Boxercise is a high-intensity interval boxing training to get fit. In boxercise classes, there can be many different training types. But mostly you train with pads, do shadow boxing, skipping and bag workouts as well.
Boxercise is a really popular training type and you can probably find a gym, health, fitness centers nearby which have boxercise lessons.
Quick Navigation
- Why Boxercise is So Effective?
- No Sparring!
- Releases Your Stress
- The Popularity
- It is good for everyone!
- How much do Boxercise Classes Cost?
- What is a Regular Session Like?
- What Boxercise Equipment Do You Need?
Why Boxercise is So Effective?
These boxing training sessions provide resistance training and cardio and you do these sessions as a high-intensity travel training.
Boxing training is already challenging and effective for building muscle mass, getting fit and when you do it as a high-intensity interval training, it becomes even more effective for these. It significantly increases the burned calorie number.
Guys, you burn 350 calories during a 30 minutes boxercise session. Of course, this number varies according to the session’s intensity, your weight, muscle mass…
However, this is the average of reported numbers in several boxercise classes. It is quite impressive, is not it?
Alright, losing fat from one area can’t be done. The principle is that you need to lose fat and eventually the area, which you want to lose fat from, will get rid of the stubborn fat. So thanks to this huge calorie number boxercise is a solid option for people who have a stubborn belly fat.
Boxercise also provides both fibers (slow and fast) work and recruiting both of these fibers results in a better training.
Also, when you see that other people watch you during a class, you generally don’t get lazy during a session.
These help you achieve your fitness goals fast.
No Sparring!
Well, in these classes you don’t get hit or punch someone and this is the main reason why people prefer boxercise over regular boxing classes.
So you don’t even step up in the ring and will be safer during these classes. Obviously, you will have some minor injuries like sore knuckles, strains etc. but you definitely will not be having concussions, jaw fractures…
Awards: There will be no sparring and matches. These awards are given if you learned and improved your skills. This is evaluated by instructors and trainers. The award system can motivate people to push themselves.
With that being said, in order you to be qualified to get awards, you need to pay a small fee.
Releases Your Stress
Doing a high-intensity interval boxing training is great for releasing your stress. Doing a physical activity, which requires a lot of effort, improves your body composition and helps you manage stress. Trust me on that you don’t think about your life for a minute during a boxercise class. You basically have a break from your daily life.
Also, your endorphin levels increase so you will feel good.
The body and mind are not separate. What affects one affects another.
The Popularity
Anthony Joshua, who is world heavyweight champion, recently helped Lucozade Sport Fitwater have the world’s Largest Boxercise™ Lesson. This goes to show that even the biggest names in the industry participate in these big events. There were over 500 participants in this event and it looks like they achieved the fitness goals and had so much fun in the process. By the way, this was a new Guinness World Records for the largest boxercise class. Considering that big names are also involved in these activities, I am quite certain that boxercise will become even more popular in the following years.
The awesome thing is that there is no age restriction for these classes. Everyone can attend. Obviously, this increases the number of participants.
Many schools also provide boxercise classes and it is a great way to keep children fit without hurting themselves.
There are literally hundreds of schools, fitness centers which provide boxercise classes to thousands of people.
It is good for everyone!
So people don’t get hit during a workout, however, they still get the benefits like improving hand-eye coordination, balance, and other sport-related benefits in an effective way. So basketball players who want to interrupt the passes better or wrestlers, who try to stand on mats better, can benefit from the classes. Obviously, people, who practice many other forms of martial arts, can also join a boxercise class for those benefits. And they can benefit from them without any fear of injury.
You can see the appeal, right?
How much do Boxercise Classes Cost?
The cost generally varies between 7 dollars to 10 dollars per hour. I think considering the results, you will be extremely satisfied with the cost.
It has a really high return of investment (ROI).
Obviously, it depends on the gym, place. If you are in a “big city”, you can expect to pay more. Or if you are going to a brand or commercial gym again you are more likely to pay more.
Even though I really don’t like commercial gyms even they have legit boxercise classes.
What is a Regular Session Like?
These sessions generally start with warm up. Generally, people run, skip rope and warm up their muscles for an intense and long training session. You go on with stretching so you can perform better during the session. It is also proven fact that the stretching can calm your mind so you can start the real training with a clear mind.
Then you continue with punching pads. Trainers hold the pads from different angles and provide you to learn various punching techniques. It is also the most popular equipment for boxercise.
There can be bag workouts, jumping rope routines which consist of jump rope techniques like scissors. Some gyms also add some plyometric exercises like plyo boxes for strengthening your legs.
As a side note, the agility ladder is the preferred training type for footwork and it is perfect for speeding up the footwork.
However, these generally depend on the gym. According to my experience, they create the programs according to the equipment which the gym has. For instance, if the gym does not have enough heavy bags for participants they generally don’t tend to buy new boxing equipment. They generally just replace it with another training type.
By the way, if you are looking for the best bang for the buck local boxing gyms offer more serious workouts than the commercial ones.
The gyms sometimes offer home classes as well. The advantage of having home classes is that you can generally select customized training plans. However, there are conditions like that there should be more than a certain amount of people, sufficient training area, required gears, and equipment etc.
Also, the instructors get lessons from Boxercise and have new ideas to create new and more effective boxing training. They might add different training types or change the duration of resting for better results.
“Do they change training routines from time to time?”
This is a really good question that you can ask instructors so you can understand whether they care about the boxercise lessons or not.
What Boxercise Equipment Do You Need?
Standard boxing gears should be provided by your gym. These include pads, heavy bags etc. And obviously, trainers need to wear boxing body protectors so when you accidentally do gut punches it does not hurt.
If you see that plyometric exercises in your routine, it will have the required plyometric exercise equipment.
The gym also might have shadow boxing resistance equipment for more advanced trainees. These provide you to burn more calories and build more muscle.
The jump rope is another classic tool for these classes.
These gears are provided by the gym.
With that being said, you may need to own your boxing gloves for training, hand wraps, and boxing shoes to perform well and don’t trip and fall during the footwork drills.
Obviously, you want to train with a good sports t-shirt, which allows you to do punching techniques without inhibiting your arm movement, and a boxing short. And get classic gym stuff like water bottle… and put them in your boxing gym bag so you can sip during the breaks.
By the way, Boxercise® is a registered trademark. You can check out here for more information.
Every gym can’t offer their boxercise classes. According to the company, after a person takes boxercise (the training) then this person is allowed to do that. After that, he is allowed to give lessons and earn money. You can click the link above for more info.
Shortly, boxercise is a great training type for getting fit and it is considered as safe. If you have a fitness or martial art related goals, you should definitely join a boxercise class.
If you have any questions or anything to add just leave your comments below.
Wow, I didn’t know Boxercise was a thing! This page was really informative. I’ll have to check out a boxercise class in the future. It will be perfect for my wife who is interested in Boxing for health, but not for fighting.
Many females are interested in boxercise and get fit with it. She is on the same both with majority females in those classes. They are not interested in sparring and they don’t hit someone at all during these classes. After all, it does not include sparring.
Hi – great post, I used to do Boxercise when I was younger, and I can assure people it’s a really enjoyable way of keeping fit. I am glad that you emphasised that you need to start with a warm-up as it’s essential to avoid injury.
All the best, Diane
It is like all the exercises. Warm up is essential.
I’m so into this! Especially with winter coming, seems like a great idea for exercising indoors. My girlfriend just started and swears by it. I better start before she can beat me up. Thanks for the post!
People generally sign up for Boxercise gyms in winter months. It is the busiest time of the year.
Great article, I do know about the benefits of boxercise given the intensity of the training tends to be a real good mix of strength and stamina too. I do have a little bit of a question.
How “heavy” is boxercise on the joints “impact” wise if you know what I mean?.
I am always looking for different way to keep in shape and do something that releases a fair amount of endorphins too but due to a knee injury I am limited to keeping impact to a minimum.
(skipping is out – I get that bit!)
Your trainer can set the intensity of these according to your goals. Boxing is actually not heavy on your joints. That is why many experts recommend boxing to the elderly.
I get you. Variation is also important for getting in shape. You can work on the body parts which are lacking in boxercise classes. It also does not include sparring and that is the one training type which most injuries occur. So you can safely join a Boxercise class.