Boxing Circuit Training

You don’t need to fly like a butterfly or sting like a bee to get one of the best full body work-outs in or out of the gym. Boxing circuit training is one of the best full body exercises and the good (or great news), you never have to take a punch. Whether you train at a boxing studio, gym or your home garage – boxing circuit training will burn the most calories, give you a full body burn and minimize the risk of injury.

The history of boxing goes back thousands of years B.C. where slaves and criminals would fight for sport to win freedom or gain independence. The sport of boxing has supplied us with some of the best quotes and sports figures of all time. Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson or Manny Pacquiao are some of the most popular figures but they also had to take a few hits to earn the title of greatest. Today your only hit or sentence should be a commitment to at least an hour of hard core calorie burn of 500+, full body anaerobic work-out and cardio exercise.

More than any other sport in the gym, an hour of hard core boxing will burn between 500-700 calories. Whether you’re actually sparring with another boxer or simply shadow boxing, no other anaerobic activity will burn as many calories as boxing. A simple warm up should consist of 2-3 minutes of jumping rope followed by a series of body exercises to prepare or loosen the body up for exercise. These exercises should consist of abdominal crunches, push-ups, pull-ups, walking lunges and wall squats.

Other than simply shadow boxing or sparring, other great forms of boxing circuit training include hitting the heavy bag, speed bag, double ended bag or mitts with a partner or coach. The exercise you choose will take on a personality of it’s own. The heavy bag generally weighs over 100 Lbs and will always ask if that’s all you’ve got!? No matter how hard you hit the heavy bag it won’t go anywhere and will always come back for more. The speed bag will frustrate the best of the best when it comes to boxers as it will always test your coordination and patience to staying focus. The double ended bag will hone your hand eye coordination while keeping you light on your toes and keep your from getting flat footed. For the more advanced boxer, the mitts offer the best of all the exercises as it incorporates all the above bag exercises and improve breathing, balance, core and stamina. Once you’ve mastered the understanding of boxing mechanics you will find no other sport that let’s you go into “auto-pilot”.

Unlike other forms of anaerobic exercises, boxing requires a strong body foundation and composition. As mentioned above in warm up, boxing uses the entire body and challenges every muscle you have and will use. The use of your legs is ever important as boxers are never far from their jump rope as it works foot to eye coordination but also keeps you light on your feet and works your calves. Your mid section or ab region is your power house. This is where your strength begins to form your punch so a strong core and sense of balance is a must. Like swimming, it’s not important to have a built muscular upper body but a solid toned chest, back and arms are key to punching as you’ll use your entire body to throw a series of jabs or upper cuts.

In addition to the great anaerobic work out you’re cardio or aerobic fitness will be challenged too. Like any other sport, breathing is a must and if you don’t have strong lungs you’re boxing training will derail. Breathing is a must with each movement and controlled breathing with each punch is the key to improving your endurance, stamina and cardio when boxing. It’s important to control each breath with each punch. For every punch you should have an exhale which in turn will force you to inhale on each punch retracting. All to often beginners tend to hold their breath causing instant fatigue and drain of energy. Most boxing training requires a great set of lunges from running, swimming or boxing but an even better exercise is yoga or meditation which will require you to focus on and understand your breathing.

Like any other sport, boxing is no different in way of injury. The list is long but injury can be prevented provided you respect the sport and have the right equipment. Wrist wraps are a must as they prevent raw worn knuckles but they also protect the wrist from jamming or rolling. A mouth piece is a must as it prevents grinding of your teeth, chipping or cracking from excessive punching as you bite down to throw each punch. Lastly, head gear and gloves are a must for protecting the head when sparring and the right gloves provide comfort and protection when fighting the bags or opponents

Overview

A two-week diet and exercise plan is designed to jump start and give you quick results and hopefully start you on a fitness plan that you can follow for weeks or months, depending on your personal fitness and diet goals. In a perfect world, you might want to attempt this plan while on a stay-cation where you can utilize all the resources of your surroundings (such as your gym or yoga studio). Realistically, you will be undertaking this plan while still attending to your responsibilities connected to your work, family, friends and social life.

If this is your first attempt at working out or it’s been awhile, use the first 7 days as conditioning and easing back into a fitness and diet routine. Begin by walking, jogging, biking or swimming and incorporate yoga or mat Pilates into your cross training to prepare the body for aerobic and anaerobic activity. For your diet it’s not so important about what you eat but what you don’t. During this week you need to eliminate the following: refined sugar, dairy, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. Approach this week as a “light” detox or cleanse of easy go to foods that have been a bad habit.

Week 1

Your first week of training should mirror these suggestions: It’s important to set a schedule into motion and not deviate from it. Wright the details down in a fitness journal and ask a friend or family member to join as there’s always strength in numbers (not to mention holding each other accountable). Shoot for a 6 day training week and one day off for rest and repair. Monday go for a 15-20 minute power walk, Wednesday plan a light 30 minute jog and Friday can be your swim or bike day. Shoot for 30-45 minutes. In addition to your fitness journal, invest in a good heart rate monitor and set it to your body specs for an accurate calorie burn and for assisting you in a fat burning zone.

Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturday should be your stretch, yoga and pilates day. Stretching for 45-60 minutes as part of your 2 week fitness and diet routing will help prevent injury and keep your body and muscles loose for a more challenging week 2. In addition, it’s a great way to ease the tension from your weeks of exercising but it also helps clear your head and get you in right frame of mind for the challenges of day to day obstacles.

Your meals for the next 2 weeks need to focus on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and high fiber foods. Grazing throughout the day every 2-3 hours keeps your metabolism firing and keeps the hunger pains at bay.

Week 2

Your second week should be a more aggressive attempt or attack at your 2 week fitness and diet routine. Incorporate 2-3 days of weight training or body plyometrics at 45-60 minutes per session. Then right after your anaerobic training shoot for 30 minutes of cardio exercise like jogging, running stairs or jumping rope. For example at the gym you can weight train for 45 minutes and hope on the treadmill for a 30 minute run at a speed of 7mph and an incline of 2%. Or split train your weight training with 2 minutes of jumping rope between sets of pushups, pull ups, sit ups, body weight dips and wall squats. Your sets should be 3 x 15 per exercise with ropes in between.

Week 2 of diet or nutrition should focus on 2-3 pieces of fruit in the morning for breakfast spread out over the morning and prior to lunch. Lunch should consist of salads with raw vegetables and lemon juice, olive oil and vinegar for dressing or taste, Stay away from heavy dressings full of sugar and seasonings. Your afternoon snack should be raw nuts or naturally dried fruits for energy and keeps the hunger urges low. If at all possible stay away from coffee, energy drinks and Starbucks runs as they’re all full of sugar and you’ll get that quick push followed by just as quick a low. Dinners need to consist of 5-7oz fillets of proteins and grilled, steamed or sautéed vegetables

Summary

As mentioned in the beginning, a 2 week fitness and diet routine should be a jump start to a new you and healthy habits. It shouldn’t be a cure all and it’s important to keep the momentum rolling. Stick to a routine that fits your active lifestyle and one that one becomes a routine. Switch it up by trying new exercises and continue preparing foods at home as they always taste better, you’ll save money and you’ll look at nutrition as a lifestyle and not a yo-yo diet.

Do you think you are a healthy eater? Some foods we think are good for us, are far from healthy!

I always say that if the ingredients list is long, put the item down. Eat fresh, pure, unprocessed, local foods and I promise, you will feel great, lose weight and overall be healthier.

Here are five items that you should never put into your shopping cart.

Packaged breakfast cereals – Check for excess sugar and sodium, and a lack of fiber. They are labeled for healthy weight loss; usually their nutrients are laden with chemicals.

Go for Instant Oatmeal (plain) and add fresh fruit.

Whole Grain or Whole Wheat Bread - Their darker color generally means nothing. If the label does not say “whole grain,” who knows what you are really getting.

Go for Ezekiel Bread.

Deli meats – Most of these are loaded with sodium.

Go for a chicken breast you make yourself or a can of tuna fish.

Sports drinks – They say they replace electrolytes, generally that just means sugar.

Go for water and have some fruit and a protein after your workout.

Frozen Meals – These are processed meals, and are loaded with sugar and salt. There is absolutely no shame in eating frozen fruits and vegetables; however, these processed prepared meals are the wrong choice.

Go for preparing your own meals, on weekend or the night before then you are stocked for the week.

It’s January 2010…the time of New Year’s Resolutions. How many have you broken already? I have broken 2, cookies and sleeping in. I know in the grand scheme of things its not really a big deal, however, I told myself I would go easy on the cookies and get out of bed to hit the gym before work. It’s just as easy to break them as it is to make them…so don’t feel bad. Let’s reset the 2010 resolution button and go for it again, this time we will succeed.

Step 1: Write down your goals. You are more likely to complete your goals when you write them down and date them.

Step 2: Set realistic goals. Have 1 cookie instead of 2, sleep in 2 days instead of 4. These are definitely steps in the right direction.

Step 3: Mini goals. Set weekly attainable goals that you have a better chance of completing…boosts your confidence and your overall success.

Step 4: Be nice to yourself, you are human, be your best you and be proud of that.

-Thomas