Boxing in and of itself, as a standalone workout routine, is quite effective. It will get you in shape rather quickly and effectively.
Still, it’s good to compliment boxing training with strength and conditioning. You want the body to operate at peak performance, and working on your strength and conditioning will achieve just that.
Strength and conditioning is, no doubt, a major component of boxing. Elite fighters from all around the globe hire specialists who excel specifically in this area to supervise their strength and conditioning.
They pay millions of dollars for the best trainers. At the highest levels of competition, this is more than just a necessary expense. It could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
For everyone else, strength and conditioning could mean just allowing you to train harder and better, and perform more efficiently in sparring or in competition.
We’ve listed down a few of the most effective strength and conditioning exercises, specifically for the sport of boxing. Incorporating these workouts into your routine will allow you to punch faster, harder, move quicker and more fluid, and go longer than ever before. These are the secrets to a boxer’s distinct athleticism.
If you’re looking to take your boxing game to the next level, here are some workouts you should give a try. Today, Evolve Daily shares some of the best strength and conditioning exercises for boxing.
1) Burpees
Not many people can say they enjoy doing burpees, and that’s understandable. They are extremely challenging, and usually are a good indicator of fitness level. First and foremost, burpees are among the best exercises you can do for boxing.
Burpees train your explosiveness, rip your core to shreds, and develop your stamina, while engaging your shoulders, biceps, triceps. It’s a full-body workout that quickly raises your heart rate, and helps you build endurance and cardiovascular strength.
Without a doubt, it’s one of the most essential strength and conditioning exercises for boxing.
2) Deadlifts
Deadlifts are a must for any strength and conditioning program.
The humble deadlift is commonplace in bodybuilding routines to develop core and lower back strength. They also activate your glutes and hamstrings. Any exercise that places focus on the core muscle group is great for boxing.
When doing deadlifts, you should always place emphasis on proper form, and going too heavy too soon. You want to ease yourself in.
Both toes should point forward, with no rounding of the back as you lift. On the way back down, the bar should descend in a straight vertical motion, with your knees slightly bent.
3) Push-Ups
Push-ups are a perfect exercise to build strength for martial arts.
Push-ups may seem very basic, but they are all about that strength and conditioning. Like burpees, the more fit you are, the more push-ups you can perform. With great emphasis placed on the shoulders, chest, and arms, push-ups are amazing for boxing.
They build endurance in your arms, which is important in any striking martial art, allowing you to throw more punches in volume. They also pack the dynamite behind your punches, giving you that coveted knockout power.
Like every exercise, make sure you’re doing your push-ups with the right form to maximize its benefits.
4) Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are great for building overall strength.
Working the opposite motion, pull-ups are equally as important. Pull-ups also help develop upper body strength, while also making sure to stimulate the upper back. This is essential for pulling motion, such as that used in various clinching situations in boxing.
However, pull-ups may be the hardest exercise on this list, and it takes an extreme amount of strength to be able to execute even just one, let alone a whole series.
Start by trying your best to do at least 2-3 pull-ups per day, gradually increasing that number as you get stronger.
5) Jump Rope
Jumping rope is an important part of boxing.
Moving on to the cardiovascular strength and conditioning aspect of boxing, we tackle the essential jump rope.
The jump rope is one of the most commonly used workout tools in boxing. It’s a unique cardiovascular challenge that cannot be replicated by any other workout. Boxers use the jump rope specifically for building overall conditioning and to develop better coordination.
Don’t be fooled by its simplistic nature. Jumping rope is one of the most intense workouts you’ll ever experience. The great thing about it is that it’s a lot of fun, so you’ll never get bored with it.
6) Agility Ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uVt4REeZHs
The agility ladder is another great boxing workout. It focuses on the lower body, training you to move your legs and feet in a coordinated and deliberate manner. This is especially beneficial to training your footwork, which is, of course, one of the most important aspects of boxing.
The agility ladder can quickly raise your heart rate, breaking you into an intense sweat in just a matter of minutes. It burns copious amounts of calories, which helps you cut weight and get lean. Even more importantly, it takes your movement and ring generalship to the next level by allowing you to maneuver yourself across the ring with ease.
7) HIIT
ONE Superstar Amir Khan from the EVOLVE Fight Team working out at Evolve MMA (Far East Square).
Diving further into the cardiovascular side of things, we tackle one of the best strength and conditioning drills in any sport — High-Intensity Interval Training, otherwise known as HIIT.
HIIT has become immensely popular, not just in training for sports or competition, but also as a general fitness workout in traditional gym settings. It consists of fast, high-intensity exercises that push you to near 100% capacity for short durations, followed by low-intensity rest intervals.
This constant change of pace and heart rate produces an ‘afterburn effect’, which allows your body to continue burning calories long after you’re done with your workout.
8) Road Work
Running is one of the most popular cardio exercises.
Last but not least, is good old-fashioned road work.
Every boxer involves road work in their routine one way or another, whether that’s spending a few minutes of every training session on the treadmill like Canelo Alvarez, or taking it to the outdoors like Manny Pacquiao. It develops your stamina and endurance, and helps you focus your mind while you train.
The slow, steady-state cardio provides just enough of a challenge to raise your heart rate ever so slightly, and sustain it for a long period of time. Most boxers use road work to burn off excess weight to help them reach the upper limit.
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