Train Like a Fighter to Look Like a Warrior

When a properly conditioned boxer steps into the ring, he or she emanates power, strength and agility from their very core. This is no accident. Boxers spend a huge amount of time training daily, utilizing methods from traditional cardio, to weight training and calisthenics, to sport-specific training drills. If you have actual aspirations to compete, you’ll need to spend plenty of time sparring actual opponents. But if you simply want a lean, rock-hard physique, you can pick and choose the boxing training methods you desire.

ROADWORK

Traditional boxing roadwork conjures up images of waking up before dawn, putting on a sweatsuit, downing a couple of raw eggs, and going for a long run. Though you certainly need excellent aerobic capacity to go the distance in the ring, modern roadwork looks more like high intensity interval training. After all, boxing is more about short bursts of power and energy, and is therefore highly anaerobic in nature. Run in intervals for a couple minutes, take a breather, and run again. Throw in sprints, skips, or hill sprints. You can even jog for a while, perform some body weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, or burpees, and then jog some more. Remember though, traditional running for distance has its place in training for the ring and general fitness. Your aerobic capacity is a direct indicator of good health.

JUMPROPE

Boxers skip a lot of rope. Initially, especially if you haven’t skipped rope since you were a kid, this is a demanding workout in and of itself. But boxers mainly skip rope to improve their agility, coordination, speed, and footwork. A jump rope is cheap, portable, and a valuable tool in the arsenal of anyone serious about fitness. Choose a jump rope appropriate for your height and find a place with plenty of room to practice, preferably somewhere with a shock-absorbing surface like a tennis court or a gym mat.  And you will need to practice. It’s extremely frustrating at first, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Focus solely on your technique at first, completing short 15-30 second rounds of skipping rope until you are fluid and consistent. When you are, the options are limited only by your imagination. You can jump for minutes at a time, mimicking the duration of a boxing round. You can start to learn an endless supply of tricks. You can add jumping rope to a circuit training routine. Skip rope as fast as you can for 20 seconds. Then perform a set of push-ups, a set of pull-ups and a short sprint. Rest a moment and repeat as desired.

SHADOW BOXING

A well-trained boxer is so devastatingly effective because their movements have been ingrained into their muscle-memory. This comes from years of sparring and shadow boxing. If you’re training for general fitness and don’t want to spar, you can still gain plenty of benefits from shadow boxing, which is essentially boxing with yourself, with or without a mirror. If you know anyone who has boxed in the past, ask them for a little training session about how to throw the basic punches and form combinations. If you don’t know anyone, at least watch some videos to see the proper form. You must learn the technique visually. When you do, shadow boxing is the perfect way to start the morning for those interested in general fitness. Your body is in a fasted state and fully prepared to burn fat. Wake up, shake out the kinks and ease into a shadow boxing round. Go for five to ten minutes, rest for a bit, and perform another round. Cool down with a basic stretching routine and you’ll face the day invigorated. Of course, you can make shadow boxing as demanding as you want by going all out and merging it into your circuit training routine.



Boxing training is not easy but it is fun. It’s certainly refreshing if you’re only used to jogging on a treadmill and hitting the weights. If you try it, you may catch the boxing bug and purchase some heavy bags or speed bags. You may even be compelled to join a boxing gym and step in the ring to train like a fighter!