BOXING FOR FITNESS

---

As a personal trainer one of the most requested goals that I get from my clients are “to get fit”, also known as improving your cardiovascular health.

You could jump on a treadmill to improve your cardio, as this is what they are built to do, but to keep motivated I always like to switch my fitness routines up every so often, and boxing is one of the best ways to improve your cardiovascular health.

If you have never boxed before you will be surprised how out of breath you can get after throwing punches for a minute or two.

Boxing is the ultimate full body workout. When boxing you will be using your legs, hips, abs, chest, arms, back, shoulders and muscles you didn’t even know existed. This builds up your power, speed and muscle endurance, making you able to train harder for longer, which burns even more calories.

Resistance training helps strengthen your bones and can slow down the progression of osteoporosis. Although boxing isn’t your traditional resistance training like weight lifting, throwing punches acts in the same way.

Every punch you throw creates resistance for your hands, elbows, shoulders and countless other muscles. During your 30-minute boxing session we may train with skipping ropes, body weight exercises and even running, all of which are high impact exercises.

These high impact exercises cause your body to produce more bone mass, which thickens your bones and makes them stronger.

Boxing is a great workout routine for improving your muscle tone. Unlike weightlifting, which creates bulky and slow muscles, boxing creates functional muscles that are lean and taut because you are combining speed and strength within your workouts. 

A calorie deficit is eating fewer calories than your body needs and on average you need to be in a calorie deficit of 300-500 calories a day to lose weight. Eating 500 fewer calories a day for a week should allow you to lose around 2-3lbs a week.

It’s much easier to consistently lose 2lbs a week for a prolonged period of time than go crazy with the latest diet and try losing half your body weight in a few days.

Dieting can be difficult, but boxing can help.

Boxing on a regular basis can help you lose weight as an average 30-minute boxing session can help you burn between 200-300 calories.

But that’s not all, over time this effect is compounded. Boxing speeds up your metabolism and by adding more muscle to your body it allows you to burn off more calories than before.