Benefits of Boxing for Women

When it comes to working out for fitness, weight loss, and health, there are hundreds if not thousands of options to choose from. Ultimately, every one of them can be beneficial if you do them frequently and consistently enough.

If you want to get stronger, lifting weights is the way to go. But, if you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness, running, cycling, and swimming are all excellent options.

Want better core stability? Pilates is arguably the best choice. And yoga is great for developing flexibility, mobility, and balance.

However, there are plenty of workouts that are also sports. Sports are activities governed by rules. You could play soccer, tennis, or basketball to get fit and lose weight. Or, if you prefer a more aggressive type of workout, martial arts are very popular.

Of all the martial (or fighting) arts available, boxing has the widest appeal. It’s more accessible than things like Muay Thai, Ju-Jitsu, and Karate, and there are boxing clubs in most major cities.

You can compete in boxing against like-minded opponents, or train for boxing alone, working with a punching bag. In this article, we discuss the effects and benefits of boxing for women.

Benefits of Boxing for Women

To the uninitiated, boxing looks like an upper body workout. However, done right, throwing punches is actually a full-body activity that starts down at your feet and ends in your hands, using every muscle and joint in between.

Boxing is a very varied activity and involves aerobic and anaerobic fitness.

The core is very important in boxing, and it’s also an excellent calorie burner.

Boxing will develop muscular endurance, power, and strength, and your general athleticism will soon start to improve. After all, boxing is a bonafide sport.

Does boxing deserve to be part of your workouts? Consider these benefits and disadvantages and then decide!

Benefits

Accessibility – while the best way to learn to box is to join a club or hire a coach, you can do boxing training on your own or at home.

Training for boxing includes various workouts, including running, circuit training, punchbag work, sparring, core training, jumping rope, and shadowboxing. Many of these activities can be done alone and without much equipment.

This makes boxing a very accessible activity.

Full-body workout – boxing works virtually every muscle in your body and not just your arms. If you watch boxers in action, you’ll see that their feet are never still, they bob and weave constantly, and their arms are always up and moving.

This makes boxing an excellent workout for developing whole-body conditioning and muscle tone.

Great for weight loss – it’s no coincidence that most boxers are very lean. Boxers train to fight in three-minute rounds, which means that many of their workouts involve variations of interval training.

Interval training is known for burning lots of calories. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, boxing could definitely help.

Stress relief – boxing provides a great outlet for physical and mental stress. Whaling on a punching bag can help you work off the stress of the day.

If you have a high–stress job or lifestyle, boxing training will let you blow off steam while improving your all-round physical fitness.

Increased confidence – learning to box is a very rewarding activity that will help increase self-confidence. Knowing you are fit and strong is very empowering, and that will boost self-esteem.

Feeling better about yourself will have far-reaching benefits on your personal and professional life.

Self-defense – every woman should know how to defend themselves against an attacker.

Boxing is one of the most straightforward self-defense methods around.

Other martial arts are tricky to learn and often involve complicated moves. Boxing is much simpler, and, with just a little practice, you’ll soon be able to throw a decent punch.

Disadvantages

As beneficial as boxing can be, there are a couple of disadvantages to consider, too:

Injuries – boxing is a full-contact sport. And while protective equipment, boxing gloves, and good coaching will reduce your risk of injury, accidents still happen.

Remember, too, that the aim of boxing is to hit your opponent, so that’s precisely what they’re going to be trying to do to you!

You can train for boxing without ever getting hit, by working out with a punchbag, for example. But, if you want to get a real taste of boxing, you’ll need to get used to the idea of being punched.

Facial and hand injuries are regular occurrences in boxing, and concussions and brain injuries are not uncommon.

It can be considered a masculine workout – many men and women view boxing as a male-orientated workout and sport. As such, your family and friends may have some concerns if you start boxing, especially if you decide to fight competitively.

However, there is no such thing as a male or female workout, and such opinions are outdated. Don’t let these points of view influence your decision to take up boxing.

Equipment – if you join a boxing club, everything you need will be provided for you.  However, if you decide to start boxing training alone, you’ll need to buy a punching bag, boxing gloves, hand wraps, a jump rope, workout mat, and other items of workout equipment.

This financial outlay can be prohibitive, especially if you aren’t 100% sure that boxing is for you.

Bottom Line

Fitness experts love to argue about things like the best diet or most effective workout. But, with both nutrition and exercise, what works for one person may not be right for another.

That’s because we’re all individuals with our own fitness goals, likes, and dislikes. For some, yoga is the ultimate workout, but for others, Olympic weightlifting is the best.

Ultimately, the perfect workout for you is the one you a) enjoy and b) can do regularly. In most cases, enjoying a workout means you are more likely to do it consistently.

So, while boxing might not be the best workout for everyone, if it’s something you enjoy and look forward to, it could be the best workout for you!

Boxing is an excellent workout for developing all-around fitness, burning calories, and losing weight. It’s also a good form of self-defense.

You can do boxing training alone but, in most cases, joining a boxing club or working out with a trainer will produce better results and faster progress.

Most people associate boxing with fighting, but you don’t have to box competitively if you don’t want to. In fact, a lot of boxing training methods are solo or non-contact activities, such as jumping rope, shadowboxing, and running.

That said, if you choose to take boxing to its logical conclusion, you’ll need to accept that you’re going punch and get punched, which could cause injuries. However, you can still enjoy many of the benefits of boxing training even if you choose never to step into the ring.

Ultimately, boxing is an unorthodox but effective way to get fit, so try it; you might like it!