From professional boxers to Victoria's Secret Angels - everyone seems to enjoy boxing. It is an excellent way to bring in some variety to your weekly training and boxing can be a great stress reliever too. It is a mix of cardio and strength exercises which will help you build muscles and increase your endurance. There are many studios that offer boxing classes, but there are several home exercise programs that combine some type of martial art into their routines. Let's take a closer look at what you need in order to get started.
The benefits of boxing
If you sign up for a boxing class, you can expect a lot of work that will involve building solid boxing foundations. Don't worry, you will not enter the ring before you get these basic moves right. You can practice them even when you are not in the boxing studio. So let's see why boxing is an excellent activity that can help you reach your fitness goals.
High calorie burn
Boxing does resemble HIIT training because you alternate between high intensity periods and recovery. Antonio Valverde, a personal trainer who works for Elite City Fitness New York says that boxing is an ideal combination of aerobic and anaerobic training which can elevate your metabolism and make you burn more calories in a shorter time frame. Therefore, if you want to shed some weight and do it quickly, combining boxing with a clean diet will do wonders for your body.
Total body workout
Boxing will activate muscles that are not used so often. It will improve your stamina and strength, as well as make you more focused. Boxing requires quicker reactivity and coordination of your moves so you have to learn how to move your body properly. So if you are a runner, boxing will improve your stability as well.
Stress relief
As I have previously mentioned, boxing will help you cope with stress. It has numerous psychological benefits if you do it regularly. As a matter of fact, a book called Boxing Fitness explains how staying in a moment and focusing on your punches can make you psychologically stronger and capable of dealing with life difficulties. Plus, any type of physical activity helps your body release endorphins that make you happier and reduce stress.
Cardio for your upper body
If you tend to do a lot of cardio, your upper body is often ignored. Boxing will help you balance out these activities and improve your overall body strength. So if you want to clock in more cardio activities on a weekly basis or you have a lower body injury but you want to get some work done, boxing is a way to go.
Boxing is fun
Boxing will make you want to work harder every single time. You cannot learn everything in just one session and you will have enough time to grow as a boxer. It is very dynamic and you can change up the moves to fit your mood. You can shadowbox almost anywhere and include some of your favorite punches in the HIIT training routines you do in your home.
It will do wonders for your posture and coordination because you have to learn how to move your body within a given space. So if you lead a sedentary life and you have back pain, boxing can help you strengthen back muscles and improve your stance.
Safety tips
If you plan to shadowbox and throw punches at an empty space, there is no need for boxing gloves or wraps. But if you are working with a punching bag, you have to protect your hands. They are very delicate and you will be taking a huge risk if you want to throw a punch without some type of protection. Gloves and wraps will prevent any sort of injury such as spraining your wrist, breaking the bones in your hand, or scraping your knuckles.
Your trainer will teach you how to wrap your hands before you engage in close contact with a punching bag or an actual opponent. But please keep in mind that your hands have to be covered if you are training with a punching bag.
Summary
Boxing is an excellent way to work your entire body. It is not arms only. In order to throw a good punch you have to engage your hips and legs as well. So if you are stuck in a rut and you need to change things up a bit, boxing is an excellent activity that will make you fall in love with exercise all over again.