Boxing workouts are increasingly popular and not just for boxers in training. The average person who will never step into a competitive ring can benefit from this type of workout. It involves cardio, agility, and strength. Boxing fitness can be a rewarding and fun new challenge.
With intense cardio, strength training, core work, agility, and footwork all in one workout, how couldn’t there be benefits? Proponents of boxing workouts have good reason to rave about them. These are just some of the many reasons to try it for yourself or to offer boxing to clients:
Increases Cardiovascular Health:
One of the biggest benefits of boxing is that it improves your cardiovascular fitness, which in turn reduces your risks for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
Builds Muscle & Strength:
Strength training is another major component of a boxing workout. Many classes do intervals of strength work alternating with punching a bag and other technical moves. Even when boxing workouts do not include specific resistance moves, they boost full-body strength. This is because you need your entire body to box. Throwing a punch correctly involves the whole body and most muscle groups. You need your core to stabilize yourself, your lower body and hips to pivot and give power to the punch, and of course, the upper body to deliver the blow
Develop Endurance:
A boxing workout is not easy. It is an intense experience. No matter what your skill or fitness level is, a good boxing session should put you through the ringer and be very challenging. Many people inherently enjoy this, but it’s also good for your fitness because it builds stamina and improves endurance. If you train regularly, you’ll find it easier to work out longer and more intensely. Boxing workouts are great additions to training plans if you participate in endurance events like distance running and triathlons.
Burns Lots of Calories:
Any kind of fitness routine can be an excellent way to aid weight loss or the maintenance of a healthy weight. However, boxing is proven to beat out other types of exercise for burning calories efficiently. First, it’s a HIIT workout, which triggers the metabolism to keep firing on all cylinders well after the session ends. Then, there is the strength component. As you build muscle, you burn more calories at all times.
Boxing workouts are fast-paced and challenging. One hour-long session can burn 600 or more calories, depending on your weight and effort level.
Improves Balance & Coordination:
The agility component of boxing is great for balance, while punching improves hand-eye coordination. Even without core-specific movements during the strength-training portion of the workout, boxing builds these muscles. The moves needed to box build core strength, which in turn helps you balance better.
Older clients and those with particular health needs especially benefit from core strength and improvements in balance. Studies have used boxing-based therapy to improve coordination and balance in Parkinson’s patients (4). Modified boxing workouts reduce the risks of falls and injuries in this and similar populations.
Stay Interested in Fitness:
Adherence to fitness is a major challenge in gyms and for all trainers. It can be hard to keep people coming back for more workouts for a lot of reasons. The more interesting and varied you can make fitness, the more likely people are to stick with it. Boxing is fun, even for people who have no interest in violent sports. When the only thing hit is a bag and there are minimal safety risks, anyone can do it and most enjoy it.
Improve Mental Health:
All of these physical benefits are enough to encourage most people to give boxing a try, but there’s more. The intense nature of the workout, the physical and mental challenge, and the release of hitting something hard all contribute to the mental health benefits of boxing workouts:
Reduce stress and other negative emotions
Find emotional release in a safe environment
Lift a bad mood after a rough day
Sleep better at night after an intense workout
Get self-confidence from meeting a challenge and getting stronger