Boxing is fit for the giants you see in wrestling matches and a good workout for everyone. It has mental benefits such as relieving stress, anxiety and physical benefits such as improving your cardiovascular health, balance, and coordination, stabilizing your core, and boosting your muscle strength.
This article explores some of the top 9 benefits of a cardio boxing workout and provides you with tips. Whether you are a beginner or experienced, you should know why boxing is good for you by looking at the following.
Benefits of Boxing
1. Improves your balance and coordination
Boxing involves a lot of movement that requires coordination and stability. You need hand-eye coordination as you throw every punch. You also need to coordinate your feet, shoulders, and other parts of your body. With practice, boxing will enable you to have better balance.
2. Helps in losing weight
Did you know an hour of boxing exercise could burn 400-700 calories? However, it depends on the kind of exercise you do. You could be sparring, in a match, weight training, or just hitting a bag. Either way, boxing helps in burning fat and keeping weight under control. It also increases the metabolism rate in your body which results in burning more calories.
3. It stabilizes your core
During cardio boxing workouts, you will engage your core the entire time, plus your back muscles. This reduces any back pain and stabilizes your balance. In addition, with regular training, your proprioceptors—sensory receptors responsible for balance and motion, become more effective. So the next time you are about to lose your balance and fall, your proprioceptors will come in handy and prevent that.
4. It’s a stress reliever
A boxing workout can help you relax and improve your mood. As you engage in this intense exercise, your body stimulates the release of a chemical called serotonin—which initiates a feeling of happiness and well-being. This elation mood puts your stress aside and makes you feel happier.
If stress incites violent tendencies, a boxing workout is your go-to friend. With every hit at a punching bag comes out your anger. It makes you feel good as it drives away your anxiety, stress, and depression.
5. Boosts your muscle strength
Weight-bearing exercises like boxing make your muscles denser and stronger. It is essential to have strong muscles considering that your muscle mass reduces and weakens as you age. As you bounce around during your boxing workout, this motion exerts weight on your knees and legs. Furthermore, as you punch that bag, your elbows, arms, and shoulders grow strong.
6. Improves your cardiovascular health
Boxing is great for heart health. Your muscles need enough blood and oxygen for better performance. Therefore, as you immerse yourself in the activity, your heart pumps more blood and oxygen, facilitating the conversion of energy you require throughout the workout. This cardiovascular exercise also reduces your chances of developing high blood pressure and other heart diseases.
7. Betters your endurance
When you box frequently, your muscles become stronger, which means you can punch for long hours without tiring. Additionally, your heart and lungs become used to pumping blood and oxygen that can sustain your muscles for a more extended period. With better endurance, it is unlikely that you will run out of breath during your boxing workout.
8. A self-defense tactic you need
Boxing could be an ideal option if you want to learn self-defense. Apart from training to compete in the ring or keeping fit, boxing is a life skill that could save you if a threat presents itself. Unfortunately, cruel and violent people exist globally, and that requires you to acquire some self-defense skills.
9. It’s a fun activity
Working out for the sake of keeping fit or just staying healthy can be boring. Sometimes you need an engaging and exciting activity to boost your enthusiasm. Cardio boxing is fun, especially when you picture that punching bag to be an opponent in an actual match. It feels good to tap into the physical and mental benefits of boxing while still enjoying it.
Tips for Boxing
Before starting your boxing workout, there are things you should do. For instance, you need to warm up. Read through each of these tips to equip yourself with a few requirements for a cardio boxing workout.
1. Warm-up
Before your boxing workout, you will need some warm-up exercises. Cardio is the best way to start because it speeds up your heart rate, increasing oxygen intake. The latter breaks down the sugar in your blood into energy. Thus, it creates the fuel you need for your muscles and to perform like a pro. Some great cardio suggestions include:
- Lateral hop
- Jump rope
- High knees
- Heeltap
- Shadowboxing
- Jump squat
- Tuck jump
- Push-up
- Sprawl
2. Condition your muscles
Muscle-conditioning is exercising your muscles. After warming up, you need to keep your muscles in check to avoid fatigue that might affect your boxing workout. To be able to throw many punches at speed, you must have well-conditioned arms and shoulders. You will need strong legs and a strong core as well.
To increase physical conditioning, you could skip rope to engage the entire body, squats to work on your leg muscles, do push-ups for your arms, sit-ups, crunches, and shadowboxing. As you condition your muscles, ensure you balance them for better performance.
3. Increase your muscle memory
As you practice boxing moves every day, your brain stores this information in the ‘muscle memory.’ To build your muscle memory, you must practice the actual boxing moves. If you are a beginner, you could watch YouTube videos or hire a trainer. Most importantly, relax and stay positive.
Conclusion
Whether you are looking to achieve your desired body goals, burn some calories, or have fun and kick out stress, cardio boxing is a great solution. Be sure to watch YouTube tutorials or hire an experienced trainer to avoid injuries.
Move one a step at a time until you attain prowess. Additionally, remember to work on a few things, such as warming up and increasing your muscle conditioning, before starting your cardio boxing workout. Then you’ll be ready to punch that bag!
