Boxing is growing in popularity as an exercise routine — for good reason! It’s one of the best methods to get moving and improve your physical fitness, health and wellbeing. Offering intense levels of exercise, boxing has many great benefits when you choose it as your workout routine.
Since it builds up from basic moves and exercises, even those unfamiliar with boxing can find this an easy way to work out. Most boxing workouts will take you through a warmup and into a number of repetitions of movements inspired by boxing, conditioning and strength-building exercises. There can even be a component of working with the bag, taking your workout up a notch.
Boxing workouts may seem simple but can be amplified to suit the desired intensity by changing up the speed or reps. So to get started, read on! We’ve rounded up some of the best workouts for any experience level to improve your health and wellbeing. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!
Looking for a customised boxing workout to help you achieve your fitness goals? Easily compare costs and reviews for top local boxing instructors and hire the best!
6 of The Best Boxing Workouts For Any Experience Level
1. Shadow Boxing Basics
Learning a new skill like boxing takes a lot of practice, making shadow boxing a great exercise. Even if you don’t plan on boxing regularly, learning these movements can be a fun way to work out. For a bit of added strength training, you can even wear gloves. These will create extra resistance with each move to help strengthen your arms during practice.
The four basic movements include jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts. These punches are what you should focus on with this workout. Make sure to adjust your stance to lead from both your left and right sides.
- Jab: a quick, straight punch thrown from your lead hand
- Cross: a powerful straight punch using your rear hand
- Hook: a punch thrown in a semi-circular motion using your lead hand, typically to the side of your opponent’s head
- Uppercut: a strong, vertical punch using your rear hand that moves upwards to the opponent
Since shadow boxing is done without equipment, you can do it anywhere! It’s a great way to squeeze in a workout when you are on the go. Plus, since you aren’t using the bag for resistance, this is a great workout for your core. To help build strength faster, add free weights to your punches. This can also help with grip strength.
Major benefit: building up strength in your core and back muscles
Boxing Coach Price Guide
Thousands of people ask Near Me for help with their projects every year. We track the estimates they get from local professionals, then we share those prices with you.
2. Speed and Power
This version adds more traditional conditioning exercises for variety. If you think you get bored easily with a workout, this is a great choice to keep you inspired. It’s also great if you use CrossFit or HIIT regularly, as you’re getting a fresh take on these workouts.
The routine uses shadow boxing, jumping rope, ladder drills and box jumps to give you whole-body exercise and get your heart rate up for excellent cardio.
The key is speed, so you’ll be working through these reps as quickly as you can while keeping your form.
Major benefit: great cardio that switches it up with each bout so you never get bored with a killer workout.
3. Make It Intense!
After starting with a traditional warm-up like a few minutes of jumping rope, walkouts, and knee raises, get ready to make it count. Increasing your intensity by throwing faster and more powerful punches is a great way to make this a full cardio workout. Work through a short punch combination at high power, doing as many reps as you can within a set time frame. Gradually increase the number of punches in each round.
Start with jab-jab with alternating hands, then add in a new punch with each round. We recommend 3 minutes for a round of punches with a 60-second rest in between. Building up this workout is a great way to keep you inspired as it shifts with each round.
Major benefit: a full-body cardio workout that combines intensity with muscle building
4. Add A Bag
Once you have basic moves down, add a bag for added resistance. This gives you a harder workout to increase the number of calories you burn. Burned calories contribute to exercise for weight loss, helping you reach your goals.
With a bag workout, you use your full range of punches to improve your skills. Work through the rotation you use for shadowboxing with squats between each round. This helps to strengthen your arm muscles and your legs as you work on your stance.
Major benefit: a higher calorie burn offering great weight loss workout
Boxing Coaches near you
Thousands of people across the U.K. ask Near Me for help with their projects every year. Tell us what you need so we can bring you the right local professionals for your project.
5. Fast Feet
Boxing also offers great options to work out your legs by adding kicks. After a good warmup, you can run through jabs and add in a kick with either leg. We’ve rounded up some of the best kicks below to allow you to make the most of your feet in your workout. Just remember to stay balanced with your weight on the ball of your foot.
- Front kick: jab with the heel of your foot
- Roundhouse kick: a kick that moves in a circular arcing motion
- Side kick: a straight kick out from the side
Major benefit: a great cardio workout that helps develop leg strength
6. Make It Fun!
Try shadow boxing to music to stay inspired! You can mix up the music to suit your mood with great rhythm-heavy tracks. Time your movements to a song with strong beats such as hip hop or dance, and stay on beat to get your punches in.
Use pairings of three moves repeatedly to help build up your strength. Mix up jabs, crosses, uppercuts and hooks to get variety within your workout.
- Right jab, right cross, left hook
- Right jab, left jab, right cross
- Right cross, left hook, right cross
Use these ideas to get started and work out some great punch combinations of your own to set to your favourite music!
Major benefit: tone your muscles and improve your control — and mix it up!
Summary
Having a fitness goal is a great way to make your exercise worthwhile. And by choosing boxing, you get an intense workout that is sure to offer the health benefits you want. It’s a great choice for mixing in with your regular exercise routine to make it interesting! No matter whether you are just beginning to pursue fitness or have explored your passion to a certain extent, you can be sure to see great results with a boxing workout.
Ready to get kick-off your fitness routine with a custom boxing session? Simply submit a free request to get bids from top boxing instructors near you!
Why Near Me is the best place to hire experts