Do we have any boxers here? is it good for fitness?

I used to box. In the Seventies. Welterweight. It is an excellent cardio workout and a way to keep your reflexes sharp. And you can hit people without getting in trouble.

It depends upon how serious you get involved. If you are a serious competitor, the diet is very protein intense. Meat! If prolonged intake of meat, you might develop gout after a while.

But if you are not serious, it is a waste of time.

Many think boxers are among the most fit athletes there are.

I used to wrestle in High School.
My Girlfriend was into Olympic style Boxing.
As our dating progressed I tried to introduce her to wrestling with me.
She couldn't wrestle worth a damm, but boy you should have seen her box!

quote:

She couldn't wrestle worth a damm, but boy you should have seen her box!

I suspect a lot of guys have.

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Originally posted by architect:

quote:

She couldn't wrestle worth a damm, but boy you should have seen her box!

I suspect a lot of guys have.

My brother used to box and always claimed it was a good workout routine.
He sparred with Rufus Brassell, but never actually boxed professionally like Rufus.
You just could not meet a nice guy than Rufus, God rest his soul and my brothers.

It's an excellent workout. Lots of folks think they can do it so they try in events like "Toughman" and find out very quickly how good of shape someone must be in to box. I'm not a boxer, if you saw my nose you'd understand, but I work as a ringside physician occasionally and sparred a little in the past.

It's not the boxing. It's the training.

Sure. Boxing, Muay Thai, kick boxing.

I think boxing workouts are awesome for fitness even if you have no intention to actually fight or want to spar.

Skipping rope, hitting pads, rounds on the bag. All are great ways to get in shape.

Honestly you could hang a heavy bag and get a junprope and a timer and do your own sort of stuff. Like go run for 30 minutes, get back and skip rope for 20 minutes, do some push-ups, donkike 5 rounds of shadow boxing and then 5 rounds on your bag and finish with some ab work.

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Originally posted by armedmd:
It's an excellent workout. Lots of folks think they can do it so they try in events like "Toughman" and find out very quickly how good of shape someone must be in to box. I'm not a boxer, if you saw my nose you'd understand, but I work as a ringside physician occasionally and sparred a little in the past.

This is very true. I've always though those toughman events were more dangerous than real boxing matches....out of shape guys gassing out and lowering their guard and just getting blasted on the head repeatedly. 16oz gloves and headgear help but you can still take quite a bit of trauma to the head even with that stuff.

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Originally posted by jhe888:
Many think boxers are among the most fit athletes there are.

Spenser certainly thinks so If fitness == endurance, then yes, they probably are.
 

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Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
It's not the boxing. It's the training.

+1

I boxed in my younger days, and an amateur fight was an intense 8 minutes (three 2 minute rounds, with a minute between rounds) of hell mixed with fun & excitement, but you don't do that 4 to 5 times a week. You train, which includes a variety of different workouts, including some sparring.

It's the training, not the actual fights, that makes someone "fit."

You could get just as fit without ever going through the occasional 8 minutes of hell/fun/excitement.

ESPN did a study about 10-years ago, it was all about finding out which sport produced the ultimate athlete. American boxing was ranked tops amongst 60 sports. If anything, you'll learn about endurance and the training will provide you with a good foundation.
Story
http://www.espn.com/espn/page2...ry?page=degree/index

Rankings
http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

Growing up boxing with a dad who was a boxer, thenonly trainingni find harder is mountaineering.

I boxed as a kid growing up in TX. Loved it! Started at the Boys Club in 5th or 6th grade. Fought Golden Gloves through high school....nothing serious, all sports division the first two years, and novice the last two. I still incorporate elements of boxing workouts (rounds on the heavy bag, jumping rope, shadow boxing, speed bag and if I'm really feeling "it" I'll go a few rounds with a partner sparring). It's still fun, and it's still a great way to stay in shape. I prefer this type of cardio workout (or swimming) to any other, but most of what I do for fitness these days is lift heavy.

Very interesting study there. Thanks everyone.

Fighting or simply sparring in most forms is an excellent workout. Even just a couple of minutes can wear you out sometimes.

Boxing = many punches to your face.
If you're doing it for the fitness why not just do BJJ (Brazilian Ju-Jujitsu) wrestling?