Boxing is wonderful, if not tough. Sparring, jabs, uppercuts, press-ups, sit-ups, and running, over time will transform your fitness as well as the shape of your body.
If you attend any boxing gym, there will usually be a keep fit session which includes half an hour to an hour of press-ups of various sorts, nose to the ground and hold it press-ups, clap press-ups, wide press-ups to work the triceps, diamond press-ups, and normal press-ups. These will usually start off in bouts of ten, but often a timed minute of press-ups will incur.
Then there are the sit-ups, which are usually timed, so it is important to have a good level of muscular fitness before you contemplate attending. A minute of sit-ups is tough, but two minutes will require mental strength to continue. Various sit-ups will be completed. Boxers requires physical strength, mental strength, and amazing stamina to carry out the exercise for a full twelve rounds.
Your boxing club may ask you to work with a partner to perform sit-ups or press-ups holding the back of the legs in the air. This is tough, but try to work through it. You may also be asked to shadow box and skip, which is what every boxer undertakes during training. Shadow boxing can help to build up the speed of the punches, and skipping is a fantastic exercise which builds up the stamina and endurance, as well as speed.
Also press-ups burpees and star jumps may have to be worked through, minutes at a time. Press-up burpees require a press-up, then a jump into a squat thrust, then a final jump to complete one rep. If you can manage ten without fatigue, that is fantastic. Star jumps are a little easier and require the body to rest into a squat, with both hands on the floor, then a jump in the air, similar to a jumping jack. Why it’s tougher than a jumping jack is because the body has to bend down to place the hands on the floor. Burpees and star jumps are plyometric exercises which tense the muscle and then use explosive power to push the body into another position. The clap press-up and jump squats are other examples.
A short run of around a mile and a half will often take place after the keep fit session, and then sparring or bag work will be worked at.
Bag work includes straight punches, uppercuts, and jabs. Remember to keep your guard up at all times and throw the punch from neck height. Obviously, this is very fatiguing to the arms, but with time comes the muscular strength which gradually builds up. Bag work is usually timed for three minutes. If the arms feel fatigued, work on the uppercuts, again concentrate on throwing the punch from neck height.
Sparring will be in three minute sessions. A mouth guard to protect the teeth and head guard is worn when anyone takes part in sparring at a club. This is important, as a blow to the head without the guard can be lethal. Same with a punch to the jawline, it can knock out the teeth, which is why a mouth guard is required.
Boxing training will burn a lot of calories in a short space of time because it works on using your own bodyweight to build lean muscle tissue, and cardiovascular training is used in skipping and running. Overall, boxing training works your anaerobic capacity, which helps to build muscle and improves the speed and agility of each punch. Press-ups build muscular strength in the arms and chest, and helps to push your body through the pain barrier, as they are tough enough.
Sit-ups are required to build a strong core, because when the abdomen is punched, the muscle strength already built protects the organs.
Boxing is an all round fantastic stamina and bodyweight training exercise, and in the space of just a couple of weeks, you will feel fitter in both mind and body, and your body will start to shed fat, and the lean muscle tissue underneath will show. Expect to burn around 400-800 per two hour session, perhaps more dependent on the effort given.
The more effort put into the workout, the longer the calorie burn. Remember, with any weight training exercise to take regular breaks, every two days to give the muscles time to rest. Boxing training will speed up the basal metabolic rate, which is the rate at which the body burns calories at rest.
The press-ups will tone the abdominals, chest, back and arms. Sit-ups will tone the abdominals and reduce pain when a punch is given in that area. Skipping builds the stamina and endurance, as does running, and helps a boxer remain on their toes and move about to retain speed in the ring.