Name: Jordan Wolf
Age: 25
Profession: Part-time contractor.
Fitness goals: To get in shape, improve his health, and ultimately lose 160 pounds.
Workout of choice: Kickboxing, a style of martial arts and self defense that combines boxing and kicking.
Location: Training Grounds in Westwood (njtraininggrounds.com).
Frequency/cost: Ninety-minute class four times per week. The cost is $12 to $15 per class.
How’s it going? When Wolf started taking kickboxing classes at Training Grounds, he weighed 340 pounds. “I was very unhealthy and at a low point in my life,” he says. “I knew I needed to make a change.” Ten months later, Wolf was down to 260 pounds. “Kickboxing grabbed a hold of me and brought out a different side of who I am,” he says. Wolf initially tried joining a gym.
“Running on a treadmill did not have the motivation properties I needed,” he says. But when he walked into the Training Grounds facility and glimpsed a kickboxing class, Wolf knew it was his best option. “When I ran, I could cheat myself, and now there is no way to cheat when my instructor is pushing me to my limit,” he says. “I do it for me, but I also push for him.”
Wolf’s goal is to reach 200 pounds. “It is a guarantee and just a matter of time,” he says. “The classes are the easiest part; eating right is the hard part.”
There is only one downside: “I went from a size 4X T-shirt to now wearing 2X. I have to buy a whole new wardrobe.”