People have engaged in hand-to-hand combat for eons, and today, boxing is a popular Olympic event. As an Olympic sport, boxing adheres to strict safety standards. Boxing has evolved into boxercise — a trendy full-body workout that gets your heart pumping. It’s an exercise that helps you blow off steam while fine-tuning your fitness. Boxercise is increasingly popular for a good reason. Let’s look at the benefits and the history of boxercise.
What is boxercise?
Boxercise is a type of exercise or ‘fitness boxing’ that involves aspects of boxing training. You wear pads and gloves, but it isn’t a competitive sport like traditional boxing. Boxercise is a HIIT or high-intensity interval training class, but you won’t be getting in the ring swinging and dodging punches. Instead of sparring with a partner, you’ll throw punches at a punching bag or in the air, typically in a boxercise class with an instructor.
What moves are involved in a boxercise class?
You might engage in strength training moves, stretching, and then hitting a punching bag. The most popular type of boxercise is a class where you follow an instructor and perform a number of boxing moves with upbeat music in the background, similar to an aerobics exercise class. You might perform moves like:
- Smaller jabs (punches)
- Large sweeping punches like crosses, uppercuts, and hooks
- Squats and ducks
- Short steps forward and back
- High knees
- Jogging on the spot
Different instructors have varying ways of implementing boxercise. You can make modifications if you need to, such as staying seated while punching the air or a punching bag.
How did boxercise start?
Boxercise has been around for a while now, but it’s still picking up steam as people become more interested in enhancing fitness, especially at the dawn of the new year. In 1992, professional boxing coach Andy Wake created boxercise in the United Kingdom. Throughout the 1990s, millions of Brits got involved, and the concept soon generated interest worldwide.
The largest boxercise class
Boxing and world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua broke a world record for the largest Boxercise lesson. On Monday, 9th April 2018, Anthony took part in a mammoth fitness challenge in London alongside 540 other participants. Boxing coach Andy Wake led the class through 10 rounds of exercises for a 30-minute session, with music like the power anthem ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen motivating everyone to push through every minute.
What are the benefits of boxercise?
Boxercise provides plenty of benefits, such as:
- Revamp your workout routine.
- Burn calories and help with weight loss.
- Improve your blood pressure and cardiovascular fitness.
- Improve your overall fitness, agility, and posture.
- Work on your balance, coordination, and endurance.
- Strengthen your lower body and core with moves like squats.
- Strengthen your upper body by swinging punches and performing other bodyweight moves.
