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| Fortune Fivehundred |
Like
most people I have tried various forms of exercises to stay in shape. Everything from Tae Bo to Zumba. Some things work better than others, but then
I had a friend tell me about this gym and a new concept that is becoming all
the rage in the Metro Detroit area, BoYo.
If you like kickboxing, you will love BoYo. What makes BoYo so popular? Well for one, you can burn anywhere from 850
to 1300 in ONE class. And secondly, it’s
fun. No I’m serious it really is fun.
To get a better understanding about BoYo I sat down with professional boxer, trainer, Jabs Gym co-owner, and co-inventor of BoYo, Fortune Fivehundered. Fortune came up with the concept with his partner David Tessler, who is also a yoga instructor.
Gina: Explain to
me how BoYo is different than kickboxing.
Fortune: With kickboxing you have a base that is just
a full all out cardio, full fledge workout.
There are a lot of kicks, a lot of repetitions which is always
good. But the fact of the matter is with
BoYo, with the boxing aspect of it there are no kicks. What we are doing is we are giving the basic
boxing structure. Giving people proper
form. In a kickboxing class people most
of the time stay stand square to a bag.
In BoYo you are standing in a boxing stance so you can use more rotation
in your torso so you can put more emphasis on the core.
Gina: So with BoYo you get a better core workout
than you do with kickboxing?
Fortune: You get a better all-around workout. Because it’s like doing anything else,
technique is tiring. And that is the
best form of work. It’s just like doing
a workout. You can do a workout and do
fifty of something fast and in a hurry to get you heart going. To get some muscle breakdown. But when you do something slow and controlled
you get the best benefits. That’s like
bodybuilders in competitions. They don’t
do a lot of reps, they do real slow, controlled, concentrated movements.
BoYo slows the heart
rate up, working on form and technique to where you got basic boxing drills
that I’ve put into play for group settings where we got speed drills, you have
power combinations, you have so many different things that us as boxers go
through that now I have given to everyday people. My theory is always, train like a
champion. I make life champions.
Gina: So how did you come up with the concept for
BoYo?
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Left to Right: Bryan
Lubaway, Jimmy Evans, Ice, Ernie Houser,
Greg Coverson, Fortune Fivehundred,
and David Tessler
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Fortune:
Well, me and my partner Dave, who is actually a yoga instructor, came up
with the idea. When I was boxing, I
would train so hard that my body would be very tight. And the fact of being tight is that when you
do get hit in boxing you absorb most of the impact of that. Well with me I started
doing yoga for stretches. At first I was
kind of bias about it you know. Like oh
this is boring, this that and the other, but I after I went and did the class
it was such an awesome workout. It
calmed me spiritually, it opened up my muscles where I was tight in so many
different areas. It increased my speed,
and when I get hit, I’m so relaxed now I don’t take that full impact which is
more dangerous, so that’s when I really got more into it.
So when we merged the two, I was saying that this is something that all fighters should do, and everyday people as well. I know a lot of people who would do personal training, or they would do kickboxing class and they would never stretch. And they said that not being able to be flexible is like a disease.
You know we are made flexible. As babies we can do the splits and all types of things, but over the years we stop using our muscles and that flexibility so as you tighten up it restricts you from moving and doing things that you should be able to do even stops your body from growing a certain way.
Gina: So when people don’t stretch properly before
they work out they are really doing even more damage?
Fortune: The chances of you getting an injury is
higher. You are supposed to have a light
stretch before, and an even deeper stretch afterwards. And that breaks down that soreness and stuff
like that. It helps. That’s why a lot of people when they come to
BoYo they will be sore, but it won’t be an unbearable sore because we have
taken them through a strength training base yoga.
You know with yoga you use your body weight, you twist and turns and holds, and poses. The muscle shock that you get from that alone gives your body that sculpting that you want. So we have the boxing that is a high repetition and cardio based. Plus you are actually learning proper form, like how to throw a punch. And it kind of brings people into my world a little bit more. Like people always think that boxing is just two people that’s punching each other, naw it’s a lot that goes into it. You have to be intact mind, body, and spiritually. And it’s the same thing with yoga. With yoga you gotta be calm within yourself, you have to be prepared mentally.
Gina: So how many calories does someone typically
burn during a BoYo class?
Fortune: Well we’ve had several people wear different
heart monitors to keep track of it, and we’ve had a minimum, which comes from a
mild mannered person who doesn’t hit the bags as hard, and they burn anywhere
from 850 to a 1000 calories. The top guy
in my class that does it and he’s very excited about it, he just broke a record
of 1310 calories.
Gina: So anywhere from 850 to 1300 calories
depending upon how much effort that person puts into it?
Fortune: Exactly, that’s the record right now, but we
are trying to break that record.
Gina: Now I know that with some people they feel
like with kickboxing, boxing, and BoYo they feel that they have to be in better
shape in order to do these types of classes.
Fortune: That’s not what it is. It’s like in a yoga class, they have advanced
and people like that think but every class is the same. They will tell you, you go at your own
pace. You make adjustments when
needed. If you are doing the boxing
portion and you are tired, well you stop, take a couple of deep breaths. And when you feel it you start right back up,
and get right back in sync with the class.
Gina: What would
someone need to get started when they come to class?
Fortune:
Well when they come here we actually give them everything they
need. From the yoga mats to hand
wraps. We make everybody wrap their
hands which is different than most places.
Because I know what kind of protection you need around your hands. It gives you that wrist support to stabilize
the wrist so you don’t have an injury, and it gives you that extra padding
around the knuckle area. We also give
people boxing gloves. The only thing
that we ask is that you bring yourself, an open mind, and a positive attitude.
Gina: If someone isn’t in the Metro Detroit area
and if someone wanted to try out a kickboxing class or a boxing class, what
would your suggestion be that they look for?
What qualities should they look out for?
Fortune: With everything that you do you want to make
sure that you go to a place where you are comfortable with being there. That it is a good energy and that the people
are making it enjoyable, because the hardest thing about working out is to keep
doing it. So I found that if you have a
great personality, a great trainer that makes it fun and challenging at the
same time, it makes you better. It keeps
you more motivated, to keep you to doing it.
To keep you growing.
I love the fact that
we are helping people. You know we
started here in Detroit. We have a very
bad reputation when it comes to obesity and things like that, and I’m just
trying to help change that.
