Five reasons to train like a boxer

November 17, 2013


boxers31. You will be strong and fast

If you train like a boxer you will develop good functional strength rather than bulk. Many boxers are deceptively strong. They look like whippets but they punch with sledgehammer power. Meanwhile, the bulked up body builders are too slow and rigid. They might be able to crush you with their weight but they don’t have explosive power.

Boxers develop this power by using their trunk, what has become known as the ‘core’, in the dynamic twisting movement it takes to throw a punch and to weave and slip. There are plenty of core exercises with medicine balls, battle ropes and the torsinator.  Boxers also develop strong and explosive legs that they get from plyometric exercises like box jumps and sprinting. The added benefits of this kind of high intensity training is that it helps boost your resting metabolic rate and burns fat faster.

 

2. You’ll have a good foundation of aerobic stamina

This is the kind of fitness that you get from running. But you also get it from skipping and shadow boxing, sparring and padwork. Anything that uses the lungs and the heart or the cardiovascular system. Boxers need good cardio to sustain them through rounds in which no matter what, they don’t stop moving. If they’re not punching their moving their heads or their feet, dancing around the ring.

3. You’ll have low body fat

lindsaygarbatt

Lindsey Garbatt a Canadian former world champion boxer known for her strength.

As you dance around that ring it’s easier if you don’t carry excess weight. While competition boxers have to make particular weight divisions, they also know that you need to be as light as you can be  while remaining strong. It means less is more. The less weight you have dragging you down the faster your punches will be. And as the saying goes ‘speed kills’. It’s functional as well as healthy to have lean muscle and not too much body fat. That means eating a good, balanced diet most of the time and a restricted diet if you need to make weight, cutting right back on processed sugary foods and fat while eating enough protein and vegetables to maintain a high energy level needed to push fitness to the max. It’s a delicate balancing act and balance is the key.

4. You’ll be flexible and agile

In order to be fast, you also need to be relaxed or loose, which means you need to have a good range of motion through your upper back and shoulders. But you also need to be light on your feet, able to change direction quickly and remain balanced so that you can throw punch at any time, or evade a punch from your opponent.

5. You’ll learn how to be disciplined

Discipline is the key to being fit and lean as well as to developing skills. All this means is that you stick with it, at least 3-4 times per week and stay focussed on what you eat and practice what you learn in a routined manner. Developing discipline through boxing will help in many other aspects of life. And once you understand how self-discipline gets results, you’ll become a strong advocate for it.

 


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