Fitness

Why lose weight with boxing? We have all gone through a period when we decided it was time to shed some weight, get fit, and maybe even shape those muscles.

But, something always prevents us from pursuing that goal.

The reasons-and excuses- are plenty, but some of them resonate more than others.

There are two pillars to getting fit: exercise and diet. Though that seems simple, when we get to it, it turns out it can be complicated, intense, and most importantly, boring to a fault! Going to the gym to lift weights and do cross fits every day can become a drag, and eventually, we might lose motivation altogether.

When embarking on a weight loss journey, it is crucial to be consistent. Therefore, we must choose an intense sport to lose calories but easy enough for beginners to learn. Also, it should be a fun sport because there is always something new to learn.

This is where boxing comes in. Boxing is becoming an increasingly popular sport because you get fit and strong while losing weight and having fun.

But an even more critical factor comes into play; you will read it at the end of this article.

Here we present why boxing is an effective method to lose weight and transform your fitness journey.

Five reasons to lose weight with boxing:

1-   Boxing is a contact self-defence sport:

The purpose of boxing is not to lose weight but to be effective in defending yourself and submitting your opponent with knock-outs. The pros practise in the elite championships. A pro-fighter has to go through intensive drills, exercises, and training. But you don’t have to fight like pros; you will benefit from the combination of activities that makes boxing an effective sport for weight loss.

 

•  Cardio:

Boxing is a full-body workout; there are boxing drills and the old-fashioned cardio training.  A typical boxing workout can raise your heartbeat, and if used with an optimised diet, you will see results in a matter of weeks. For example, with a 20 minutes morning routine on the heavy punching bag, you could lose 1000 calories. In addition to the boxing workout itself, you might be doing rope skipping or running to maximise the cardio training. So boxing training in the gym is perfect cardio, and you can optimise the benefits with the right food.

 

• Strength conditioning exercises:

Strength training makes your body movement much more accessible and makes your body healthier in the long run. While you are losing weight, you need to tone up and strengthen your muscles simultaneously. As the name suggests, strength conditioning exercises increase your muscles’ strength, resilience, and overall muscle mass. In boxing training, this could include equipment but mainly your body weight. You will work on different muscles on different days of the week, including your arms, legs, chest and back muscles. The exercises include squads, deadlift, push-ups, reverse lunge, dumbbell chopper, etc.

Again, no worries, you will not be doing strength training every day for the rest of your life to get results. However, training twice a week for strength can increase your muscle mass in the long run. You will always start as a beginner and ease your way up. In addition, boxing training is excellent strength training; when you move your body quickly and gather momentum to give those punches, your body gains strength. As in boxing, the focus is on speed, and dead weights are not used too much to gain muscle mass. Boxing training will help you gain muscle mass in a lean way.

 

•  Boxing techniques:

Boxing exercises include sparring, heavy and double-ended bags, and speed bags. Those drills sharpen your boxing skills, but most importantly, they are fun. You feel alive, punching the stress away.

2-   Boxing for beginners:

Unlike other types of martial arts, boxing is a sport in which you will notice progress reasonably quickly. There are no complex technicalities, no high-level stretching required to perfect kicks, no beating concrete with your fist to hone punches. Boxing is not too easy, but the learning curve is relatively fast and straightforward. You will enjoy the practice tremendously while working on improving.

3-   Boxing coaches:

If you are boxing, you have a boxing coach, whether online or in-person; A boxing coach is an expert who will guide you with their expertise to hone your boxing skills while tailoring your practice for your purpose of losing weight. Unlike going to a gym, where you monitor your workout or go to lose weight, having a boxing coach as a mentor will make your practice worthwhile and add quality and effectiveness to each training session you take.

4-   Long-term continuity:

Learning a contender sport with vast elements of cardio and strengths exercises, plus fun drills that you can work on for a very long time. All that while having experts to guide you is a perfect recipe for a long-term, successful weight loss and weight maintenance program. With all those elements, you will guarantee to continue reaching for your weight loss target in a tolerable way that your body can endure while perfecting a combat sport and having fun. However, one more ingredient is missing from this recipe. It is the essential factor that we mentioned at the beginning of this article, which is:

5-   Community:

The community might not be a factor that many think is important in a weight loss journey, but it may well be the most important one. When you join a community-oriented boxing gym, you are in for an experience of a lifetime. Because you will join a caring, welcoming, and supportive community, you will have people encouraging and pushing you when you feel you don’t have it in you. Most importantly, you will have life-long relationships with people you might not ordinarily meet in your work or other social environments. You can also join with a friend, spouse, or family member to enjoy the whole journey.

Boxing is not necessarily the macho, big muscles, bruised face sport it is thought to be; it can be the community-driven, safe and effective sport that contributes to having a healthier and better quality of life.

This article doesn’t stop at tips only because you can sign up for a free trial boxing to give it a go in the best community-driven boxing gym.

Click here to try boxing for free.