British Judo’s exciting new conditioning workout, Judofit, was launched in partnership with Freedom Leisure on Wednesday 13 June at K2 Crawley.

Leading fitness professionals took part in the high-energy workout and witnessed a presentation which explained the core training principles employed from the Olympic and Paralympic sport.

Judo is often hailed and practiced purely for its well-documented fitness benefits and now the sport can be performed without the physical contact and with an emphasis on conditioning.

The routines and class programme reflect the training techniques used throughout the sport from beginner to Olympic and Paralympic level. Judofit aims to tone and strengthen the entire body and can burn up to 600 calories an hour. It encapsulates the free flowing patterns and movements of the sport and incorporates high intensity aerobic exercise and strength work for the upper and lower body.

British Judo Development Manager Mark Beecher said: “Judofit is an exciting new concept which makes the sport accessible to all exercisers of all fitness levels.

“A Judofit class is a fun way to get a flavour of the sorts of moves you might learn in judo.”

Judo-inspired standing exercises include moving squats (tai-sabaki), twisting knee drops (tai-otoshi), leg sweeps (ochi) and 180 degree squat throws (seoi-nage). Floor exercises draw on judo floor techniques (ne-waza) and concentrate on core and upper body strength. Cardio moves are also judo specific and include leg sweeps, twisting squats with defensive arms (jigotai).

Judofit classes last one hour and currently take place at selected Freedom Leisure centres across the south east visit www.freedom-leisure.co.uk

If you’d like to give Judofit a try, instruct or would like to find out more about this exciting new class, please email: info@judofit.org.uk