When most people are asked to think of a “strong person,” they usually picture someone having enormous muscles and lifting ridiculous amounts of weight.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, when people say they’re looking to get stronger, what they really mean is that they’re looking to improve their current overall fitness levels.

That’s why it’s important to really understand what we mean by strength. The dictionary definition of strong is “having the power to perform physically demanding tasks.”

With that in mind, boxing is a sure-fire way to achieve that goal. A fitness regimen based on boxing will help you burn a ton of calories, strengthen the muscles you use on a daily basis to perform a variety of tasks and help your body feel better in general.

In other words, boxing might not be the best way to suddenly become strong enough to where you can bench press a large automobile. It can, however, help you get stronger (especially in your largest muscle groups), perform exercises longer and feel less tired.

Boxing Improves Your Entire Body’s Strength

Several years ago, the United States-based sports television channel ESPN convened a panel of 10 experts, including sports scientists, journalists and former athletes to rank different sports in terms of their overall physical and athletic demands.

Out of the 60 different sports ranked, boxing came in first, in terms of the sport that encompassed the highest combination of 10 different athletic components, including strength, power, endurance, speed and agility.

It would follow, then, that anyone who’s looking to improve their body in a way such that they’ll improve their overall speed, strength and stamina could do so through boxing.

Boxing Will Help You Strengthen Key Muscles

Any time you use your muscle to exert a higher and more frequent level of energy than your typical baseline movements, your muscles repair themselves in a way such that they’ll be able to endure that stress the next time it might take place. Scientifically, this is referred to as hypertrophy.

As we’ve discussed in several other posts on the Gloveworx blog, just because boxing involves using your arms to deliver a punch doesn’t mean the only muscles you work are in your arms. Rather, any time you throw a punch, you’re engaging your entire body. The power for the punch comes from your legs and the torque generated by your midsection. That energy is transferred up into your chest to begin the motion for delivering the punch, and then finally through your shoulders and arms which deliver the strike.

Thus, the basic movements associated with boxing will inherently strengthen the key muscle groups in your upper body and lower body, such those in your arms, shoulders, midsection, back and legs. The more you repeat these exercises, like when you throw hundreds of punches over the course of a Gloveworx training session, the more your body will adapt to this level of activity, by strengthening all of those muscles to ensure it will be ready to endure your next workout.

Boxing Will Help You Burn Tons of Calories

Calories are one of the most infamous words in the diet and fitness community. But let’s remove the stigma associated with this word by taking a step back and understanding that a calorie is really nothing more than a unit of energy. Even when you’re sleeping, your body burns calories to keep your heart beating, lungs breathing and blood moving throughout your system.

When you exercise, your muscles are working harder, your heart is beating faster, your lungs are inhaling and exhaling air more frequently and blood is coursing through your body more rapidly. As such, your body burns more calories to ensure these movements can take place. As boxing is one of the best training regimens to improve your overall body strength and endurance, your body will expel a ton of calories during a session.

For example: in boxing-centered classes that involve a combination of calisthenics, resistance-based and boxing exercises, an average person can burn between many as 270 to 400 calories (or more) in just 30 minutes. However, depending on the consistency, frequency and intensity of any of the exercises performed in any such classes, the number of calories burned can increase substantially.

If you’re looking for proof that boxing will help you lose weight, there’s evidence for that as well. Boxing training for overweight adults is not only a feasible fitness plan, but it could actually have a better therapeutic impact on obesity and cardiovascular and health-related quality of life outcomes, compared to spending the same time doing something like taking a brisk walk.

Boxing Will Help You Reduce Stress

It’s been well-documented that one of the best possible preventions or treatments for stress and anxiety disorders is a regular exercise program. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has stated that just one vigorous exercise session can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of anxiety or depression for several hours after exercising, and performing such an exercise session on a regular schedule can substantially reduce or eliminate those symptoms in general over time.

Since boxing can be both a sport and a training regimen, it would follow that the latter would also be a great form of relieving stress. Plus, we can all identify with the idea of how cathartic it might be to relieve your stress by hitting a punching bag repeatedly.

While some people might think boxing, even as a form of exercise, might seem too violent for them, it has an effect that’s quite the opposite. Boxing programs have been proven to significantly improve any previous negative effects on mood caused by stress and actually induced a state of tranquility in both men and women. Further, the participants studied all showed significant decreases in their anxiety, depression and anger levels.

So, not only does boxing improve negative psychological markers, but it also enhances pleasant and relaxed feelings. While that might not have a direct impact on our muscles, that’s going to impact the strength of our confidence and mental well-being.

Become an Even Stronger Version of Yourself

There’s a reason why everyone from professional athletes (who aren’t boxers) to famous actors and Victoria’s Secret supermodels have all incorporated boxing as part of their overall training and fitness practices.

It’s because it’s an amazing form of anaerobic (strength-training) and aerobic (cardiovascular training) exercise that works your entire body, improves the strength and endurance of your largest muscle groups and makes you feel incredible during the process.

If you’re looking to lose a few pounds, increase your current fitness levels, or even just become a healthier and stronger “weekend warrior,” we strongly urge you to come and check out a Gloveworx training session. We believe that you’ll walk into one of our sessions being an already awesome version of yourself, but walk out being an even stronger, healthier and happier version of that awesome self.