When you’re short on time in your fitness routine, fitness boxing may offer a solution. This heart-pumping workout routine not only burns a lot of calories but also helps you to achieve the recommended two and a half hours of aerobic exercise that you should be doing on a weekly basis. With fitness boxing, you’ll also reap strength-training however this is dependent on the specific routine that you perform.
Fitness boxing workouts can be done with or without a bag. In addition, they can also incorporate free weights as well as other equipment. Fitness Boxing routines are more than what you see on a televised match. While still based on martial arts-inspired movements, the variations in this exercise can offer challenges for all fitness levels – from beginning to advanced.
Unlike traditional boxing, which requires you to spar with an opponent, fitness boxing has no risk of head trauma or massive blows to other parts of your body as this aerobic activity only involves throwing punches on the air or the punching bag – usually in a class where ‘boxers’ follow the leader.
What are the health benefits of fitness boxing?
Fitness boxing has many health benefits. One of these is strength because as you’re swinging your arms around, as well as moving the muscles of your arms and shoulders, you’re increasing your upper-body strength. When you’re in the boxer crouch, having adopted a wide stance and have your knees slightly bent, you’re strengthening your core muscles as well as those in your back and legs.
Boxing is one of the sports that is most demanding on your lungs and heart. This is including your muscles. If you can survive this challenging and strenuous workout, you’ll gain health benefits such as a longer life expectancy, decreased stress and more muscle definition.
Aerobic Exercise
Boxing is an incredibly demanding sport. It is especially taxing on the heart and lungs. The 60-second-long rest period in between boxing match rounds is hardly enough time for the opponents to recover for the next onslaught.
However, the better the shape that your heart and lungs are in, the healthier you are – and the longer life expectancy you will have.
You feel the beneficial effects in your daily life when your lungs and heart are stronger and better at sending blood around your body. Your makes a quicker recovery from stress and physical exertion. Walking up stairs seems to feel more manageable. Another great benefit is that you can also sleep better and are less at risk for heart attacks in addition to a stroke.
Fitness boxing is also a fantastic aerobic exercise. This type of exercise gets your heart pumping. In addition, this type of exercise assists with lowering the risk of:
- High blood pressure,
- Heart disease,
- Stroke, and
- Diabetes
Aerobic exercise can also help to strengthen bones as well as muscles, burn increased number of calories, as well as lift mood. Aerobic activities can also elevate your endurance, which assists you to climb a flight of stairs or, alternative, walk increased distances.
A big plus factor is that aerobic exercise is related to certain brain functions being improved. Boxing, in particular, is famed for improving eye-hand coordination. This is especially true if you’re sparring on a bag, hitting targets which are padded or just “shadow” boxing. Studies show attempting to hit a target with your hands helps with improving eye-hand coordination. This action possibly makes you feel more alert and attentive. Improved hand-eye coordination may also translate into an easier time picking up a pill or a pen.
Fat Loss
Boxers are always athletes without much fat on them. This is because boxing is a weight-class sport (which is a sport in which you are required to fight people who are approximately the same weight as you). Thus the goal for boxers is to be in the lightest weight class that they possibly can be.
Even if they weren’t required to be in a particular weight class, boxers would be naturally lean. This is because boxing training can burn 30 calories per minute. Thirty minutes of intense boxing could help you to burn up to 900 calories.
Losing fat ensures that you are healthier. In addition, you’ll be less likely to suffer from diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even joint pain.
Muscle Gains
It’s challenging to keep off muscle when you box. This is because when you quickly snap out a punch you used all the muscles of your lower and upper body. You’ll then retract your arm and move around your opponent. In this way, you’re continually pushing your muscles to their maximum.
Stress Relief
Training like a boxer can help you decrease stress. Generally speaking, exercise has a stress-relieving effect because it triggers feel-good hormones to be released. Relieving stress can lower blood pressure and increase feelings of happiness.
How do you get started with fitness boxing?
The first thing that you need to know, when you get started with fitness boxing, is the basic boxing stance.
The basic boxing stance is an easy position for beginners to attack from and defend easily. You’re well covered in this position with both hands ready to easily attack. Fitness boxers who are more advanced will use different boxing stances for more complex body movements as well as counter-punching opportunities. Here’s a ‘blow-by-blow’ on how to get into this stance:
- Make sure that your front toe and back heel are on the centre line. Your dominant hand must be at the back. If you are right-handed, put the right hand at the back.
- Your weight must be evenly distributed across both legs and your knees must be slightly bent.
- Ensure that your feet are diagonal, little wider than shoulder-width apart. Your back heel must be raised.
- Keep your elbows down and your hands up.
- Maintain your head behind your gloves, your chin slightly down so that your eyes see over the gloves.
Now that you can see the fantastic benefits of fitness boxing in terms of maintaining your health, the time is ripe for you to get on down to your nearest gym and check out the timetable for the next fitness boxing class.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
Trifocus Fitness Academy has workshops on boxing for fitness fanatics – just like you. Please contact Trifocus for more information.
