I have two older cousins who have been boxing since we were kids, and not only do they love it, but they’re amazing at it. In my young mind, I never understood why anyone would want to participate in a sport that; it was so violent. It wasn’t until recently, when I found myself exploring everything the fitness industry had to offer, that I understood.
Boxing is so much more than we see in the ring and on pay-per-view. It is more than the blood, the beatings, and the biting of human flesh. Besides the physical benefits that boxing has to offer, it teaches confidence, discipline, humility, patience, and discernment. I’ve taken a couple boxing classes and have had one-on-one training in the past, and although it’s been a while, I am familiar with the feeling that boxing can bring to its athletes. This week I decided to throw myself back in and try a few different classes.
As a sport, boxing requires speed, strength, agility, power, endurance, balance, breath control, and coordination. When you step into a boxing training as part of your fitness regimen, you practice those same skills. The biggest difference here is that you won’t be taking any punches from an opponent. The many positive physical and emotional benefits has celebrities, athletes, and models lining up to get a taste, which is why it continues to rank as one of the top fitness activities.
Enhanced cardiovascular health
This is for all of us who get bored after 5 minutes on the treadmill or Stairmaster. You don’t have to be running or climbing to get an efficient cardio workout. In a boxing workout, you see level changes, quick movement, and impact in the form of punches. This all puts a certain level of stress on the heart and lungs and forces them to adapt. As with anything, the more practice, the better.
Improved Total Body Strength
Most boxing workouts include
basic strength training moves like squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and planks. These moves combined with the contact your body makes with the bag, which typically weighs at least 100 pounds, requires strength which will build over time.
Core!
Of course, the punching works the upper body but think about the amount of motion you’re really doing. Your trunk rotates with each punch, your power comes from your core, you quickly work through many planes of motion. This means a lot of labor for the core.
Build Grace & Coordination
Different coaches and studios will train you up in various ways. Whether shadow boxing, hitting the heavy or speed bag or sparring with a partner, there’s a target. You see, react to, and hit the target all while the target is moving. Your mind is working just as hard as your body, improving your hand-eye coordination and your ability to carry yourself swiftly through any workout.
Decreased stress
We go through a lot each day, at work, in traffic, even at home. One of the most wonderful gifts that boxing brings is decreased stress. I’ve been doing cardio kickboxing for a while now, it’s great, but classes that include
contact, especially with the heavy bag, will have you feeling like you just left the spa.
There’s a hormonal response that comes with boxing, you release endorphins (which happens when you workout no matter the modality) and adrenaline and tension when you hit, and in this case, it’s an inanimate object. You can imagine that bag is anyone in the world, and sometimes I do…45.
Improved Body Composition
Think of boxing as a safer alternative to other high-intensity modalities. While a boxing workout is rarely ever the same as the one before, it still allows your body to move in a way nature intended. You get that muscle confusion that keeps you from reaching your fitness plateau, with a beautiful balance of strength training and calorie-burning cardio. With regular boxing training, you will likely notice a change in your weight and fat mass percentage as you burn fat and build muscle.
Boutique gyms, chains, and classes continue to pop up, so be on the lookout for some great spaces. Below are a few that are founded, owned, co-owned, or managed by members of the black community.
Jasmine Danielle is a Los Angeles based dancer and fitness trainer. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has studied with FiTour, the National Federation of Personal Trainers, and the Equinox Group Fitness Training Institute.
Jasmine is currently a Group Fitness Instructor for Equinox, Everybody Los Angeles, and Sandbox Fitness. Her fitness modalities include, ballet, dance cardio, barre fitness, TRX, treadmill interval training, cardio kickboxing, jump rope, indoor cycling, and metabolic conditioning.
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