweek out on the bag.
your whole body joins in, not just your calves.
bad weather is no problem. You're inside, warm, and dry.
the hour flies by because every round is different.
you skip the running injury lottery. No shin splints or runner's knee from repeating the same stride. The bag takes the hits.

600+ kcal

in an hour on the bag with us¹

1 in 4

runners gets injured²

boring miles

¹ At ±70 kg, kickboxing is about 7 to 10 METs, or about 500 to 700 kcal per hour, ranging from jogging to fast running. More weight or intensity burns more. Source: 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. ² Pooled injury incidence among recreational runners is about 26% (36 studies, 23,047 runners). Source: Fredette et al. 2022.

Kickboxing vs. the gym

Getting a gym membership is easy. But then you're on your own: your plan, your motivation, your technique. With kickboxing:

a coach sharpens your technique, not a how-to video between machines.
you get cardio and strength in one workout, not treadmill day and machine day.
you come back for the people, not the wall of mirrors. That helps you stick with it.
you learn something new every week. Mastering a skill stays motivating longer than checking off sets.

~40%

more strength gains with a coach than alone¹

2-in-1

cardio and strength in one workout²

machines to wait for

¹ Supervised strength training produced about 40% more strength gains (squat: +26.6 vs. +19.3 kg) than self-guided or app-guided training. It was also the only group to measurably build muscle. Our classes always include coaching. Source: Supervised vs. self-guided training, RCT 2024. ² One kickboxing program improved both fitness (VO2max +13%) and muscle power (+42%) in beginners. Here, "strength" means power and anaerobic capacity, not 1RM. Source: Kickboxing training study (fitness + power).

Kickboxing vs. padel

Padel is great fun and very social. Nothing wrong with that. But you need a court, three friends, and a reservation. With kickboxing:

you can just walk in. No court to book, no three friends to round up.
you can train as often as you like. Five padel games a week are hard to schedule and afford. Five workouts with us are not.
you get serious cardio and a strength boost. Padel is mostly about agility and stays largely aerobic.
you clear your head on the bag for an hour while working your whole body.
you come back for the club, not just tonight's game.

~150 bpm

padel is intense, mostly aerobic cardio¹

No strength

padel builds agility, not strength²

players plus a court needed. Here, just walk in

¹ Heart rate during padel is about ~127 to 159 bpm, mostly in the aerobic zone, with lactate below the anaerobic threshold. Source: Racket sports physiology (review, 2023). ² No measurable neuromuscular fatigue was found over a full padel match. Padel trains agility and cardio, not strength overload like kickboxing or fitness training. Source: Padel workload (amateur study, 2025).

Kickboxing vs. yoga

Yoga and kickboxing may seem like total opposites, but they have the same goal: getting you out of your head. They just take different routes. With kickboxing:

you don't breathe your stress away, you punch it out. Both work. It's all about what suits you.
your heart rate really climbs: kickboxing counts as vigorous exercise, yoga as moderate.
you stretch too. Ten minutes per class, exactly the dose that gets results.
learn to defend yourself, just in case.
to be fair, yoga wins on flexibility. If you want to do the splits, yoga is your best bet.

Vigorous

kickboxing is vigorous exercise¹, yoga is moderate²

10 min

of stretching per class, exactly the effective dose³

1-1

for stress: movement helps, not the style⁴

¹ For someone weighing ±70 kg, kickboxing clocks in at ~7 to 10 MET. Anything above 6 MET counts as vigorous exercise. Source: 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. ² Vinyasa yoga, measured in 40 practitioners, meets the criteria for moderate-intensity exercise. Source: Oxygen uptake during vinyasa yoga (2023). ³ Stretching improves flexibility, with no added benefit beyond four minutes per session or ten minutes per week (189 studies). Source: Dose-response meta-analysis of stretching (Sports Medicine, 2025). ⁴ Yoga reduces stress, but it works no better than other forms of active exercise. The movement itself seems to do the trick. Source: Meta-analysis of yoga and stress (2024).

Not best at everything. Best all-around.

Got time for two sports? Go for it. You’ll get the best of both. But most people choose one, so pick the sport that does the most. Every sport wins somewhere: fitness for building muscle, padel for fun and good company. Add up the scores and kickboxing comes out way ahead. You’re too busy working on technique to get bored, you clear your head on the bag, and you train your whole body.

Kickboxing
Running
Fitness
Padel
Yoga

Fun¹

Muscle²

Flexibility³

Consistency⁴

Social⁵

Calories/hour⁶

Stress relief⁷

Confidence⁸

Overall