A fun and easy way to build upper body strength and develop your cardio is to practice boxing. You don’t need to be a great boxer to get the most out of your workout. You just need to be able to keep moving, throw a few punches, and don’t give up.
1) Music – When I practice boxing, music is key! I need some fun power pop to push me along. And yes, I always start with the theme from Rocky before I move on to Kanye.
2) Stay moving – A good boxer never stands still and uses the momentum from his or her legs to put more strength in the punches. Make sure you are constantly shuffling your feet, even while maintaining you stance. This is a great way to build your stamina and train cardio.
3) Simple punch combinations – Start with some simple punch combinations, jab — hook, jab—hook. Concentrate on your stance, and use your core to give a solid punch. Continue to the simple punch combinations for two minutes at a time, with a short water break of 30 seconds in between.
4) More advanced punch combinations – Once you are warmed up, you can move on to more advanced punch combinations – Jab, hook, cross, jab— jab, hook cross, jab— again you can make up your own combinations, just make sure they require both brain power and arm power! Keep these up for two minutes, and remember to keep your feet moving the entire time.
5) Blocking – Just as important as being able to punch is being able to block. Add some ducks and blocks to your routine now – Duck, block left, block right —Duck, block left, block right.
6) Bob and weave – Practice moving around and bobbing down and around to avoid punches to the stomach and head. Throw in a jab when you feel you can open up a bit. So the routine should be bob, weave, jab, jab, bob, weave, jab, jab.
7) Punching bag – If you have access to a punching bag, practice throwing as many jabs as you can during the course of two minutes. This is a great way to build up your stamina and strength. Alternate your punches, but maintain one kind of punch for the entire two-minute period. Rest and repeat with a different punch.
8) Push ups – Don’t forget to throw in a round of push-ups at the end of this workout to help build up the strength of your entire arm. It is a great way to finish off this fun upper body workout.
I received a heavy bag as a Christmas gift from my husband. Initially I didn’t know how to respond to this gift. However, it has become one of my favorite gifts I’ve received. Why is this?
I work out 6 days a week and had begun to be bored with my routine. With the heavy bag, I have begun using boxing as a weekly cardio workout. Additionally, if I am in a bad mood, a few minutes taking aggression out on the bag works wonders.