Workouts vs. Boxing

Even if you train in boxing only for fitness, there are still some key differences between boxing and other workouts or fitness routines. While some of it may sound obvious, I can tell you that many people who don't box consistently are not aware of these things, especially those really into fitness and exercise regularly. Some tend to see boxing as just another type of workout when really, there is much more to it!

1) Boxing is a skill-based workout - You could say that all workouts require some level of skill and you would be technically correct but there is an infinite gap between them and boxing in this regard. Boxing is a sport, even when training alone, and the big differences between a sport and physical activity is that sports are constantly reactive and changing whereas physical activities are not. The skills required to play the sport are also constantly changing, constantly evolving, so you can get better and better at it. Sure, you can get better at jogging or lifting or HIIT or other workouts, skill-wise, but it never really changes much after that initial learning phase. Boxing continues to challenge your skills no matter how good you get. And no one is ever good enough at boxing! No fighter just stops throwing jabs one day because they've pretty much mastered it. You can ALWAYS get better at everything, no matter how good you are. 

This - and everything else you will read below - is why consistent training in boxing is so important. It is not just another workout you can mix in once in a while. I mean, it certainly could be, but you will not see the same critical benefits if your training is sporadic. You will get a sweat on, burn calories, build muscle, etc, etc. but you won't challenge those things to a whole new level without skill development.

2) Boxing trains other skills too - Beyond the specific skill of boxing, there are other base skills that boxing continues to train - coordination, balance, agility, reaction time and quickness. You might get one or two of those in a workout but you aren't going to get them all, which is another general difference between exercise and sport. And while training these things may not sound as compelling as losing weight or toning up (something boxing is also ideal for), these skills will help you with everything you do as part of your daily life activities. Plus, these are all things that if you don't use, you lose. They tend to peak while we're kids (playing all the time), then slowly decline through adulthood and this can start to become a problem as we advance into our older years, especially when it comes to balance.

3) The better you get at boxing, the more physically challenging the workout is - This is something that not only makes boxing different than other forms of exercise, it makes it different than some other sports as well. As your skills improve, you are able to recruit more muscles to do work, move more explosively, react without having to stop and think, and incorporate more elements (footwork, head movement, feints, etc) into your workout. Oftentimes you will see professional boxers get tired in the ring and start to slow down in the later rounds. Then their technique starts to suffer too. Why is that? It's because proper technique and skill requires extra energy. The vice versa of this is true too. To get the best workout, your technique and skill must improve.

4) Learning the skill portion can oftentimes be a valuable distraction - If I did, let's say, burpees for a few minutes straight, I would definitely see fitness benefits but I would not look forward to it and the whole time while doing those burpees, I would think about how I can't wait to be done! This will always have some effect, however slight, on performance. Whereas if you are thinking about a particular boxing combination or drill, thinking about your technique, visualizing your opponent, and being compelled to act suddenly at unexpected times, changing rhythms/speeds/movements, you may work harder because your mind is distracted by this stuff that you don't even realize how hard the rest of your body is working. This has been true for me and most everyone I talk to about it. Many, including myself again, also find this learning component interesting and have a stronger desire to do it than just an exercise that they know is good for them, though not particularly interesting.

#5) Boxing works every muscle, cardio and strength - There are some other forms of non-sport exercise which do this too but most are more isolated - different lifts for different muscle groups, different activities specifically for cardio, etc. - but boxing, when done properly, hits it all at once. Now the first time someone ever puts on a pair of gloves and hits the bag, they are very likely not going to hit every muscle. It's most natural to just swing our arms when we throw punches than use the whole body to throw them like a boxer (just look at most streetfights). But this is where #3 comes in. As you learn how to do these things properly, you unlock new muscle groups, not only training them but changing the whole dynamic of the workout.

#6) Boxing creates functional strength - I used to be (and still sometimes am) a strength trainer and when I asked many of my male clients what their fitness goals were, I often heard that they wanted to be strong/get stronger. Certainly a good goal and my follow up question was always a "Why". "Why do you want to get stronger? What do you want to do with all of that extra strength we are going to build?" This was a tougher question to answer. I think oftentimes it was to look stronger and have bigger muscles. Also a perfectly fine goal but there is a big distinction between building muscle and having functional strength. Weightlifting can provide the muscle part, for sure, so long as it its done properly but it doesn't inherently give someone functional strength, which is strength you would use to perform the activities of daily life. Anything from carrying groceries to playing a sport. This is less about having larger muscles (although they can help, at times) but having a better balance of strength in more areas, particularly the core, as well as coordination between these areas. Doing something like a bench press will work your chest and arms but you are lifting a perfectly balanced load on one plane of motion, in one motion, with the rest of your body perfectly balanced as well. Life is a series of unbalanced loads at unexpected times, requiring quick reactions, recruitment of support muscles and other neural processing. This is exactly what boxing is! And not only will boxing help you become functionally stronger, this kind of strength will help prevent injuries too. In daily life and even in cross-training.

Please note that this is not me trying to say that boxing is better than all other workouts. For me, it truly is but as I have mentioned in this blog several times, everybody is different. We all need to find the thing that inspires us to stay active and challenge ourselves, if we want to pursue fitness and just general wellness. What I do want to say, objectively, is that boxing is different than all other workouts. Just like our bodies, all workouts are different from each other too but boxing training is on another level, having more in common with playing a sport. And while there are many benefits to that, as I have hopefully explained here, it also means that consistency is more important to developing the skills which will allow you to take your fitness to that new level.