One of the best ways you can keep up with your health and stay in good shape is by engaging in a boxing workout. It can be very confusing, especially at the start of your fitness journey. This confusion is understandable seeing that there are different types of moves that constitute boxing workout routines. These moves vary depending on your level of expertise.
If you are a beginner, it may be too tasking to meet the standards expected of professionals. You’ll get there with time, but you have to start from the simpler moves to help you build your skills, perseverance, and stamina; then you would gradually build your way up to higher and more competing levels from there.
5 Best Boxing Workout for Beginners
This is the most confusing level of it all. You probably have no skills, no prior knowledge, and (in some cases) no coach. Do not let any of these deter you. Follow the simple and precise tips on how to do the exercises that will be mentioned and you’d be fine.
- STEP 1: Stretching
This is pretty much where you start all forms of exercise. There is something about it that wakes the body up in preparation for your routine. Spend at least 5 to 10 minutes stretching every part of your body as much as you can get them to.
- STEP 2: Jump Rope
Next, it is time to do some more serious form of warm-ups. Jumping rope is one of the best ways you can get your blood pumping and ready for the rest of your boxing workout routine. You can choose to do this with a proper jump rope or you can imagine you’re holding one while you jump. Do this exercise for at least 3 to 5 minutes before going over to the next step.
- STEP 3: Shadow Moves
Now you’re getting into the boxing workout plan proper – throwing punches, working your legs, and putting your core and back into it. With time, this particular exercise will help you to develop greater balance as you throw and receive punches from your imaginary opponent.
For the first round, what you have to do is jab, cross, jab again, bob, and weave; that’s it. To do this, you need to follow the steps below.
- Put your right foot forward
- Put both of your hands in a boxing position beside your chin
- Throw a right punch rotating your fist towards the ground – right jab
- Throw a left punch and rotate your left hip along and your left heels off the ground – left cross
- Repeat right jab
- Bring both arms back to fist position
- Bob and weave from left to right – get into a squat position and swing your head and shoulder in a U form from your left to your right
This is a simple shadow boxing workout routine that you can comfortably do on your own at home.
- STEP 4: Heavy Bag
In the step above, you were facing an imaginary partner with no real resistance. In this step, you’ll be facing a heavy bag as your partner and resistance. Here, you will learn how to use a jab against your rival while working your hips and your core. The way you work your legs plays an important role in this move because it helps you to transfer power/support from the ground to your punches and other moves.
For maximum impacts, you should have your heavy bag suspended from above with a chain or a strong rope and not attached to a vertical wall. When it is suspended, it swings in response to your punches, which helps to hone your body movements. This is s great boxing ab workout as it also engages your abs.
- STEP 5: Speed Bag Boxing
This step is particularly aimed at increasing how fast you can throw your fist, which is why it is called speed bag. This will help train your hands to stay up high for a long time and improve your shoulder strength at the same time.
To do this, make sure your arms are relaxed and your muscles are flexed. Keep a steady rhythm, and do not make a fist while you’re at it. Also, avoid using your knuckles at this point. It is best to work with more of your fingers for a start till you master it to an extent.
5 Boxing Workout Routine for Expert Level
Boxing training workout plan for intermediate level is pretty much everything you know from the beginner level but a bit more challenging. In addition, you get to learn new moves that are more tasking than what you’re used to. Suffice it to say that this level takes more time than the first.
- STEP 1: Warm-Up
Your warm-up boxing workouts routines at this level are pretty much the same as the first three above combined. Take them one after the other to get your blood pumping and ready for more strenuous activities that will open you up to tougher challenges. Feel free to add more if you like. For instance, you can improve boxing jump rope workout, do 20 quick push-ups and 20 jump squats.
- STEP 2: Explosive Power
The aim of this move is to get you to punch as hard as possible, and not just throwing weak fists at your opponent. Here, you are required to perform some physical activities that engage target muscle groups. The more you do these exercises, the faster you can move and the harder you can punch. Some great examples of explosive power exercises are
- Plyo push-ups
- Burpees
- Pull-ups
It is important to note that isolation exercises are not your friends on this journey. This is because they will cause you to develop more muscles than is necessary, which can reduce your punching speed. Too much muscle has a way of stiffening your movements and weakening your punching power. Some examples of isolation exercises to avoid are
- Bench press
- Triceps curls
- Biceps
- Etc
Isolation workouts can only work on a particular part of the body. Good boxing workouts require exercises that can flex as many muscles as possible at the same time.
- STEP 3: Combination Move
All you have to do at this point is to kick your fist employing the skills you already have. You can choose to make it shadow boxing, or you can use a heavy bag. The aim at this point is to feel the distance of your punch.
You’re going to start with long-distance combinations.
- Stand at the end of your arm’s reach measuring from the heavy bag in front of you.
- Throw a right jab
- Throw a jab-cross
- Another jab
- Another jab-cross
Do not forget to work your legs, bouncing from one to the other as you punch. You also have to move around the bag. Repeat the combinations 5 times. Go another 5 rounds, but this time, conclude each round with a lead hook jab.
- STEP 4: Power Exercise
This is the best boxing workout that aims at improving the punching power of your hands, especially your rear hand. If you want to get the maximum impact of this activity, then you should work with something you can hit hard or a heavy bag.
- Get into a proper position to land a right cross
- Throw a full-powered punch as if to knock someone out at your chin level
- Assume a boxing position as you make few steps and circle round the bag for 2 seconds
- Stop and put the whole of your body into throwing another cross punch
Keep doing this for 120 seconds, rest for 40 seconds, and then repeat; 4 rounds in total.
- STEP 5: Improve Your Footwork
How you step while boxing contributes a lot to your balance and the power behind every punch. So it’s important to make it a habit to keep developing your footwork by making a regular part of your boxing training workouts.
Some of the exercises that can help you improve your steps include
- Agility ladder
- Jump rope
- Box jumps
- Shadow boxing
- Observations and analysis
The last one may come as a surprise to many. Like, how can “observation and analysis” improve your legwork? The truth is, observing and studying other elite boxers is one significant way of learning the tricks used by other boxers. You can simply go online and watch any of your favorite elite boxers to see how they step, analyze it the best way you can, and learn what you can from it. Then practice! Practice!! Practice!!!
Professional Level Boxing: Keep The Ball Rolling
There is no special thing you have to do to become a professional level boxer aside from working hard on things you already know and learning as much as possible. If you have diligently gone through the beginner and intermediate level, then it would be easier for you to pick up any new move you come across. There is also need to spend more time training and you should take your professional boxing fitness workouts more seriously than before.
Here are some things you should do if you really want to do this professionally.
- Train as often as possible. There is no exaggerating this point. Aside from all that has been mentioned above, you should also engage in sprints. This will help you to build your speed, your muscles, and even your footwork.
- Participate in real boxing challenges. You can do this with other boxers for a start, and then enroll in tournaments as you gain more experience and courage. The tournaments would usually start from the amateur level. If you win, you move up higher, if you win again, you’d continue to move up higher till you get as high as possible.
- Assembly a professional team to manage and promote you. This will boost you to the next level as your team ensures you do what you’re supposed to do at the right time. Your personal coach, for instance, ensures you keep up with your professional boxers workout routines, eat the right foods, etc. Your manager supervises your training; negotiate payments, finds opponents, etc.
Final Words
Exercising on a regular basis is one of the most difficult things there is. This is why people try to lose weight without success in most cases. This lack of motivation affects athletes of all levels as well, and you’re going to need to stay motivated in order to get through times when you just don’t want to train.
Some of the tips that can help you stay motivated are as follows.
- Start easy with more of simple workouts for boxers at home and focus on the bigger picture. What is it you plan to achieve as a boxer? Do you just want to tone your muscles to look like that of Helmut Strebl, or do you want to win a championship title? There must be something you want to achieve. Keep your mind focused on that picture, especially when you feel down. It will help you find the strength to get back to work and keep at it.
Just to engrave this picture in your memory and subconsciousness, you should write down your boxing goals and put it somewhere you can see it every day.
- Do not compare your progress to that of others. Stick to your plans and do not get disheartened when you see someone else killing it and you’re not. If for any reason, you think you should be better than that person, then you should see it as a reason to put in more work and stay more focused than before. Consistency is the key!
- If you conquer any milestone, do not forget to reward yourself. Do not neglect your accomplishments as that has a negative way of affecting your psychology. You can take some time off and go on a vacation, buy new workout equipment, or eat a big cheat meal. Just do something you really want to do.
When you combine all these motivational tips and a great routine workout for boxers, you’ll make great progress with time.