List Of Boxing Tips

Boxing is a full body and intensive sport. Warming up the body and muscles and doing the appropriate fitness prior to matches is essential to keeping yourself safe. Boxers often have a lot of gear that they use for fitness, but much of the exercises that are done with the gear can be done without the access to expensive equipment. Safety is priority, and making sure you know how to perform the different exercises and the different aspects of the sport appropriately will help keep you safe.

General Tips

• Feeling uncomfortable at first is okay
• You’ll get out what you put in
• Come back to your basics
• Practice often
• Find a gym
• No gym? Do at home workouts
• Find someone to share your passion
• You are number one
• Listen to those around you
• Have fun

Feeling uncomfortable at first is okay

When you are first starting a new sport, everything feels foreign. Getting used to the stance, how to throw punches and shift your weight, and all of the slight nuances that have to be brought together is difficult. It takes time and practice.

You’ll get out what you put in

The time and practice that let you get used to boxing as a whole is going to take effort (as any new skill does). The effort and time put in by you will be rewarded down the line.

Come back to your basics

As in most things, your basics are where you live and breathe. Fundamentals will always be there if you practice them, and they will be what you fall back on when you are pressed to the ropes and at the end of the match. Do not neglect the fundamentals during practice.

Practice often

Boxing is, fortunately, a sport where technique can be practiced outside of a gym in daily life. Shadowboxing, isometric workouts, and generally just being in the mental headspace that you often fall into during a match will also be beneficial (that headspace is taxing so getting used to it is essential).

Find a gym

Gyms will have access to trainers and coaches that will be able to give you the hands-on instruction that new boxers tend to find extremely helpful. Not only that, there will also be access to ring space and gear (punching bags, hit pads, etc.) that are beneficial to training.

No gym? Do at home workouts

Home workouts that consist of body weight and supplemental drills to help improve hand-eye coordination and general fitness are sufficient to keep forward progress in your training. With Covid-19 and general difficulty of access to gyms that have the specialized equipment that was aforementioned, going to a gym to train might be extremely difficult. Non-traditional training is a viable alternative!

Find someone to share your passion

Whether it be at a gym or in your personal life, having someone who is involved with the passions that you hold will aid in training, progression, and make your time more enjoyable. Make friends and expand your social circle at a gym (having people who share the same interests increases motivation and will also provide a person to spar and practice with). In your personal life, sharing your passions will help you have someone who is always in your corner so to speak. Having that support network is essential in all aspects of life, and this is no different.

You are number one

This is a phrase that means that you need to prioritize your own safety and wellbeing. Look out for yourself first, and your training comes second.

Listen to those around you

Your partners and coaches will be doing just that: coaching you. Listen and have an open mind. They practice the sport and see flaws and will help you correct them. This ultimately leads to you being a better boxer but also you being safer.

Have fun

Boxing is a sport that is meant to be done for both fitness and enjoyment. If you aren’t having fun then you are missing a key aspect of your time in the ring or on the bag.

Tips for Warming up

Warming up is where the workout begins. It should prepare you for the exercise to come, not exhaust you or leave you prone to injury.

• Dynamic Warmup
• Light fitness activities
• Stretching
• Be thorough

Dynamic warmup

Warming up and stretching is important, but stretching on cold muscles tends to lead to muscle tearing and injury. Instead, do a dynamic warmup of shadowboxing and other light fitness (pushups, situps, light jump rope) in order to get blood flow to your muscles before you stretch.

Light fitness activities

Doing partial rounds on a speed bag supersetted with shadow boxing and other bodyweight activities and done before the actual training session can help get the body ready for heavier physical activity. Start slow, and slowly work up to around 75 percent of your full strength or speed. A round is three minutes, amateur fights will go for three rounds, and professional fights for 12. For training purposes, partial rounds can be anywhere from one to two minutes for warming up.

Stretching

Stretching your muscles post light fitness and post dynamic warm up is standard practice. The dynamic warm up and fitness will get the blood flow needed to make stretching an efficient and beneficial process. For standard stretching, you will pull tension along the muscle fibers in order to stretch them out. You can also do partner stretches where you progressively add more tension and stretch with the aid of a partner.

Be thorough

People say that your body is a temple. A temple cannot be run without proper structure and temperament. Clay must be fired before it can support or hold anything, and your body is no different. After warming up, stretch every muscle for at least 10-15 seconds, then do your whole body a second time. Soft tissue injuries (tendon and ligament tears, as well as muscle tears) are debilitating and some of the least fun things that could happen to an athlete. Proper stretching and warmup will avoid that.

Safety Tips

• Wrap your hands well
• Wrap before you punch
• Punch appropriately
• Wear the appropriate gear
• Always bring your hands home
• Keep your eyes up

Wrap your hands well

Wrapping your hands with the appropriate wraps, supporting your wrists, and padding your knuckles are all key points to wrapping your hands and are necessary for safety.

Wrap before you punch

Do not punch anything other than a speed bag without wraps on. This will injure you!

Punch appropriately

Turn your wrist in the appropriate direction before you punch. With your 1’s and 2’s (jabs and crosses), your fist should be fully turned over, with your palm facing the ground. With 3’s and 4’s (left and right hooks), your palm should be facing you, while traveling across the plane of your body from left to right. With 5’s and 6’s (uppercuts), your palm should be facing you while the punch travels upwards.

Wear the appropriate gear

Wear appropriate body protection and head protection if training another person or sparring, and wear the appropriate gloves for the exercise and for the type of equipment you are using. This includes wearing a mouthguard! Never forget it; sparring or fighting without a mouthguard can be deadly. Gloves vary by weight and size, look at a sizing chart or follow the direction of your coach. Wearing the wrong gloves can lead to injury to yourself or your partner.

Always bring your hands home

Having your hands come home, or touch your cheekbones, will mean that your face is always protected. Letting your hands drop or not touch your face will lead to your face being open to punches.

Keep your eyes up

Keeping your eyes up and watching your opponent. Watching where you are punching will keep your punches landing properly. It will also keep you from dropping your head as a match goes on and exposing the upper portion of your skull.