Improving Your Cardio with Boxing

Improve your cardio with this intense boxing workout

 

Back in the day, when my coach asked me to spell the word “hell,” all I said was: C A R D I O.

If my coach asked me to spell that word today, I would do the exact same thing. All jokes aside, cardio is one of the hardest things to do in any type of sport.

If you are an athlete then you know what I mean by that. You spend hours upon hours working on your cardio. Many people, including my early self, asked the question: WHY? Why would you spend time working on cardio when you can invest that time to work on actual skill and power?

Well, the answer is quite simple. You won’t be able to showcase your skill or your power if you don’t have the stamina and durability. Your body will fail you!

To be honest, cardio is one of the most important things in sports, especially boxing. There were phenomenal fighters who were better than their opponents but they lost because they ran out of energy, or simply, “gassed out”! That’s why boxers (and other MMA fighters) are in incredible shape.

With that being said, it doesn’t matter what your sport is, cardio is a necessity! This article will show you how you can use boxing as an excellent way of improving your cardio.

 Warm-up

First things first: WARM-UP!!!

Many people forget the importance of a good warm-up. You can’t just rush right into your main workout, no matter what your workout is; not even if it’s yoga!

Take your time and prepare your body for what follows. If you skip your warm-up, your body will be under a shock and this may lead to many health problems later.

1. Jump Jacks – Stand with both feet together and your hands at sides. Simultaneously raise your arms above your head and jump up just enough to spread your feet out wide. Start your Warm-Up by doing 40 jump jacks. They target all of your muscle groups and heat them up. After this point, you will feel awaken and ready to continue. The exercise also helps to improve cardiovascular health.
2. High Knees – Stand straight and place your feet a little apart from one another. Place your palms down facing the floor, hovering just above your belly button. Quickly lift your right knee up to meet your right hand, bring the same leg back to the ground immediately, after which turn the left knee up to meet your left hand and continue switching. This exercise develops your leg strength and endurance by requiring quick action. Do it for 30 seconds.
3. Jump rope – Set the rope behind you, so that the middle of it hits the back of your feet. Use your wrists to swing the rope over your head, not moving your arms. Try to use only the wrists. When the rope comes towards the front of your feet, hop over it. Stand on your tiptoes, and push a little off, so you won’t touch the ground. Try to keep the motion in your ankles. Don’t over bend your knees, otherwise, it’ll be harder to complete the exercise.

If you are a beginner, then start with a slow pace. Maintain a straight back and find a steady rhythm. If you watch your feet as you jump, you’ll be more likely to get off balance.

As you get better, pick up the speed and try to be on balance as long as possible. Do it for about 25 seconds, and your body will be fully ready to go all out.

These are important exercises you must complete before going for the main part of the training.

Main Training

If you still don’t know why boxers are in such great physical shape, trying this exercise will make you figure that out right from the beginning! I mean, we’ve all watched boxing movies, right? In each and every one of those movies the boxer has at least 10 minutes of screen time just running up a hill. Why? Well, CARDIO!

BASIC BOXING ELEMENTS:

(Of course I thought about you guys who never practiced boxing before … relax!)

1. Jab – The jab is a boxer’s best friend! It keeps distance, delivers damage and makes the boxer have a “feel” for his opponent. In a real boxing match, boxers can throw more than 50 of these! Here is how you do the jab.

Get in the boxing stance. Lean forward with your elbows in and your dominant hand a little lower than your non-dominant one. Transfer your weight forward and jab. If you are right-handed, then simultaneously shift your left foot back and put your weight onto your right leg, while throwing your right arm into a quick, powerful jab. Shift your right foot back if you are left-handed, while also putting pressure on your left leg. Be sure to rotate your palm down.

As soon as your fist reaches full extension, quickly pull it back to its original position. This exercise is specifically good for transferring body weight into a punching power. The jab increases your heart rate in a very short time.

2. Cross – To get maximum power, make sure that you fully extend your arm when throwing the cross. The power of the cross is distributed from your back foot to your lead foot. Just before you hit the target, rotate your fist so that the palm of your hand is facing downwards towards the floor. At the same time you’re throwing the cross, shift your rear foot. You should have your heel upwards, toes on the ground and facing exactly in the same direction where your cross is heading towards.

Remember to keep your chest up. After you throw the cross, never leave your hand out there. Bring it back.

3. Uppercuts – Stand in a regular boxing stance. Set your arm in a comfortable angle. If you want to throw an uppercut with your left hand, then shift more weight to your left foot. It’s the same technique for the right uppercut, and the only difference is that you have to put more weight on your right feet in this case.

This exercise improves your boxing technique and takes a lot of energy. It also builds biceps and triceps muscles.

4. Power Cross – Twist your body to your dominant foot side. Simultaneously rotate your front foot and upper body as well. Throw it as fast as you can.
5. Hooks – The hook is one of the strongest punches in boxing. This technique builds strength, increases speed and is extremely good for cardio.

The first step of this quick “hook tutorial” is to keep your guard up. Then, bend your striking arm at a 90 degree angle while your other hand is still protecting your hand. Since this is a power move, and you want maximum power since you are doing cardio, you should rotate your body. While you are letting that punch fly, rotate your pivot foot. Also, remember to follow through! Remember to do all the little things as the hook will take the most energy out of you.

THE WORKOUT

Okay, now that you know the very basic elements of boxing, it’s time to put them to some good use and work on your cardio in a fun and challenging way!

There are two ways of doing this. The first one would be to do SHADOWBOXING and the second one would be to use THE BAG.

Shadowboxing is exactly what it sounds like. There is only you and your imaginary opponent. Your goal is to defeat the “guy” in front of you. This will be great for all of you who don’t own a punching bag.

The other method doesn’t need explaining, right?

It goes without saying that you can (and if you are able, SHOULD) mix the two!

So, here is what you can do.

COMBINATION I

 

• After you have done your warm-up, start with some jabs. Just regular jabs with one arm. After two minutes of jabbing with your one arm, change your stance and do the exact same thing with the other one. This will really get the blood flowing.

• After those 4 minutes, make combinations. Throw a jab and then immediately cross. Then throw two jabs and one cross. After two, go for three and then return to one jab, one cross. Do three sets of these for 2 minutes each. Rest 2 minutes between sets. Of course, go easy! If you go all out and throw a million punches, you won’t last for a single set!

• After that, it’s time to include other elements. Do the same combination like in the second step, but throw an uppercut at the end. After that, instead of the uppercut, throw a hook. Try and do 4 sets for as many minutes as you can. This will burn you out!

 

COMBINATION II

 

• Start with one-two punches, which means: jab and cross. 2 sets of 2 minutes will be good.

• After that, you will be doing boxing burpies. So, get down to the ground and do a pushup. Immediately after you have done the pushup, get on your feet and jump as high as you can. After the jump, throw a quick jab which is followed by an explosive cross, uppercut and then the hook! Three sets for as long as you can. Challenge yourself!

• After that, use the bag and throw hooks and crosses for 2 minutes straight. If you don’t own a bag, then shadowbox!

 

TIP: It really all comes down to this word: IMPROVISE! There is so much you can do with these basic elements. If you don’t want to do these combinations, make your own. Do what your body says and let those punches fly! always stick to the fundamentals! If you throw wild shots you will be wasting energy for nothing.

Breathing

There is a great necessity of breath control, as cardio level depends on it. In case of throwing slow strikes, you must also take deep and slow breath. If you strike hard and fast, then you must also breathe fast. You don’t want to get tired soon, so always control your breathing.

Cool-Down

It’s important to cool your body down after a hard workout. There are some boxing exercises that will cool your body up. Make sure to do them all.

1. Jabs – This exercise also calms your hands down. Do it slowly for a minute.
2. Stretching –

1) Stand straight, keep your hands behind back as you straighten out your arms and lift chin to the ceiling. This will stretch the muscles of your chest.

2) Triceps/Shoulder – Take one arm overhead, bend at the elbow joint, extending palm down to the center of your back. Gently pull elbow with opposite hand. Take the same arm across the chest, pulling at the elbow joint to extend through the shoulder. Switch hands.

3) Shake your arms in the air.

Conclusion

Like I already told you, the beauty of doing boxing for your cardio lies in the fact that you have all the freedom you want; if you master the fundamentals, that is.

With that being said, you should use the combinations you read about here as your starting workout and as you make progress, you can design a completely new workout for yourself. You have the green light!

Just stick to the basics and work on that cardio. You already have everything you need.

Good luck with your cardio boxing workouts!