Over the years, boxing has been the go-to all round fitness activity for many people. It is more than a competitive sport, with more people using boxing as a way to stay fit and remain healthy. This has led to a bunch of fitness clubs around Australia introducing boxing to their members, as an alternative to traditional conditioning exercises. They have created an atmosphere that is welcoming to people of all ages to try out boxing and with spectacular results. This is because boxing requires the utmost discipline, athleticism, speed, agility, and most of all, endurance. This means that the average person could learn all these skills, without having to get into the ring and actually fight.
To understand why boxing is quickly becoming Australia’s go-to fitness activity, here are the various health benefits associated with the sport:
You get your cardio in
The importance of getting cardio exercises has long been a focus of most health practitioners. It not only helps you get leaner by burning calories and helping you lose weight, but also helps protect you from certain lifestyle based heart diseases. Boxing provides an exciting alternative to spending your entire workout session on a treadmill logging in the hours.
The way this works is that during training, you are required to work with a punching bag, where you kick and punch it more hundreds of times. This requires that utmost focus, with your upper and lower body areas coming into play vigorously. Your core is also engaged at this point. These help your keep your heartrate up and stay healthy.
Increased strength
The normal boxing training requires that your strength be up there with the very best. This is simply on the premise that a normal punching bag weighs upwards of 35 Kilograms. Couple that with the fact that you are in gloves which you will have to use additional strength to ensure proper contact with the bag. Some of the boxing classes, depending on age and body size, will require that you undertake certain body strengthening exercises, such as squats, planks, planks, weightlifting, and weighted ball exercises. When you consider the cardio benefits of a proper bag session, then it is possible to see how your overall body strength will be increased. Your body over time begins making physiological changes to match the basic requirements to boxing and the strength demands of the actual sport.
Balanced mental health
It has been proven scientifically that physical activity helps in dealing with stress. In fact, people who suffer from depression and acute stress are encouraged to pick up one physical activity or another, to help with their condition. This is because exercise increases the levels of endorphins in the blood, increasing happiness and reducing stress. Exercise also acts as meditation especially during the cool down periods and even helps in improving your sleep cycle.
Boxing works in the sense that you are always see-sawing between high intensity workouts and recovery periods that are moderate to low exercise. During this cycle, you can feel the tension leave your body as you focus greatly on keeping rhythm and you spend less time worrying about the things in your life that are not going according to plan. During the low cycles, you are more focussed on catching your breath and getting ready for the next high intensity cycle. Another reason why boxing works is that the bag becomes your outlet for frustration, where you can literally visualise punching the daylights out of whatever is stressing you at the time.
Improved coordination
Boxing is increasingly beneficial to your hand-eye coordination, which is essential for both your fine and gross motor skills. You develop quicker reflexes, reaction times, and overall coordination. This aspect of boxing is particularly beneficial for middle-aged people and older since their motor skills become compromised with age. With boxing, when you are working with a speed bag, or when you are paired with a vigorous sparring partner, you are required to be at your best to be successful. This means you have to pay more attention to see the target, react and get your punch in on time. With enough practice, it is possible to make this hit.
Toning and body sculpting
With cardio, strength training and various other benefits to your body, you are guaranteed of a well-toned physique. When you are participating in a proper boxing program, your level of physical activity alone is enough, but it has the added advantage of getting you on a proper nutritional plan. Your shape will greatly improve with the weight loss and dietary improvements. With all the added benefits, boxing is one of the best ways to get your summer body. The results on your weighing scale, and the confidence that comes with it is worth all the work you will be doing in the gym.
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