Is Boxercise Good for Beginners?
Boxing fitness programs like boxercise have been popular since they first came onto the fitness scene in the 1990s – and with good reason. Boxercise incorporates many important aspects of fitness, to keep people in shape or help them with weight loss and muscle toning. But how hard is Boxercise? Is it good for beginners or more advanced fitness fanatics? Let’s start with the basics.
What Is Boxercise?
Boxercise is a type of boxing fitness class that was developed in the early 1990s, like Boxfit, that focuses on the type of strength training and cardiovascular exercise that boxers do to get in shape, as well as teaching some boxing techniques. Unlike boxing itself, Boxercise is a non-contact sport, so there’s very little risk of injury, but you can still learn the different boxing punches to strike punching bags or focus mitts during your Boxercise sessions.
You can do similar routines at home, or follow an instructor’s Boxercise routine online, but it’s also common to attend Boxercise classes, so you can motivate each other as a group, as well as perform certain exercises that require two people. Classes last from 45 minutes to one hour.
Is Boxercise Good for Beginners?
Boxercise is a great activity for beginners in the world of boxing as well as those who haven’t been physically active in a while. The routines can vary in intensity, however, if you attend a class or exercise at home, you don’t have to keep up with your instructor; the important thing is to try your best and do what you can.
If you’re not sure about your fitness levels and are curious about Boxercise, you can also contact a class and ask to watch a session before you decide to sign up for a course or participate in a session. It can be rigorous fitness, but sessions are broken up into different activities so you can work out different muscle groups and try skill-based exercises in between intense physical exercises so you’ll have time to catch your breath.
People usually surprise themselves; we’re not always aware of what our bodies are capable of, and the way boxing fitness classes are designed, they’re sure to leave you feeling tired but satisfied with your workout. Plus, the more you do, the easier it’ll become.
What Is Boxercise Good For?
Boxercise and other boxing fitness programmes are great workouts because they involve many important aspects of fitness. Cardiovascular exercise is important for our overall physical health as it raises our heart rates, pumping more oxygen around the body and reducing our risk of heart-related diseases. But more than that, learning boxing techniques and engaging in physical exercise that gets your heart racing and your muscles moving has many benefits for our health.
Coordination
Being well coordinated is beneficial for our everyday lives as much as sports, but sports participation greatly helps us improve our coordination. Boxing is a great sport for hand-eye coordination as you need to engage your hands and upper body in each punch, as well as use your eyes to know exactly where to land your punches. As you learn more, you’ll start to try punching combinations which require hand-eye and foot coordination to adjust your stance for each strike and land one punch accurately after another.
Since boxers need great coordination, they employ two main training techniques that are also used in box fitness:
- Skipping
- Pad work
Using a skipping rope requires you to coordinate your hands and feet so you don’t trip on the rope as well as being an excellent activity for raising your heart rate and engaging your leg muscles. Pad work refers to hitting focus pads; one person will wear cushioned mitts over their hands for another person to strike. Both the pad holder and the boxer will need great hand-eye coordination to be able to move the mitts to meet the attacker’s punches and accurately hit the mitts with power.
Weight Loss
There are some stereotypes about boxing and box fitness that need to be refuted. Boxing, while requiring a significant amount of upper body strength to be professional, isn’t just for men, and box fitness, while non-contact, isn’t just for women looking to lose weight. People of both sexes and all genders, ages, sizes and shapes can participate in both sports and get enormous advantages from them.
That said, if you’re looking for a fun way to lose weight, Boxercise is a great option. To lose weight you need to be in calorie deficit i.e. consume fewer calories than you burn through exercise, but such vigorous activities as boxing fitness is sure to help you burn plenty of calories. What’s more, due to the strength training aspects involved in Boxercise, when paired with a healthy diet, you’re sure to see your tummy flattening as you lose your belly fat and tone those abs.
Typically, an hour-long Boxercise or Boxfit class will burn 500 to 600 calories, which is quite a large percentage of our recommended daily calorie intake, so regular training will help you stay fit and get rid of excess fat.
Strength Training
The NHS recommends adults participate in strength training at least twice a week to aid them in normal daily tasks and remain physically fit, as well as 75 minutes of intense exercise. Well, fortunately, over just two Boxercise classes each week, you can tick these boxes. Strength training involves repeatedly engaging different muscle groups in a full range of motion with resistance to help strengthen your body and build muscle.
Some common strength training exercises include:
- Press-ups
- Pull-ups
- Crunches
- Squats
- Lunges
Performing alternating sets of these exercises will work each of your muscle groups, helping to tone your body as you build up muscle and get stronger. But beginners don’t need to worry – even if you can’t manage a press-up or pull-up yet, there are plenty of other actions that can help you get started, such as wall press-ups or pull-ups using a door frame, so you can increase your muscle mass steadily.
How Often Should You Box?
How often you should go to Boxercise classes or boxing training largely depends on your personal fitness goals. According to the NHS fitness guidelines, 2 strength training sessions and 75 minutes of intense exercise each week is enough to stay in shape, but it probably won’t make you the next Anthony Joshua or Nicola Adams. If you aim to lose weight, the first step is ensuring you’re eating a healthy diet and no more than the recommended number of calories.
- Women should consume 2000 calories a day
- Men should consume 2500 calories a day
This may already help some people notice a difference in their weight, but you should also then do 4 – 5 hour-long sessions of Boxercise each week to get your blood pumping and burning calories. Stick to this and you’re sure to lose weight as well as strengthen your muscles and tone your body.
Ultimately, however, weight isn’t the most important thing. Some people can be tall and strong so weigh more than a shorter and weaker person, but it doesn’t mean they’re fatter or less fit. Muscle can weigh a lot, so as you strengthen and build your muscles through boxing fitness, you may not notice a significant weight change, but you’re sure to be stronger and healthier than you would be otherwise. So, when you set your fitness goals, try for something realistic as well as more physical, so you can see how well you’re doing on your fitness journey.
Some helpful goals might be:
- To be able to do 5 pull-ups
- To fit into a pair of jeans you used to wear
- To work out every day for a month
Get the Best Boxing Equipment – Maxx Pro Boxing
Boxercise is a great way to get in shape and it’s suitable for all ages and abilities. But if you’re going to start boxing, you’ll need the right equipment. Browse our protective gear, boxing gloves and focus pads, so you can head to your Boxercise class raring to go, or stay safe while boxing at home with a friend.
