10 Best Boxing Workouts for Beginners and Professionals

What many people underestimate about boxing is just how tiring it is. If someone unfit stepped into the ring, they’d barely last a couple of rounds before they’d be exhausted. Boxing workouts are vital to building up your boxing fitness.

Whether you are a professional boxer and need more boxing workouts ideas, or just started boxing and need a guide on how to train, we have you covered. Here we will go into 10 different boxing workouts that you can start doing with no or minimal equipment.

Even if you have no intention of fighting but want to get physically fit, some of these workouts are also perfect for that. So let’s get started by looking at exactly what a boxing workout is.

What is a Boxing Workout?

A boxing workout plan typically involves a combination of cardio and strength training. It can include punching a heavy bag or shadowboxing, jumping rope, and doing various bodyweight exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.

It’s a high-intensity workout that can burn a lot of calories and improve your overall fitness. Boxing workouts are also suitable for people who have the desire to get physically fit without building heavy muscles.

There are different intensities of boxing workouts that beginners and professionals can choose based on what suits them.

Benefits of Doing Boxing Workouts

There are many benefits of doing boxing workouts:

1. Burns calories: A boxing workout routine is an excellent way to burn calories and lose weight.

2. Builds strength: Boxing involves a lot of punching and footwork, which can help build upper body, core, and lower body strength.

3. Improves cardiovascular health: Boxing is a great cardio workout that can improve your heart health and endurance.

4. Enhances coordination: Boxing workouts can help improve your hand-eye coordination and footwork.

5. Reduces stress: Boxing is a great stress reliever that can help reduce anxiety and depression.

6. Boosts confidence: Learning new boxing techniques and improving your skills can boost your self-confidence.

7. Improves balance: Boxing involves a lot of footwork that can improve your balance and stability.

8. Increases agility: Boxing workouts require quick movements and reflexes, which can improve your agility and reaction time.

9. Enhances mental focus: Boxing workouts require mental focus and concentration, which can improve your overall cognitive function.

10. Provides a full-body workout: Boxing is a full-body workout that engages all major muscle groups, helping to tone and strengthen your entire body.

10 Best Boxing Workouts

Here we will talk about 10 different boxing exercises that are great for both beginners and professionals. We’ll include a YouTube link for each workout, so you can get a better understanding of it. Let’s dive right in.

1. 10-Minute Cardio Kickboxing Tabata Workout

Best For: Beginners and warming up for pros

This Tabata workout is a quick and effective workout using body weight. No equipment is required, and it is a low-impact and high-intensity workout. While called a kickboxing exercise, this is one of the best boxing workouts for beginners to improve their fitness, balance, and flexibility.

There will be five moves total, which will be done in four sets. Tabata means hard work of 20 seconds and 10 seconds of rest. The workout will include five moves, and each move will be 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off.

Workout

The workout is divided into five moves, and each move is done for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest. The moves are:

Move 1 – Lunge Drive and Front Kick: This first move is done on one leg, and it involves a lunge, drive, and front kick. Switch to the other leg the next time.

Move 2 – Bob and Weave Squats: This move involves bobbing and weaving and doing squats. You need to tap your toes while getting low.

Move 3 – Side to Side Lunge with Cross Punch: This move involves doing a side lunge and a cross punch. You need to stay low on their legs.

Move 4 – Sumo Squat High Low: This move involves doing a sumo squat and going up and down. Keep your core tight and do it on both sides.

Move 5 – Hook and Tap: This last move involves doing a hook and tapping. Keep your core tight and swing your elbow while landing the punch.

Repeat the workout. It is a quick and effective 10-minute workout that can be used as a warm-up. There is no cool-down in this workout.

2. 11-minute Cardio Kickboxing and Core Tabata Workout

Best For: Beginners and warming up for pros

This is another Tabata workout designed to activate the entire body and is composed of intervals of 20 seconds of intense exercise, followed by a 10-second break. No equipment is needed in this workout too. It is actually a kickboxing workout. Let’s dive in!

Warm-Up

The workout begins with a warm-up session, which includes a brief stretch. After that, the workout begins in three rounds.

Round 1

The first interval begins with a burst of energy as you dive straight into the exercises. It is going to be kicks. The exercises include a combination of cardio and core exercises to activate the body and get your heart pumping. You have to keep pushing yourself as you move through each interval. Do it with both legs, one after the other.

Round 2

The second round picks up the pace, and you continue with the same format of kickboxing.

Round 3

By the third round, you will start to feel the burn, but keep going. The intervals include different kicking exercises targeting different body parts, such as the legs, abs, and arms. This interval will involve front, roundhouse, and side kicks with different standing positions to target the different body parts.

Cool-Down

As the workout comes to an end, transition into a cool-down session. Do the simple stretches shown in the video to relax and ease any muscle tension.

3. 17-minute Cardio Kickboxing Workout

Best for: Intense fitness workout

This is another cardio kickboxing workout with hip exercises in it. The boxing conditioning workout is a fun and cool way to work on cardio, strength, and body coordination, and it is a total, complete, full workout. There will be 30 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest.

Punches

Get in the proper stance for kickboxing, which is called the wide stance, and keep your knees soft. Then position your hands and fingers in a fighting stance.

Now the first punch is the jab. With this jab, you bring your arm back quickly.

The second punch is the cross, which involves crossing the middle of your body.

The third punch is the hook, which requires the arm to be kept like a hook and involves shifting back and bringing your knee in.

The fourth punch is the uppercut, which requires the movement to work against gravity, and therefore, hips need to be used.

Kicks

For this workout, the focus is on the front kick, and sidekick. Get in a fighting stance and protect your face by squeezing your arms together.

Then do the front kick and sidekick and use the hips as shown in the video. There will be a “pop” and “shuffle” movement.

Combining Punches and Kicks

Now, let’s combine punches and kicks to form a workout routine. Do a jab, cross, and a 10-count of punches. Then add the kicks to the routine. Then squat down and come back up with a kick. Then there will be a cool-down for this brilliant cardio boxing workout regimen.

4. 17-minute Full Body Boxing-inspired HIIT Workout

Best for: Complete boxing workout for all levels

This is another 17-minute four-round boxing-inspired HIIT workout with only the need for fists as equipment. This also involves 30 seconds of hard work accompanied by 10 seconds of rest.

Warm-up Round

The workout begins with a warm-up round that includes jumping jacks for 30 seconds. The focus is on bouncing off the balls of the feet while touching the hands at the top, keeping the movement light, and connecting with the breath. The round includes a walk-out into a plank and back up with an arch at the top to activate the core.

Round 1 – Boxing Stance and Straight Punches

The first round starts with a boxing stance. Step back with your dominant foot, slightly pivot out to the side, and protect your face with your hands up while keeping the elbows tight into the ribcage.

The round begins with a jab, which is the front-hand punch, with the power source coming from the ground. When punching, plant the feet to generate more power. The jab involves extending the front-hand punch out and back to the face with proper breath control.

Gradually increase the speed of the jab and ensure your backhand is tight. Next, do the cross, which is the backhand punch with the knuckles turnover and back foot pivots.

Round 2 – Hooks and Squats

In the second round, you will do hooks, which involve rotating the torso to generate power. Alternate hooks between the left and right hands. The round also includes squats to add intensity to the workout.

Round 3 – Combos and Push-ups

The third round involves combos, which are combinations of punches. There will be a combination of a jab, a cross, and a hook. The round also includes push-ups to add intensity to the workout, and

Round 4 – Burpees and Planks

The fourth and final round includes burpees and planks to add intensity to the workout.

Cool-down

The workout ends with a cool-down period and a stretch.

5. 20-minute High-Intensity Boxing Workout

Best for: Working on elite fitness

This is a complex shadow boxing HIT workout. It’s a high-intensity boxing workout consisting of many different exercises with active recovery in between. It all adds up to one of the best exercises for boxing.

The recovery time in this workout is 10 seconds after each 30-second exercise interval. Here is the breakdown of each part of the workout and what part of the body they will target:

·        Jumping Jacks – Warm-up exercise to get your heart rate up

·        Leg Swings and Hip Rotation – Stretching exercise to warm up your legs and hips

·        Static Lunge Twist – Targets your core and lower body

·        Squat Punches – Combines squats and punches to work your lower body and arms

·        Side-to-Side Lunge – Targets your legs and glutes while working on balance

·        Arm Circles Forward / Backward – Warms up your shoulders and arms

·        Side Lunge to Plie Squat Punches – Targets your legs, glutes, and arms

·        Squat Front Kicks – Targets your lower body and improves your flexibility

·        Side Lunge to Side Kick – Targets your legs and glutes while working on balance

·        Knee Up Hook Back Kick – Targets your legs and improves your coordination

·        Side Shuffle Jab Cross – Targets your legs, glutes, and arms while improving your coordination

·        Side-to-Front Kick Jacks – Targets your legs and glutes while working on balance

·        Jab Jump Lunges – Targets your legs, glutes, and arms

·        Drop in Place – Active recovery exercise to lower your heart rate

·        Side-to-Side Lunge – Targets your legs and glutes while working on balance

·        Squat Stretch – Stretches your lower body and improves your flexibility

·        Hang Down Stretch – Stretches your hamstrings and back

·        Runner’s Stretch – Stretches your calves and hamstrings

·        Neck Stretch – Stretches your neck and improves your range of motion

·        IT Band Stretch – Stretches your IT band and improves your flexibility

(Do each part for 30 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds)

6. 10 Minute Heavy Bag Workout

Best for: Heavy bag workout

For those looking for boxing workouts with bag, this boxer training routine would be perfect. It consists of 8 rounds in which you work for one minute before having a break for 20 seconds. Let’s look at a breakdown of each round.

Round 1

Warm up – Here, we start with light 1 and 1-2 boxing combinations while also throwing in an occasional 3-punch combo. Don’t worry about hitting the bag hard here. This is just a warm-up.

Round 2

Jabs – Here, you’re just throwing jabs but at a greater intensity than your warm-up.

Round 3

Crosses – This is the same as round 2, but now you are just throwing crosses into the bag

Round 4

Combination – Now we move on to a combination of a 1-2, then a hook to the head, then another hook to the body. Try and do this as many times as you can in the minute you have.

Round 5

Hooks – Throw four heavy hooks as quickly as possible, switching between right and left as you do.

Round 6

1-2 Combo – Continually throw a 1-2 combination as hard as you can for the whole minute.

Round 7

2-4-6-8-10 – Here you throw two punches, stop for a few seconds, throw four and then so on until you get to 10. Once you get to 10, go through the whole sequence again.

Round 8

Non-stop punching – This is when you want to empty the tank and use up all of your energy. Use any punching combinations you want, but punch for the whole minute without stopping at all. 

7. 10-Minute Cardio Kickboxing HIIT Workout

Best for: Fitness and flexibility

This is another fun and easy 10-minute boxing cardio workout that incorporates cardio kickboxing moves and strength moves. No equipment is needed, just a bit of space to move. The boxing training workout consists of 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. Start with a boxer shuffle and bring your guard up.

Jabs and Knee Combos

Start with slow jabs, working at your own level.

Move onto one-two-three knee combos with power.

Repeat on the other side.

Uppers and Front Kicks

Begin with uppers, then add in the front knee and front kicks.

Repeat on the other side.

Hooks and Squats

Move on to hooks, adding in squats.

Repeat on the other side.

Cool Down

End with some stretching to cool down. The workout is quick but effective for getting your heart rate up and strengthening and toning your body.

8. 10-Minute Boxing Workout

Best for: Working your muscles and core

This boxing strength training workout is a 10-minute boxing workout that will tone arms, shoulders, back, and core. You will need a light set of dumbbells. For those looking for boxing weight workouts, you won’t get better than this.

Jump Rope Warm-Up

Start the workout with a jump rope warm-up. Stay light on your toes and keep your arms engaged. Jump roping is great for coordination and can be modified for low impact.

Boxing Stance and Basic Punches

Get into your fight stance. Now do the basic punches, which are the jab and the cross. Extend your arms forward on the jab and pivot your back heel on the cross.

Three and Four Punch Combinations

Here, you will do the front hook and the back hook punches. Make sure to drive through your hips on these punches. The three and four-punch combinations are front hook, back hook, and vice versa.

Adding Weaves and Footwork

You can also add weaves and footwork to the three and four-punch combinations. For this, drop down and weave under the imaginary rope. Footwork is added to the combinations to increase movement and coordination.

Press Jacks and Uppercuts

Do press jacks with the dumbbells. Land softly and avoid pounding impact on your knees.

Now do the front and rear uppercuts, which are combined with power jacks. Drive from your hips on these punches.

9. 10-minute Shadow Boxing

Best for: Practicing boxing fundamentals

This is a simple 10-minute shadowboxing workout. Watching the video, you can do the different sets of boxing combinations and movements. 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest pattern will be followed. Depending on the intensity, you can also do 30 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. The punches are,

· Jab

· Cross

· Hook

· Uppercut

This is one of the best exercises for boxing for those who are new to the sport and want to perfect their punching technique. It can also be a good fitness exercise for those at an advanced level that just want a great boxing at-home exercise.

10. 8-minute Boxing workout

Best for: Practicing combinations

This workout is a quick and fun eight-minute routine consisting of four combos. Each combo will start with two techniques and add one more every 30 seconds, building up to two minutes. There are four combos in total, and you can adjust the complexity of each combo to suit your level of ability.

Let’s give a number to the punches for convenience, and then we will move on to the combos. These are the same numbers used for all boxing drills and pad work.

1: Jab

2: Straight right hand

3: Lead hook

4: Rear hook

5: Lead uppercut

6: Rear uppercut

7: Shovel hook

8: Overhand right

Combos

Now that we have given a number to the punches, do the following combos:

Combo 1:  1-2-3-6-3

Combo 2:  1-3-4-5-8

Combo 3:  1-2-Duck-3-7

Combo 4:  5-3-Switch Step-3-2

How To Do Boxing Workouts Safely and Avoid Injury?

To avoid injury during a boxing workout, it’s important to follow some safety tips:

Warm up properly: Before starting a boxing workout, warm up your muscles with some dynamic stretches.

Use proper form: Make sure you use proper punching and footwork techniques to avoid injury.

Wear protective gear: Wear hand wraps and boxing gloves to protect your hands and wrist.

Start slowly: If you’re new to boxing, start slowly and gradually increase the intensity of your workouts.

Listen to your body: If you experience any pain or discomfort, stop immediately and take a break.

Cool down properly: After your workout, cool down with some static stretches to help prevent muscle soreness.

FAQs

Is boxing a good workout at home?

Boxing is a fantastic workout at home. These high-intensity exercises are ideal for anyone, and not just those that plan on fighting. Boxing requires an incredible level of fitness and practicing these workouts at home will quickly put you in great shape.

What equipment do you need for a boxing workout?

None. As we’ve looked at here, there are many boxing workouts that you can do without any equipment at all. Shadowboxing is very tiring, and therefore don’t worry if you don’t have any equipment. That being said, using a heavy bag and/or weights can take your workouts to the next level.

What is the best boxing workout?

The answer to this question depends on your level of expertise and what you’re looking to get out of it. For complete novices, a shorter, less intense workout would be great. For intermediate and advanced, look for high-intensity workouts which last a little longer.

Is boxing workout a good way to lose weight?

Absolutely! As you’ll be using your whole body in a high-intensity exercise, you burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. If you don’t have much time, boxing workouts are a great quick calorie burner. If you do have more time, then a long boxing session will help you burn fat rapidly.

How many calories are burned in a 20-minute boxing workout?

Calories are quite complex, and the answer to this question will be different for everyone depending on factors such as your weight and the intensity of your session. As a rough guide, a 20-minute session will burn around 200 calories, but that can go up to 400 calories with maximum effort.