How Boxing Affects the Body | Gloveworx (2024)

Boxing is not exclusive to elite athletes and exercise enthusiasts. Everyone, regardless of age, gender or level of fitness can enjoy the many benefits boxing has on the body.

If you think about cardio, treadmills and ellipticals may come to mind. When you think of strength and tone, you might envision weights and barbells. So many people turn to boxing because it allows you to improve your endurance, strengthen your muscles, and develop an unstoppable mindset.

Aerobic Benefits of Boxing

Boxing is much more than a hard right hook and a stiff upper jab. It’s a cardio exercise that helps put the perfect amount of stress on your heart and lungs. When you’re boxing for exercise, you can focus on both the quality of your punches and increasing your heart rate.

Cardiovascular Health

Boxing uses a variety of muscles at one time while requiring rapid movement so its an excellent sport for increasing your cardio endurance. Getting your heart rate up not only helps you lose weight but it helps strengthen your heart, control blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

When you think of boxing you can’t only think of hitting bags and mitts; you also have to think about all the extra training that goes along with it. Boxers must be light on their feet at all times, so they also train using jump ropes, circuits, stationary bikes, and treadmills to improve their cardiovascular endurance.

Fat Loss

Working a heavyweight bag for one hour burns anywhere between 400 and 700 calories. Boxing is often overlooked as a weight loss method because you may not always see the results on the scale.

When you box, you're building overall health and improving your well-being. You’re building muscle and burning fat which can definitely help trim a few inches off your waistline if that is your goal. Boxing is an optimal blend of strength training mixed with cardio. Intense physical exercise can increase your metabolism and help you burn fat.

Improved Endurance

You already know the cardio benefits of boxing but why would anyone care to increase their endurance? As you strengthen your heart and lungs, you can pump more blood and oxygen into your muscles. When you do this, it increases the amount of time that you can exercise without getting tired.

If you can exercise longer without getting winded, think about all the other things you might be able to do that you couldn’t do before. Maybe you are interested in running a marathon or cycling. Maybe your goal is to keep up with your kids or grandkids. Whatever your goal is, improving your cardiovascular health is one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself.

Muscular Effects of Boxing

It's time to strengthen those muscles and build a more powerful core. Boxing quickly helps you tone up your body and build strong, healthy muscles. The sport is not only about being quick on your feet; it’s just as important to be strong and powerful.

Muscle Building and Toning

One of the primary reasons boxing is so useful for building muscle is because it uses so many of your muscles as one time.

If we take hitting a bag as an example, you might punch that bag hundreds of times during a session. That workout forces you to use the majority of your upper and lower body muscles.

Building muscle while losing fat can do a lot for you as a person. Not only can it increase your overall health but it improves your quality of life. You want to look in the mirror every morning and look at the body of a champion.

Mental and Emotional Benefits

One of the most significant things we notice is the mental and emotional changes someone undergoes when they use boxing as an exercise. The training is not easy, and it will push you to your limits, but you’ll walk out each day as a different person.

More Confidence

You’ll walk taller with more self-esteem knowing you’re doing the best you can to get in better shape. Having the body of a boxer will make you feel better physically, but it will also make you feel better mentally.

If you’re unhappy with how you look at yourself in the mirror, imagine how you’ll feel when you love what you’re looking at. That feeling alone will give you a tremendous confidence boost.

Improved Coordination

Hand-eye coordination goes a bit hand-in-hand with cardiovascular health, but it also applies to your brain. When you’re training, you need to be able to focus on your feet, hands, arms, and your target.

Aiming your punches perfectly is something that takes a lot of practice and hand-eye coordination. As you continue to train, you’ll find yourself hitting that sweet spot more often. Professional boxers also use jump ropes and speed bags to help improve their coordination.

Stress Relief

The best thing about boxing is the natural tension relief that occurs in your body during a session. Hitting a bag and letting go of a little anger is healthy and it doesn’t have to appear violent.

When you’re exercising and taking steps to improve your own life, it naturally takes your mind off of whatever might be bothering you. Physical activity produces serotonin which is a chemical in the brain that makes you feel happy and relaxed.

Boxing, as well as many other exercises, are known to reduce pain, increase mood, and lower anxiety.

Take Your Health to the Next Level

Boxing can affect your body in so many positive ways. You can increase your cardiovascular health, improve your body composition, and lift your overall mood. We want you to have that tight sexy body you’ve always dreamed of but may have felt was slightly too far out of reach.

To get results, you want to take the shortest route from point A to point B. That’s a workout that combines cardio and strength in one while helping you build the mind of a seasoned contender. Get started right away with a Gloveworx training session. Together, we can all Become Unstoppable.