Having a skinny body frame results from not having as much muscle mass with a low body fat percentage. Therefore, some people may worry that they’ll lose all their muscle mass if they start boxing. However, that’s not the case.
Boxing will make you lose weight and be skinny since it’s an exercise that allows you to burn up to 800 per hour. As a result, if you’re in a prominent daily caloric deficit, you might lose both body fat and lean muscle mass. That happens because your daily caloric deficit is bigger than 800 calories.
But, you can also aim to gain muscle mass while boxing. Your daily caloric intake, in that case, should be 300-700 calories over what you burn. To maintain weight, you must eat as many calories as you burn daily.
That’s why it’s hard to bulk up or gain muscle if you’re a boxer. While many boxers went through an intense bulk phase where they gained plenty of muscle, they optimized their entire diet and lifestyle to fit their goals.
You might not be able to do so. As such, you won’t eat as much as you burn and eventually become skinnier than your current body composition.
Before we dive in, if you’re interested in this topic, you’ll also enjoy learning whether boxing is cardio. Follow the link to an article of mine on the subject.
Why boxing will make you lose weight
Boxing can be one of the best ways to lose body fat and look skinnier. Unfortunately, many inexperienced trainees, who don’t know as much about the world of nutrition, will think they’ll lose muscle mass due to their training.
Boxing will make you lose weight, as it’s an exercise that burns up to 800 calories per hour, on average. Let’s assume you’re training twice a week for 90 minutes per session; you’ll burn an extra 2400 weekly calories. Such a number can be the difference between gaining and losing body fat.
In just one hour of boxing, you can burn up to 800 calories.
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Nutrition is the primary realm I encourage you to look further into. However, training is only part of the work if your goal is to lose body fat and reduce weight.
What you do in the kitchen when nobody is watching—is the heart of losing body fat. I’ve written a complete guide on nutrition for boxers, and I highly recommend you read it.
However, let me summarize what you need to know;
If you want to keep or gain muscle, you must eat more than all the calories you burn daily. But, on the other hand, if you’re going to lose body fat, consuming less than what you burn daily, 500 calories less, precisely, should be your primary focus.
Why boxing will make you skinnier
While being skinny is the goal for many folks, it’s not as good as you think. You have a low body fat percentage and muscle mass if you’re skinny. So people who want to keep their size try to avoid that.
Boxing will make you skinnier, as it burns 800 calories per hour. Such a number will be the difference between losing and gaining body fat. However, if you eat less than what you should (about 500 calories less), you might also lose lean muscle mass, which you should avoid.
If you lose lean muscle mass, you have done your calculations wrong.
When I was about 15 years old, I underwent a body transformation. I was overweight and wanted to lose as much weight as possible. What did I do? I ate as few calories as possible to lose as much weight as possible.
For example, to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week — a rate that experts consider safe — your food consumption should provide 500 to 1,000 calories less than your total weight-maintenance calories.
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However, that’s not how things are. You don’t simply stop eating and expect to look good suddenly. It would be best if yInstead, you strived to lose 1-2 pounds per week, no more. If you lose more than this healthy range, consider eating more or also expect to lose lean muscle mass.
Will boxing make you lose muscle mass?
Losing muscle mass while losing body fat is an apparent side effect. That happens because your body completes the lack of calories with fat and muscle. It all depends on how much you’re eating, as you can imagine.
Losing muscle mass while boxing—is a common side effect. However, it doesn’t happen directly from the boxing training itself. Instead, it’s a direct result of how many daily calories you eat and how many you burn. If your caloric deficit exceeds 800, you’re more likely to lose lean muscle mass.
The rest of this section will describe boxers who went through the process of boxing and bodybuilding. It’s important to note that both testimonials are from boxers who managed to gain muscle mass while boxing.
As one boxer put it: “Why would you get skinny, unless you have a major calorie deficit with a lack of protein…?”
Another piece of advice from a boxer who went through the same process: “Increase your protein, and increase your carbs to prevent as much loss as possible.”
Does boxing help with fat loss?
I can fill dozens of libraries with the resources available today on how to lose weight, specifically fat. First, however, we’ll focus more on the effects of boxing and its direct link to weight loss.
Boxing will help with fat loss because it’s an exercise that can burn up to 800 calories per hour. So if you train for 120 minutes, you’re more than likely to burn close to 1600 calories. Such a number is the difference between losing and gaining fat, even if you only train once a week.
As you’ll see in the video, this boxer lost more than 60kgs (132lbs) through boxing. He managed to do so because he could burn plenty of calories.
Of course, he also worked extremely hard in the kitchen to allow his body to take his fat storage and burn it to complete the missing calories. Just look at his body transformation and tell me it’s impossible.
How fast will boxing make you skinny?
Becoming skinny through boxing—won’t happen unless you don’t eat enough. You can expect to lose body fat if you’re consistently boxing. However, if your caloric deficit is more significant than 800 calories, you will most likely, lose lean muscle and become skinnier.
On average, it takes 8 weeks to notice noticeable results in losing body fat from boxing. It would be best to lose 1-2 lbs per week. After 8 weeks, you can lose up to 16 lbs while enjoying all the physical benefits. Boxing can also be more enjoyable than regular cardio, such as swimming and running.
Your goal should be to avoid losing as much lean muscle as possible. However, if you optimize your nutrition and training (include resistance training in your week), you can also gain muscle in the process.
Follow the link if you want to learn how fast boxing can get you in shape.
Can boxing help you build muscle while losing body fat?
Numerous studies have examined whether gaining muscle and losing body fat simultaneously is possible. The results will amaze you.
Boxing can help you build muscle and lose fat simultaneously if you’re in a caloric deficit while also including resistance training in your week. This can be either weightlifting or calisthenics, although I recommend weightlifting. Boxing will help you be on a caloric deficit and thus lose body fat while building muscle.
If you can sustain a lifting program and eat a caloric deficit, your body can pull from its fat stores to fuel itself and potentially build muscle mass. Prioritizing foods rich in protein is a crucial component to both losing body fat and building muscle at the same time. SOURCE
The key here is also to include weightlifting in your weekly training program. Combining boxing with resistance training while being in a caloric deficit makes you likely to gain muscle while losing body fat.
Final words
Becoming skinny through boxing—is certainly possible. However, you can see being skinny as bad if you want to keep your lean muscle mass.
However, others will consider being skinny a good thing, especially if they’re currently overweight and want to lose body fat.
Both groups of people can enjoy the sport of boxing while still pursuing their current fitness goals. You must, however, customize your training plan to become capable of losing fat or building muscle, or, as the last section goes, do both simultaneously.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’d also enjoy reading about the effects of boxing on manliness and testosterone; follow the link to a piece of mine on the topic.