Boxing For Weight Loss
Let's imagine this scene: you have been a social animal and attended every party with colleagues, networking event, Christmas party and night out that was proposed to you before the new year.
As if that wasn't enough, there was food. At Christmas, that can mean thousands of calories per meal, with bacon-wrapped sausages, fillings, potatoes, poultry and sweets galore.
In the interludes, there are tins of chocolate and cookies to nibble on when you have a little appetite and, of course, mountains of Christmas cupcakes.
You're not the rude type and you refused very little, thinking about the long time it took someone to prepare all those festive dishes and those appetizer buffets, despite the alarm bells that warned you of the time to exercise to burn calories.
And, after all, Christmas only comes once a year and you would have regretted not attending. The problem is, between having fun with friends and spending time with family, you didn't have much time to hit the gym and your training plan ended up right out the window.
You've spent the holidays playing hard, but if you're willing to work hard too, one of the best workouts you can do to burn all those Christmas calories is boxing.
1. How Many Calories Can You Burn?
With a quality boxing session, you can expect to burn up to an excess of 500 calories. We're not talking about training matches here, because if you're inexperienced you won't look your best by presenting yourself with a black eye.
Boxing training can have the same effects as High Intensity Interval training (HIIT). In terms of pace, this means taking sprints or an equivalent depending on the type of exercise you choose. The key is to get your heart rate up and keep it that way for the duration, that's why they call it intense.
2. What muscles are you training?
As well as the buckets of sweat you'll shed, the calories you'll burn, and your heart rate pounding, you may not have realized you'll work your muscles too.
When you throw a punch, you work the pectoral, deltoid, triceps, latissimus, gluteus, quadriceps, and hamstring muscles.
The main muscles you use are the upper body trunk muscles connected to the shoulders, arms and lateral delts. It is these that generate the power of the punch but, beyond that, a powerful punch comes from the legs and this is how you work the glutes.
Best of all for your expanding waistline - thanks to Christmas sweets - is the way boxing works your torso, waist and abs thanks to contraction and rotation.
3. The workout
This is where the HIIT component comes into play. You will only need boxing gloves and hand wraps (you don't need a broken hand for Christmas) and then a training partner to hold the punches or a punching bag. Now they seem like a good idea for a gift, don't they?
Arguably, you can reach the goal even without hitters or punching bag, in style boxercise lesson, but for many the target of the hitter or the sack makes a difference; the impact on the punch will help you understand how much work you are putting in. Also, if you have some latent hostility from the holidays or have eaten too much sugar, hitting a punching bag could be a good way to release the frustration from the last Monopoly family game.
That said, hit power is not our goal. You have to work on forehand and quick hooks. At first, it might seem like a walk, but by the last round you will be in trouble.
This is where another rule comes into play: do not drop your elbows; they must remain stationary at the top for the duration of each round, with their legs shoulder-width apart.
With the help of a stopwatch, set the time for each round to three minutes, with one minute of mandatory rest in between. You have to work at high intensity for the duration of the three-minute round. This means quick arm movements (that's why you don't have to hit too hard).
The purpose is to raise your heart rate thanks to this intense workout and keep it that way for all three minutes. Hydrate yourself every other time.
Two or three sessions a week should be fine. There's no need to overload your muscles, so alternate this workout with some light running if you feel the need.
And remember: your goal is to burn calories, but you still need nutrition to get the most out of your workout. Hydrate and eat protein immediately after training.
