Whether it's shadow boxing or hitting the bag, kickboxing is Chip Ott's workout of choice. When he started taking classes, middle age had gotten the best of him.

Chip says, "In about a year, year-and-a-half, I lost 30 to 35 pounds. Most of it happened in the first eight months. Now I go running three, four miles and it's pretty easy anymore."

That's because throwing punches and delivering kicks isn't easy. It's a total body workout with self-defense skills thrown in.

Instructor Daniel McCallum says, "Tae-Bo and a lot of classes you see are not based on real world techniques. Definitely get a good workout but not a lot of real world application for those. What we get here is a great workout and real techniques so you can use it in the real world if you ever need to defend yourself."

Injuries can happen. That's why our fitness expert, Lori Johnson, says it's important to check if an instructor is certified and how long he or she has been teaching.

Lori, who is a Certified Personal Trainer at Prairie Life says, "A good instructor is going to know right off the bat who's new to class and they're going to teach you at every single class how to punch, how to kick, and how to protect yourself from being injured."

For Chip Ott, it's not about the fight. It's the way he feels that keeps him coming back for another round.

"I've reached the age now where the metabolism has started to slow down," he says. "And I don't want to do this again."

Kickboxing at Prairie Life is a joint effort with Shin's academy. Class times vary. While it's a great workout, the classes are not for people just starting an exercise routine.