Boxing Archives - Page 30 of 36

Boxing is a martial art and a professional sport that has existed for centuries. Most people practice it to get self-defense skills, while some as a workout routine. It has become more popular as people have tapped into the health benefits that come with it. Boxing is instrumental in weight loss and physical fitness as it is a high-intensity workout that works the whole body, thus burning many calories. It is not like the conventional cardio workouts, as it is enjoyable. The following are the reasons why boxing will help you lose weight. #11. It is a stress reliever Stress is a regular aspect of life; however, it might harm one's health when one's stress levels are too high. Boxing involves high-intensity workouts that trigger the body to produce endorphins, which are feel-good hormones that boost one's mood. It reduces the stress hormones in the body, such as cortisol, thus promoting relaxation and sound sleep. It is a fun and enjoyable workout. Boxing involves punching that enables one to release aggression and stress more healthily. Repetitively hitting a target makes one feel calmer and happier. People who struggle with obesity use boxing to cope with stress. The happy hormone gives them a sense of wellness. They learn striking and ducking techniques of combat while working out the whole body. The more they work out, the more endorphins they produce, which increases their self-esteem and encourages them to keep practicing harder to shed weight. Chronic stress can increase weight due to eating, depression, and anxiety. Stress eating is one of the leading causes of weight gain as the body stores all the calories. A study done in 2014 by the University of California, San Francisco, showed that people exposed to chronic stress have a higher risk of developing diet-related abdominal fat causing increased waistlines, truncal fat and resistance to insulin. (UCSF) Boxing is, indeed, one of the best activities to decrease your stress levels and make you feel good. Learn more about why it makes you feel so good—by following the link to an article of mine. #10. It is fun and sustainable Conventional fitness regimes get monotonous as they repeat the same workouts every day. It is essential to pick an exciting workout program to sustain it. Boxing is dynamic and has a fluid fitness format; thus is not repetitive and boring. It is relatively easy to learn, so beginners can learn basic techniques quickly. Boxing exercises are fun and dynamic as their routines vary depending on training philosophies and experience. It exercises the body and mind, thus keeping one interested and engaged as long as you keep practicing it. If one develops a fitness regime that is not fun and interesting, working out will be a burden and unsustainable. Boxing centers its concept on strengthening the body, calming the spirit, and fortifying the mind. Its workouts aim to fulfil the three goals or at least one, thus showing the dynamism of boxing. The element of competition in boxing also makes it more fun; therefore, one can engage in amateur boxing competitions after they have mastered the art of the sport. #9. Boxing improves cardiovascular health The Cardiovascular system is vital in the human body and must be healthy to facilitate normal body functioning. Boxing involves intense exercises that increase the heart rate for long periods. An increased heart rate will help strengthen the heart, control blood pressure and decrease disease risk. It gets the heart to pump faster and the lungs working harder, thus reaching a fat-burning threshold. Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash It involves cardio workouts that increase the body's metabolism. A high body metabolism burns calories faster than a low metabolism. Boxing increases one's performance in other training and exercises that can further assist your weight loss efforts. Muscle is a constituent of the heart; to strengthen the muscle, one must engage in physical activity. It involves intense strength training and body conditioning exercises using ropes and a treadmill that improve one's cardiovascular strength and endurance. Extreme exercise strengthens the heart, thus increasing blood circulation to all body parts. #8. Boxing is suitable for all fitness levels Choosing what is appropriate for one's fitness level is fundamental to ensuring sustainability. Being a beginner and deciding a regime meant for advanced athletes is tiring and hard to sustain. Boxing is a workout routine that is excellent for people of all fitness levels. It does not matter whether a person is a bodybuilder or a newbie in the fitness world; the workouts are suitable for anybody. It is a splendid exercise for all fitness levels, as it challenges one to grow and be the best version of themselves. The learning curve of boxing is easy; thus, beginners can quickly grasp the primary offensive and defensive techniques. Boxing training is easily accessible and does not discriminate against age and gender. Celebrities such as Gigi Hadid are training in boxing to maintain their body weights and tone their physique. When starting boxing training, one can begin with basic boxing techniques. After improving fitness and endurance, one can engage in more advanced techniques and get more out of the boxing workouts. If you want to better your physical condition, I wrote an article on the best martial arts for fitness—be sure to check it out to learn more! #7. Boxing betters endurance Generally, all fitness workouts if executed accordingly and frequently build the student's endurance. Boxing involves full-body workouts that enable the blood vessels and the heart to supply oxygen to one's muscles. Conditioning of the circulatory system increases one's endurance during physical activity. Strength and resistance training exercises increase endurance in the arms, legs, and chest. During combat, fatigue slows one down and dulls their reflexes, making it easier for an opponent to knock them down. A boxer must focus on delivering effective blows while in the ring. The training enables a boxer to develop the endurance to last during a match or a fight. A steady supply of oxygen keeps the muscles energized for longer periods. Training in boxing involves cardio exercises that increase lung capacity and condition the heart. High-intensity workouts are both mentally and physically draining, thus requiring the mind and body to synchronize to defeat the opponent during a fight. Boxers can do physical activities very quickly as their muscles develop resistance and deliver powerful strikes. Boxing enables one to form a mental fortitude and can face life's difficulties. #6. Boxing is a high-impact cardio workout Cardio burns more fat than other exercises by getting the heart to pump blood to keep the muscles moving. High-intensity boxing improves general body composition and reduces body fat more than other cardio exercises such as jogging and running. It works both the upper and lower torso at the same time. It involves high-impact exercises that have a more significant impact on the joints. The traditional forms of cardio engage the upper or lower body separately, unlike boxing, which works both. A typical boxing session can burn up to 1000 calories. Boxing involves intense pad work, repetitive fast-paced punching, and striking; thus is effective for developing enhanced anaerobic and aerobic respiration. It encourages constant movement to execute strikes and block attacks from the counterpart. Boxers experience a caloric burn after their training sessions; this is an efficient way to lose weight fast. Constant movement means the usage of muscles is in plenty and is ongoing, thus encouraging caloric burn. #5. It encourages healthy eating habits When boxers fail to eat healthy foods before boxing classes, they can experience energy loss, which can limit the boxer's performance. Poor eating habits increase the time of recovery and the risk of injury to a fighter. Boxers must practice proper nutrition to facilitate the repair of muscles during hypertrophy. Eating healthy processed foods reduces the risk of a fighter being obese as they take in only healthy nutrients and not fat in fast foods. Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash Healthy eating is vital to provide the boxer with nutrients to get the energy needed during training. Boxers must balance each meal and ensure they eat more without too much. Overeating will make a fighter feel heavy and have difficulty during training. A boxer should watch their macronutrient consumption: fats, carbohydrates, and proteins to get maximum results from boxing in terms of skill and physique. Diet is a significant aspect of weight loss as it affects weight increase or decrease as it affects one's body metabolism. If you want to learn more about whether boxing builds muscle, ensure to follow the link to an article of mine where I reveal the answer. #4. Boxing helps burn belly fat Excessive belly fat poses a higher risk of getting lifestyle diseases. Belly fat accumulates during strength by stress, genetics, poor sleep, excessive alcohol, lack of exercise, smoking, and poor diet. Boxing involves high-intensity workouts that burn visceral fat located around the waist. It engages the core and the lower and upper body to throw powerful punches. It strengthens nature, thus eliminating belly fat that aids in improving posture and making one look slimmer. Belly fat has toxins that change bodily functions, thus exposing the body to diseases such as Diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. During sparring, one must hold their core hard, with your abs, to cushion the blows. Once the abs get used to receiving hits, they will grow continually. The intense movement activates the abdominal muscle when twisting one's waist to turn and hit the punching bag, thus burning stomach fat. Models in the fashion industry practice boxing to tone their bodies and lose weight. #3. It is a full-body workout Conventionally, people who have not practiced boxing see it as merely throwing punches to a punching bag, but it is much more. Boxing involves a combination of defensive movements, head movements, and footwork. Therefore, boxing exercises engage and activate all the muscle groups in the body, thus assisting one in losing weight faster. It is a whole-body exercise that works the lower and upper body. Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash Footwork works the quadriceps and calves, while punching activates muscles in the arms and shoulders. Boxing exercises stimulate muscle fibers rarely used, which causes most boxers to discover strength never felt before. As opposed to traditional workouts that neglect fast, twitch fibers, boxing works on these fibers, hence this explosive feeling that boxers get for the first time. It works one of the most crucial parts of the body, which is the heart. A boxing session leads to enhanced energy management as the heart is healthy, and the body regulates blood flow, thus oxygen, more efficiently. #2. Boxing builds muscle while burning fat Martial arts increase overall body strength; thus, they also improves body mass. Boxing combines intense cardiovascular activities and strength training to build muscle and burn fat. Combined with proper nutrition and muscle recovery, boxing exercises can build muscle mass. When one develops muscle, their metabolic rate increases; thus, one burns more calories, activating weight loss. Resistance from punching when one develops more muscle, their metabolic rate tends to increase as muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue. So the more muscle one has, the easier it is for them to lose weight. Calorie and fat burning are not complete without the formation of lean muscle. Boxing methods and movements allow boxers to grow skeletal muscle, giving them a leaner physique. The combination of intense cardiovascular activity and strength training builds muscle and burns fat. #1. Boxing burns up to 1000 calories per hour The number of calories burnt during a boxing training session depends on heart rate, weight, and the boxing type. Boxing is a high-impact cardio workout that provides a large caloric burn. A typical boxing session can burn up to 1000 calories per hour. This makes reaching a caloric deficit that is fundamental in weight loss greatly easy. However, this will depend on your weight and the intensity of the workout. During a boxing session, the heart stays elevated at all times, and because it is a full-body workout, it results in a massive amount of calories burnt. When comparing boxing to other cardio stables, such as jogging burns 398 calories, running burns 544 calories, and walking burns 243 calories, the calories burned during boxing are higher. Weight loss is a part of life that one should not shy away from, as even professional boxers have to shed weight fast to ensure they reach a specific weight for their weight division. Learn more about whether boxing is a hard-to-learn martial art—by following the link to an article of mine. Final words Fewer forms of exercise can offer a full-body workout that burns as many calories, as boxing does. Boxing is instrumental in weight loss as it burns a high amount of calories, is a full body workout, helps burn belly fat, encourages healthy eating habits, and betters endurance. It is a fun and sustainable high-impact exercise that improves cardiovascular health and acts as a stress reliever. Boxing is perfect for weight loss as it is suitable for people of any fitness level. Everybody struggles with weight loss at one point or another; however, signing up for a boxing class today will aid your journey toward a toned body and a good physique. If you enjoyed reading this article, you'll also enjoy reading more about whether you should learn to box.