Why You Should Add Boxing To Your Workout and How to do it
Many people don’t realize that they can do boxing without having to fight somebody for it. Boxing is a sport used for much more than violence, and can not only get you in better shape, but take your workouts to the next level even if you’re an incredibly fit individual. Let’s dive into the benefits of a boxing workout and what to do if you’re new to it.
The Benefits of Boxing Training
If you’ve ever laid eyes on a professional fighter, then you have seen some of the most in shape human beings that are walking the planet. While they may not all have bulging muscles, they will be able to out outperform most gym goers in just about any feat. Boxing can help you increase your endurance, lose weight, build muscle and earn a level of confidence you won’t be used to. Let’s get into the details.
Your Endurance Will Be Insane
Boxers are known for their stamina. Floyd Mayweather for example, is said to run 10 miles after a 6 hour long boxing workout. No wonder we’ve never seen him tired in a fight. If you want to appreciate just how much stamina boxers have, try to do a friendly sparring session with a friend and see if you can make it into the second round. Fighting takes a different level of endurance and a boxing workout prepares you for it. You will be able to increase both cardiovascular and muscle endurance with a solid boxing workout.
You Will Work Muscles You Never Knew You Had
I’ve trained many of my fitness friends who have the bodies that most people dream of, and after one boxing session, I get a text the next day saying they can’t move. These are also guys lifting 500 pounds off the floor on a regular basis. That is because boxing works different sets of muscles, especially the smaller ones that bind everything together. This can actually carry over into other worksout and help you yield better control of your body.
You Will Lose Weight and Tone Up
If weight loss is your goal in order to see more definition and reveal all your hard work in your gym, then there is quite literally no better, or more fun way to do it, than boxing. Boxing can help you burn a tremendous amount of calories, in fact, 30 minutes of punching the bag can help you burn over 300 calories! And that’s with a very moderate intensity. I have personally been able to do that in 15 minutes, so it’s not out of reach.
Get a Nice Boost in Self-Confidence
One thing that comes with regular boxing practice is a huge boost of self confidence that happens for two reasons. One is you will be getting into what most likely is the best shape of your life, and learning something new while you’re at it. The second reason is the confidence that comes with knowing you can defend yourself. There is something about knowing you can fight that changes your body language. A lot of actors have actually trained boxing just for the sole purpose of having confidence in their body language.
It’s Outright Fun
Many fitness folks don’t realize that boxing is a lot of fun! Punching things without having legal repercussions can be exciting. In fact, many people who aren’t fighters use boxing as a form of stress relief. A boxing workout can be just what you need to spice things up at the gym.
The Workout
Now we get to the real fun part, the actual workout you will be doing. Keep in mind that everything will be done in rounds. You can pick one of these and sprinkle them throughout your regular workout or dedicate an entire day to it. Let’s dive in.
Shadowboxing
One of the most tried and true boxing training methods is shadowboxing. Shadowboxing requires zero need for anything but a floor to stand on. If you know how to throw punches, then that is what you’ll simply do, in the air. Your target will be purely imaginary. If you don’t know how to shadow box, just throw a straight left and right repeatedly until the round is over.
To make this workout really challenging, you can use 1-5 pound weights in each hand and throw punches with them.This will help engage your shoulder much more and help tone out your arms, shadow boxing will also help you build fast twitch muscles in your upper body, engage your lats, and get your heart rate up.
For shadowboxing you want to do 3, 3 minute rounds with 1 minute breaks.
Or go 2 minutes on and 1 minute off throwing non stop weighted punches.
Punching Bag
I haven’t seen too many people that can walk by a punching bag without hitting it, it’s one of the biggest temptations there is, and that is because it’s so much fun. This remains one of the favorite boxing workouts there is and it’s also one of the best ones for you. It is one of the best cardio workouts, but it will also help you build endurance in your muscles and lungs like nothing else. The impact from the punches will make your arms and forearms more dense, and the weight of the gloves will work your shoulders and lats when you pull the punches back.
You can try working on different punch combinations and moving around the bag, or you can simply hit the bag non stop at moderate intensity on a very specific interval, similar to Floyd Mayweather.
Try to imitate boxing rounds for this if you have the stamina for it. If not, do as much as you can and rest as needed.
5 Rounds, 3 minutes per round, 1 minute rest.
Jump Roping
Jump roping is one overlooked exercise that is actually much better for you than running both for your shins and for your cardio workout. It will help you burn 200 – 300 calories in a simple 15 minute workout. It is also one of the best calf exercises that there is. According to calorieburnhq.com, it can burn up to 25% more calories than running.
You can do this for 10 to 20 minutes to finish off your workout. If you want to really push yourself, do pushups every time you break momentum.
Give it a Try
Boxing can be a good addition to any workout. You can add these into your workout one at a time, or try and knock down this entire workout in one go. At the end of it you have the potential to burn up to 600 calories or more and work on muscles you can’t touch with other exercises. The workout will consist of:
Shadow Boxing
Heavy bag
And Jump Roping
If you want to add in strength training, the best choice for boxing is calisthenics. Try this workout and see yourself become a better, slimmer and fitter you!
