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Boxing Your Way to Fitness
Stepping
into the ring and boxing an opponent is a risky choice for even the
boxer who emerges as the victor. Blows to the head and sensitive body
zones such as the kidneys and liver can cause serious injury. But by
mimicking the physical movements of a boxer in an exercise routine, you
can give your body an all over workout for greater overall fitness. As
you are boxing your way to fitness you will be increasing the strength
and health of your heart as well as the rest of your body. Boxing
workouts also build your stamina, coordination, and reaction speed.
Boxing your
way to fitness should begin slowly with exercise routines lasting no
more than 10 minutes to avoid straining and injuring muscles not used to
being moved in this way. As your body adjusts to your new boxing workout
routine, you can increase your workouts in ten minute increments until
you can comfortably sustain a boxing routine for 40 minutes.
You should
get yourself an electronic pulse meter so that you can check your pulse
at various points throughout your boxing workout. Take a reading of your
pulse before beginning to exercise, this is your resting heart rate. To
gain the most out of boxing your way to fitness, you need to increase
your heart rate for a sustained period of time. 50 to 70 percent above a
normal resting heart rate is what most fitness and health safety experts
recommend.
There is a
mathematical way to figure the heart rate range for your exercising
heart. Simply subtract the number 220 from your age to get a figure. 220
minus age 30 will give you the figure 190. Now use this figure to
calculate the 50 to 70 percent increased heart rate recommended by
fitness and health experts. 50 percent of 190 would mean that your heart
should be beating 95 times a minute, or close to that. 70 percent of 190
would mean that your heart should be beating around 133 times a minute.
By checking your pulse at various points throughout your boxing workout,
you will know if your heart is working. Remember to start slowly with
your boxing workouts. Increasing your heart to working out at 70 percent
should be something you work towards, not something you begin at.
A boxing
workout includes continuously shifting your weight from one foot to the
other as you move about in a square pattern and making determined jabs
or punches forward with your right and left hands and arms. As you do
this, your shoulders, chest, back, hips, stomach, abdomen, legs, knees,
and feet all get a workout. Boxing works out the entire body and this is
why boxing your way to fitness is one of the best choices you can make
in a fitness routine for an all over body workout for greater overall
fitness.
You may
also enjoy using a punching bag as part of your boxing workout. This
gives you a weighted target for your jabs and because it moves, you will
have to keep moving in order to land your punches in the center of the
bag. Exercise equipment such as jump ropes and hand weights are also
commonly used in boxing workouts. You can find these and other exercise
equipment to use for your boxing workouts through
www.personalpowertraining.com.
You can box
your way to fitness with boxing workout DVDs and videos at home. There
are a number of online retailers that carry selections of exercise
equipment and materials to use for your boxing workouts. Online
retailers are often able to offer discounted pricing in comparison to
your local sporting or fitness equipment stores, but you can use the
internet to compare pricing against your local stores in order to get
the best deals on the fitness equipment and materials you want.
Boxing your
way to fitness without stepping into a ring and slugging it out with an
opponent is the healthier and smarter way for you to be fit and strong
like a boxer.
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