Boxing Exercises - Circuit Training

CIRCUIT TRAINING

            One method of efficient conditioning for the body is through circuit training.  This type of training utilizes a number of different exercises arranged in stations, with the boxer visiting each station and completing that particular exercise within a specified amount of time.  For the beginner, a circuit that addresses all-around fitness training is best.   Exercises used in the circuit training require very little, if any, equipment at all.  Incorporate:

Squat jumps

Lunges

Crunches

Squat thrusts

Push ups

Bench dips

The first week that circuit training is incorporated into the boxing workouts should involve only 30 seconds at each station, with the entire circuit being repeated once.  Each consecutive week the length of time per station should be increased, and after the first month, add an additional repetition of the circuit.

 

 

            Plyometrics can also be introduced into the circuit training.  Plyometrics combine speed and strength that develop muscular power.  Exercises consist of a furious burst and then a brief rest, to be continually repeated.  Introducing these power bursts into your routines are excellent for both endurance building and fast weight loss.

NUTRITION

            Paying close attention to your body’s nutrition needs will go a long way to helping you develop your workouts.  The energy and endurance you experience will depend on your body getting the nutrients and vitamins it needs.  A meal that is rich in protein and carbohydrates eaten after a hard workout is essential for your body’s well being.

            Exercise of any type is a vital addition for anyone’s health.  Exercise also places a great deal of stress on your body.  Following a good workout, muscles may endure some degree of soreness, the body itself may feel fatigued and the individual will undoubtedly feel hungry.  These are signs that all of the resources for fuel that had been stored in the body’s muscles have been depleted.  It also means that small tears have occurred in the muscle tissue itself, causing the need for repair.  While these signs may seem detrimental, they are normal responses to exercise.  By pushing them to the limits, the muscles grow stronger and more adept to the demands being placed upon them.  The muscles are unable to replenish their fuel stores and repair their faults on their own, however.  Tools are needed, and those tools are in the form of a nutritious diet.

            Muscles require a combination of carbohydrates and protein for gaining strength to rise to the next level of fitness.  Carbohydrates introduced into the body causes a release of insulin that supplies energy and assists the protein intake to repair muscle tissue.  The amount of carbs must be watched carefully, for if an excess of carbohydrates is consumed, the amount not needed immediately will be converted and stored as fat. 

            Protein is a necessary component for effective muscle building and maintenance.  The protein stores have been exhausted, and to rebuild and repair these muscles, the stores must be replenished. 

            In addition, for the optimal benefit to the body, the meal of carbohydrates and protein should be consumed as soon as possible after the workout is complete.  Ideally, eating within one hour of the workout will provide the best timing for delivery of these nutrients to the body stores.

            If the plan for beginning boxing workouts is mainly to trim down and not build up muscle mass, you may not be working as strenuously in workouts to merit eating the large quantities of protein that muscle building workouts require.  The types of food eaten would be the same, just in lesser quantities.  Fat is kept to a strict minimum, since the ingestion of fat actually slows the progress of protein and carbohydrates to their stations in the body. 

            The idea behind losing weight utilizing these workouts is to expend more energy than you take in, but in a healthy manner.  When the workouts are used to build body mass, more food than normal is consumed to add bulk, while at the same time requiring more of your existing muscle mass in order to make them increase.  Either way, healthy nutrition is required to encourage the body to provide the results you seek.

            Whatever your ultimate goal may be by integrating these boxing workouts into your routine, adopting the proper technique in achieving that goal is essential.  Your reward will be a carved body that is the picture of health.