Fight Your Way to Fitness

Cary, NC — As we get busier and busier with our daily lives, we sometimes forget to make time for ourselves or our health. Personal health is essential to your quality of life, but you have to fight to fit it in your schedule.  You fight to make time, fight to get to the gym, and then when you get there, fight to get through a workout…so why not fight your way to fitness?

As new workouts trends come and go, one has stood the test of time, boxing. I’m not telling you to glove up and get in the ring, but think about how training like a boxer can help you meet you fitness goals. Though boxing as a sport has lost popularity over the years, the benefits that boxing techniques provide to the body and the mind are long lasting and well known throughout the fitness world.

Physical Benefits

Let’s first look at the physical benefits of boxing. Have you ever seen a fat boxer? No…they always have that six-pack you want!

Think about how utilizing the main elements of a boxer’s workout can benefit you.

Core Work: Most boxing workouts use a heavy bag and are based around cardiovascular training and core work; the perfect way to trim that waist line! When throwing punches you are constantly twisting and engaging your core.

Improved Coordination: As your core strength improves you start to see results in your functional movement; ranging from improved hand-eye coordination and balance to increased agility and flexibility. All things that help prevent injury which is extremely important to your overall health.

Full Body: Though the focus is on your core, boxing is a full body workout.

You continue to build and strengthen muscle in your arms and shoulders while striking. Meanwhile your legs continue to work when driving those punches home. Each punch results in your muscles making the same contractions as when you are lifting a weight. Fast and light punches help with toning while hard and heavy punches build muscle. Both help you decrease your overall body fat percentage and lose those inches.

Overall Health

Outside of the functionality, some of the most important benefits of a boxing workout are seen and felt in your overall health. With such a full body workout, participants  see an increase in overall stamina, both muscular and cardiovascular.

Increased muscle endurance from boxing not only allows you to build on your workouts, but help to keep energy levels high throughout the day. The increase in your cardiovascular stamina provides other health benefits such as:  increased metabolic rate, improved respiratory function, and a boost to the immune system,  allowing you to feel and stay healthy.

Mental Health

Even with all the physical benefits, the unique thing about boxing is its affect on people’s mental well-being. Boxing is a skill, so like any skill, it takes practice. Being able to do a workout that keeps your mind sharp helps keep you engaged and motivated. You see constant improvement not only in your body, but your skill, which helps build a sense of empowerment and confidence. At the end of the day, our lives are stressful and sometimes you just need to do something that can help you release that stress, but most importantly, be fun!

Fight not only for your fitness, but fight for your quality of life!

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This Fitness story by Max McGee, General Manager of Title Boxing in Cary, located in the Arboretum Shopping Center. Photo by Mark Hillary.