Boxing is an incredible sport for a wide number of different reasons. The sport has been around for centuries, and it remains as popular as ever. Not only is it great to watch but it also offers some incredible benefits for anyone practicing it.
It’s a high-intensity workout that requires a lot of its skill, but its advantages go far beyond being an excellent fitness tool. Here we’ll explore the top 10 benefits of boxing and hopefully convince you that you need to get involved with this amazing sport. Read on to find out more!
Table of Contents
Top 10 Benefits of Boxing Training and Fighting
Our top 10 benefits of boxing start with perhaps the most obvious benefit of them all. Let’s take a look.
1. Improved Cardiovascular Health
If you want to get fit, there’s no better way to do it than boxing. After only a few minutes of a boxing workout, you’ll feel your heart rate rising, and your blood pumping. It doesn’t take a long time at all to build up a sweat.
This is one of the biggest benefits of boxing training, and why boxing has recently become such a popular fitness tool. Many people have no intention of ever stepping in the ring but use boxing exercises to improve their fitness because of how effective it is.
Once you start boxing for fitness, you’ll soon see how quickly your health improves. It doesn’t matter what age you are, everyone can get involved with boxing and enjoy the range of advantages that come from improved cardiovascular fitness, such as a reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.
2. Increased Strength and Muscle Tone
Aside from improving your fitness, another one of the obvious boxing health benefits is that it will make you stronger and improve your muscle tone. Your boxing movement will engage with a wide variety of muscle groups, and not just the ones in your arm.
Boxing is a whole-body effort which means you’ll also be working out your core, back, shoulders, legs, and more. As your body adapts to the stresses and strains of the sport, all these areas will see an increase in strength.
With the repetitive punching motions, your body is going to be taken to its limits. This will result in small tears in the muscles with repair and come back stronger, leading to improved tone and strength. Soon enough, you’ll have a lean and powerful physique.
3. Improved Balance and Coordination
One of the most underrated aspects of boxing is the immense balance and coordination it requires. While Muhammed Ali stated he could sting like a bee, the other part of that famous quote is that he could float like a butterfly.
That was in reference to his effortless movements around the ring. To get close to your opponent but also get out of danger, you need to move quickly and in a coordinated fashion. As you get better at boxing, you’ll see an improvement in balance and coordination.
You can improve this further with dedicated footwork drills to perfect your feet placement in the ring. The best boxers know how to effectively move around the ring and get their opponent exactly where they want them.
4. Enhanced Agility and Speed
Another of the important boxing workout benefits is that it improves your core skills through enhanced agility and speed. If you can’t be agile in the ring, then you are going to get punched a lot. You need to learn how to be switched on and get yourself into positive positions and out of negative ones.
Equally, speed can be a vital component in boxing. Not everyone can be as rapid as an Amir Khan but through practice, you’ll go far beyond your current base level. There are many training devices that can improve your agility and speed.
Reflex bags, double-end bags, and speed bags are all great punching bags that can improve these key areas. You also improve your agility and speed with footwork drills, shadowboxing, pad work, and jump rope.
5. Reduced Stress
Along with all the physical benefits of boxing workouts, there are plenty of mental benefits too. One of the most significant is that boxing can be an incredible stress reliever, helping to improve your mood and reduce any frustration.
As with many high-intensity activities, boxing can release endorphins which help to increase your happiness and give you that feel-good feeling. You’ll leave your boxing training feeling fantastic, eager to do it all over again.
Added to this, it quite simply gives you a brilliant physical outlet for your stress. You can put your anger and life’s frustrations into your punches. You don’t even need to fight either, as these are punching bag benefits too.
For this reason, boxing has long been seen as a way to get troubled young men off the streets and do something much more productive. Perhaps the most famous example of this is with Anthony Joshua.
6. Increased Self-Confidence
If you’re looking to improve your self-confidence, then boxing can be a great way to do it. Part of the reason is due to the benefits that we’ve already looked at as you’ll feel stronger, will be fitter and your fighting skills would have become elite.
But it goes beyond that. As you box more and more, you’ll get confidence from your continual improvement and won’t feel like a beginner anymore. You’d have overcome any fears and will be excited about stepping into the ring.
Boxing teaches you mental toughness too, as you’ll have more resilience to deal with life’s challenges. Finally, there is the social aspect. You’re likely to make friends and improve your social skills, which will further increase your self-confidence.
7. Improved Mental Focus
Do you struggle with focus? Well, step into a boxing ring and you’ll instantly be more focused than you ever have been, as you try to avoid getting punched. You’ll constantly be on alert, hyper-focused on the moment.
You can then transfer that focus to other areas of your life. You’ll develop a higher level of mind-body connection that will improve your mental game. You need to concentrate hard in boxing, and you can use these skills for work or school.
There are other areas of your mentality that boxing can improve too. Your reaction times are going to improve, and as will your overall mental toughness. For those looking to improve their focus, regular boxing training is a great way to do it.
8. Better Hand-Eye Coordination
To succeed in boxing, you need to have excellent hand-eye coordination to not only punch your opponent, but also to block punches. Your opponent will constantly be moving, which requires you to adjust your movements and calculate where you need your punch to land.
Learning different techniques will also improve your hand-eye coordination. There are a variety of different punches, and they all require technique and coordination for them to land. These techniques can be perfected by working on a variety of punching bags.
Perhaps more important than punching is your hand-eye coordination for defensive movements. There are many different defense techniques, such as slipping, ducking, and weaving. You also need to learn how to take punches on your gloves.
9. Weight Loss
Boxing burns an incredible number of calories in just a small amount of time. If you’re looking to shed a bit of weight, then stepping into a boxing gym is a great way to do it, and you’ll soon see that you have a slimmer physique.
However, you don’t even need to step into a gym. There are plenty of boxing workouts that you can do at home. Anyone that has shadowboxed for more than a few minutes knows just how tiring it can be.
Whether sparring, working out on a heavy bag, or shadowboxing at home, just a few minutes of boxing a day can be a great way to lose weight. This can also help to increase the self-confidence that we mentioned before.
10. Improved Self-Defense Skills
Finally, boxing can teach you some valuable self-defense skills that can translate into the real world. You’ll be surprised how few people can punch with proper technique. This can make them vulnerable in dangerous situations.
Boxing will teach you the proper technique to be able to throw the perfect punch at the right time. Not only this, but it can teach you to avoid punches and stay out of trouble. These advantages combined can give you great confidence.
But your other skills will help here too. Your boxing training will teach you to stay focused and alert, and allow you to stay calm under pressure. You never want to have to use your skills in the real world, but it’s great to have them if necessary.
FAQs
Is boxing a good workout?
Many ask is boxing a good exercise or whether boxing is good cardio. The answer to both is a resounding yes! Not only are boxing workouts are great for losing weight but they are also a lot of fun. Added to this, there is a wide range of boxing equipment to help you mix up your workout sessions.
What does boxing help with?
What does boxing do for your body? Well, boxing can not only help with fitness but also many mental aspects too. As we’ve seen here, boxing can help you increase your self-confidence, improve your motor neuron abilities, such as balance and coordination, and give you practical self-defense skills. Added to this, it can help with weight loss and building a better physique.
Is boxing good cardio?
Boxing is excellent cardio as it will rapidly increase your heart rate and get your blood pumping. After only a few sessions, you’ll see your fitness improve. Whether you want to fight, apply your fitness to other sports, or just want to get fit for improved health, boxing is a great way to do it.
Is boxing a good sport?
Boxing is a fantastic sport for a wide number of reasons. Away from the brutality of the sport, we’ve seen how it can improve almost every area of your life. You’ll have improved focus and concentration, you’ll be fitter, have better body movement, and you’ll also lose weight.
Boxing is an exciting sport, but also dangerous when you start competing. If you want to get to that level, then there can obviously be downsides but for many, these are far outweighed by the disadvantages.
Final Thoughts
When many people think about boxing, they see the knockouts and thunderous punches. They see the huge sell out shows and all the trash talking. Behind the headlines, boxing is a sport that teaches us a lot about life and ourselves.
Whether you are boxing for fitness or for fights, there are an incredible number of benefits that you get from it. Whether you are joining a gym or using a heavy bag at home, it’s time to strap on some boxing gloves and start enjoying all these benefits!