You may have heard that boxing is an excellent workout for females. But how so? What are the benefits of boxing for women?
While many boxing women typically practice this sport to lose weight, it offers various perks, both physically and psychologically. Not only does it shape your entire body, but you also gain overall confidence and work on your balance.
Many use boxing to release pent up stress and anxiety from their busy lives. In this article, we detailed and explain all the upsides of boxing for girls. Warning: after this reading, you might be shopping for a punching bag!
Boxing for Women
Before we delve deeper into each of these benefits, here are the full benefits:
- Physical improvements.
- Overall health improvements.
- Assisting with stress.
- Improve patience.
- Increase reflex times and stability.
- Confidence gains.
Physical Improvements
The primary advantage of this physical activity is to shape your body. As a full-body workout, you’ll exercise from head to toe.
Weight Loss
One of the most popular boxing objectives for females is weight loss. Boxing is an intensive HITT — or High-Intensity Intermittent Training — workout. It consists of fast bursts of energy followed by recovery time.
HITT was proved to be more efficient to burn fat than most other types of exercises. It even improves the uptake of glucose, preventing diabetes. Additionally, HIT aids in getting rid of the abdominal fat associated, although you can’t spot-target fat loss from the body.
Boxing keeps your heartbeat elevated at all times. Even between powerful strikes, you’re still moving around the bag or opponent while catching your breath. Don’t forget that sparring and avoiding punches are also considered an endurance workout.
One hour of boxing training can burn up to almost 600 calories. For many women, that’s one-third of their daily calorie intake.
Tones your Arms
The harder you punch, the stronger your muscles will get.
Keep in mind that our bodies get used to the resistance we put them through. This means that to keep shaping your arms, you need to increase the resistance. You can do so by striking harder or by adding wrist weights while exercising.
Striking helps in muscle definition, working alongside with fat loss. Yet, don’t expect outstanding results within a few days. Depending on how fit you are, it can take a couple of months to see the difference.
If you think that boxing will get you too bulky, this isn’t something to worry about. No matter how hard you punch, this sport won’t make you beefy overnight. Bear in mind that, to create their muscular shape, most boxers practice heavy weight lifting.
Works the Abs
Many women look to sit-ups under the impression that it’ll turn their tummy into this flat stomach they’ve been dreaming of. The reality is that crunches don’t engage all core muscles, and can be detrimental to your back.
Boxing, however, contracts every muscle of the core. Firstly, kicking, punching and rotation movements will condition your abdominal muscles. In addition, the HIIT workout will help to burn the visceral fat surrounding your abs. Together, they should bring these abdominal muscles back to life.
Boxing keeps your core engaged at all times. With most punches, your torso, abs and hips will play a significant role in the strength of your strike. Sparring, side hooks and leg kicks specifically work on your obliques.
What About the Legs?
Legs are often underworked in most workouts — you’ll see many bodybuilders with a muscular torso and tiny legs. The phrase, “don’t skip leg day” comes to mind here.
Working on the lower body is, however, critical to balance out muscle growth and keep healthy joints. Boxing is a full-body exercise, engaging your upper just as much as your lower body.
Lower body exercises tend to burn more calories than our upper body does. The more calories you burn, the faster your metabolism, and the more fat you burn in the process.
Boxing training incorporates continuous bouncing on the feet, even when not punching. These small jumps are sometimes done on the toes, providing a great calf exercise.
Leg kicks should get your glutes on fire after only a few movements. The higher you kick, the more you’re doing a full-leg workout. Some female boxers even add ankle weights to increase the challenge.
Routines specifically designed for females generally include fitness movements for more intensive leg training. Sets are often combined with burpees, jumping squats and lunges.
Makes You Healthier
The benefits of boxing for females are endless and go way beyond physical appearance. Here are a few:
- Improving your stamina, you’ll be more energized and won’t feel as exhausted.
- Female boxing training provides the needed cardiovascular exercise to prevent heart diseases, such as heart attacks, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
- This type of aerobic workout also increases blood circulation, which can slow down with a sedentary lifestyle.
- It also boosts your immune and lymphatic systems. Not only will you be less likely to get sick, but if you do, your body will be more responsive in fighting the intruders.
- By stabilizing blood sugar levels, boxing can help prevent or control diabetes.
- Finally, sleep and exercise have a dual relationship. When you sleep better, you’re more energized for a workout. Exercise more, and you should get a better night’s sleep.
Assists in Handling Stress
Nowadays, stress and anxiety are a common issue among all genders. Yet, females — especially married women — tend to be more impacted by stress than men.
Exercise — and therefore, boxing — improves your mental health. With exercise, the body produces endorphins, helping the body to cope with anxiety. It decreases the tension accumulated in an individual after a long working day.
Women also tend to internalize negative feelings and frustrations. Boxing is the ideal sport to let these unhealthy emotional states out. Beside your heavy bag, no one will get hurt, and you’ll feel much lighter afterward.
Improves Patience
Boxing is an activity that requires patience. First, results and skills come with practice and repetition. As your opponent can hit at any time, you need to stay focused while punching, but also between strikes.
You’ll get to improve your technique gradually, setting yourself realistic goals. Patience does pay off, and you’ll get the reward as you win your first match or start challenging your trainer.
Reflex and Stability
The importance of stability exercises increases with age. As we grow older, staying balanced becomes challenging in daily life; reflexes become slower and less precise.
Boxing is an exceptional aid in regards to all these aspects. During a routine, you’re constantly moving, on the toes and balls of the feet, moving from one side to another, constantly changing directions. Your footwork technique will keep you stable, even when avoiding a punch from your rival.
This sport also improves hand-eye coordination, especially when using a hanging or speed bag. The swinging motion increases the challenge of hitting the bag at the right timing.
Increases Confidence
An important benefit of boxing for women is an increased sense of self-esteem. Today, it’s critical for females to learn how to defend themselves and get away from potential tricky situations. Where women would have previously remained more passive, boxing makes females more confident to fight back.
Feeling stronger and in shape also increases self-assurance. Feeling good in your body makes for a stronger and happier mind.
Boxing is Definitely for Women!
Boxing isn’t a sport exclusively for men anymore. It’s becoming a popular workout and hobby for females as well.
As you can see, there are many benefits of boxing for women. More than a simple weight loss exercise, it provides various physical and mental advantages. You’ll feel healthier and more relaxed when facing life’s struggles. It can also increase your self-control and confidence.
Commonly Asked Questions
- What size boxing gloves should a woman get?
The importance of properly fitting gloves can’t be overstated. The purpose of hand wrapping and gloves is for the protection of your hands and wrists. Repeated striking of heavy bags or sparring sessions will take a toll on your joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments. Find out more about what size boxing gloves to get.
- Boxing class for women?
All beginners are strongly suggested to learn from a trainer and/or a mentor first. You will receive immediate and personalized feedback from your coach in person will accelerate your learning and assist you develop proper techniques and habits. Rest assured, there are merits and options of learning from the comfort of your home – through online classes. Some training can be done at home quite effectively, such as shadowboxing and heavy bag workouts.