I hear a lot of people saying that boxing is a lot more anaerobic than aerobic and that long distance running will do little for a fighter to prepare him for the ring. I see this listed on Bodybuilding.com in this article and my own personal training teachers back in the day shared the same sentiment.

The theory is that you should only focus on fast paced action and leave the long distance running out even though the greatest boxers in the world have all used and continue to use long distance running in the build up to their fights.

So, do you want to believe the greatest fighters on the planet such as Muhammed Ali, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao or a personal trainer who focusses on lifting weights and body composition but probably never got in the ring? The truth is that both the Aerobic and Anaerobic elements of boxing are crucial to a fighter who wants to go all the way.

 

The Energy Bars In Old Boxing Games

Think of it like the old computer games when each fighter has two energy bars, one that goes down quickly as you throw punches and one that wears down slowly as the fight progresses. The fast moving bar is the anaerobic conditioning and the bar that depletes more slowly is the aerobic fitness.

If you want to recover quickly for a longer period of time, you need an aerobic base. Even if your fight will only be short, you want to keep that aerobic bar full so you can recover quickly between flurries and between rounds and you will lose power and speed as your aerobic bar gets lower.

One exercise is not 100% aerobic or anaerobic, it is a sliding scale and the more intense the exercise the more it moves towards the anaerobic end of the scale and the slower pace it is, the more aerobic it is in nature. A good fast paced 10km run is perfect for the sport of boxing regardless of what any personal trainers will say.

 

The Aerobic System

That being said, I can understand the viewpoint of these personal trainers only training faster paced methods when it comes to amateur fights which may only last for three rounds. For these types of fights, you will be better suited to the faster pace running and exercise especially as the fight draws closer.

I get the point that if you are only fighting for 10 minutes, you don’t need to be out running for an hour and as the fight draws nearer I can certainly understand that and would be advocating shorter, higher intensity drills for anybody whose going to be fighting in the next three weeks.

I still believe strongly that if you have a fight in 8-4 weeks you should still be doing at least a 10km run once per week or two 5 km runs.

 

Two Reasons For This

Aerobic Fitness Is The Base You Build On

You can’t build a strong anaerobic conditioning system without having a strong aerobic foundation in place. You can build that aerobic conditioning with only work in the gym and faster pace running but long distance runs of around 10km are more effective in my opinion for putting a solid foundation in place for you to build on.

 

Your Aerobic Fitness Will Determine How Fast You Can Recover As The Fight Goes On

Boxing isn’t constant anaerobically intense action even when the fights are fast paced. There are also times when the fighters and moving around the ring, on the feet and not throwing punches and it is at these times when the fighter with the better aerobic conditioning will recover quicker as the fight wears on and both guys get tired.

In the break between rounds, especially as the fight goes on, it is not only your anaerobic conditioning that will help you to recover and come out the next round just as fresh as the first, but your aerobic conditioning will also play and major role, making it just as important as your anaerobic conditioning.

 

The Importance Of Anaerobic Conditioning

Anaerobic exercise is fast past and it refers to flurries of intense exercise from 5 second to a minute and it is symbolised by the muscles getting filled with lactic acid and becoming sore. Think strength training, pad drills and heavy bag drills where you punch as fast as you can for 30 seconds or a minute.

When the fighters engage and are throwing punches, this is anaerobic and the anaerobic conditioning which is built on a solid aerobic base, will allow to throw a 5 or 6 punch combos and recover quickly so you can throw more hard punches again within a couple of seconds.

 

Won’t Lose Speed And Power And Reaction Times

If you’re anaerobic system is in poor condition and you throw a 5 punch combo you will get slower, your power will decrease and your reactions times will disappear. If you get tired and your jab isn’t strong enough to keep your opponent at bay, they will walk in and land their shots at will.

Your hands will be slower and you won’t be able to get your guard in place quickly enough to block punches and you won’t be able to counter quickly enough either.

As you can see, both of these conditioning systems are important and while a lot of personal trainers will tell you to stay away from the strictly aerobic stuff, we would tell you to embrace it, especially when the fight is further away.

 

Mainly Aerobic Exercises

Running

Long distance running like a 10km run at a reasonably fast pace will build your aerobic fitness thoroughly and it also conditions your legs for moving around the ring and their toughness. Add a long distance uphill run into your routine for even more cardio and conditioning benefits that will really blast your calves.

 

Swimming

Swimming is a favourite exercise of many champions including the Klitschko brothers and Anthony Joshua. Swimming may even have more aerobic benefits than running and it works all the muscles in the body without having any impact of the knees and the joints which makes it also great for active recovery the after hard sparring etc.

 

Cycling

Cycling is also a good exercise for building up the cardio, get out on the bike and cycle for miles at a time and hopefully get some hills in as well.

I personally like Spinning classes which are High Intensity Interval Training, meaning it is a mix of fast and slow pace which is also perfect for boxing.

 

Rowing

Another of my favourite cardio exercises for boxing is the rowing machine, it is relatively high intensity and you can increase or decrease that intensity as you go to bring hit into the exercise.

I will include running as part of a full boxing workout that will start with skipping, shadowboxing, Heavy Bag, Core and Rowing Machine when I am on my own for a cardio day in the gym.

I usually do 2,000 metres as quick as I can at the end of the workout which is usually around 7-9 minutes.

The rower is great for cardio, back muscles, shoulders and arms. The more variation you can get in your cardio the better because you will see all different types of styles and opponents in the ring too.

 

High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT is when you work as fast as you can for 10 seconds and then actively recover with slow paced cardio for 30 seconds and then another 10 fast seconds. Do this for an hour and it is perfect for boxing conditioning. Boxing is HIIT by its very nature anyway, a mix of fast and slow paced action.

 

Anaerobic Training

Sprints

If we are talking about Anaerobic work outside the gym it is usually sprints or hill sprints which can also be HIIT where you sprint for ten seconds and then jog back to the start slowly and sprint again.

Try doing this for 5 sets of 5 reps for a good anaerobic sprint workout.

 

Bag Drills

The Heavy bag is great for anaerobic conditioning. Hit the bag as fast as you can with straight punches for 30 seconds and then hit it with hard hooks for 30 seconds. Repeat this for a three minute round take a minute break and do 3-5 rounds.

 

Pad Drills

You can hit pads with a coach or you can do pad drills where you will do 1 punch – 1 press up, 2 punches – 2 press ups on your partners pads all the up to 10 and then swap over and let you partner have a go. Even holding the pads after doing the exercise is like active recovery as your arms are still full with lactic acid from throwing. Do 3-5 rounds and change the exercise each time to burpees, Jumping Squats, Lunges etc.

 

Circuits

Circuits are excellent for building up your anaerobic conditioning, you spend 30 seconds on each station and then move as quickly as you can to the next station. You complete all station in the circuit in each round, take a minute rest and go again.

Stations might include push ups, mountain climbers, sit ups, plank, jumping rope, dumbbell punches, burpees, pull ups, lunges, jumping squats and many more.

 

Sparring

Sparring is the ultimate test of whether your cardio and conditioning is good enough for a real amateur or professional fight. You should spar at about 70% unless you have a fight coming up in the next month and then push to 80/85% as the fight draws nearer.

Sparring is the perfect mix of aerobic and anaerobic work that you have been practicing for so you will have to absorb punches as well as throwing them and use your feet to move around the ring and hopefully you and your opponent can improve together as a result.

 

Conclusion

Boxing is both aerobic and anaerobic. The Aerobic is the base and should be built further away from the fight with a heavier and heavier amount of attention moving towards the anaerobic conditioning as your fight draws nearer.

Don’t omit cardio from your boxing routine as it will help you tenfold to increase your anaerobic conditioning and your overall fitness for a fight.

Running is very important for boxing as it builds aerobic strength and conditions the legs so don’t listen to anyone who tells you to leave it out but instead trust in what the worlds best fighters do in every camp.

Boxing is one of the most intense and rewarding exercises we can do, especially if we want to lose weight, tone up, get ripped and increase our confidence.

Boxing is a full body sport but punching is going to require a lot of effort from the shoulders and arms, making it the perfect exercise for burning fat from your arms and revealing the muscle underneath.

It doesn’t matter whether you are someone who wants to remove excess fat from their arms or a body builder that wants to reveal all the muscle that they have work so hard to build over the course of a few months.

 

Caloric Deficit

To burn fat and tone our bodys we generally need to be in caloric deficit and then the body will turn to the fat your body is storing to fuel the workout. As boxing works primarily the arms for throwing punches, this is where the fat will be burned, revealing the muscles underneath.

 

Boxing Burns A Ton Of Calories

An hour of boxing class can burn an unbelievable 6-800 calories in a single hour and while that does not guarantee you will get ripped, it will go a huge way to helping once you keep your diet healthy and your workouts consistent.

 

Boxing Classes Are For The Full Body Not Just The Arms

Even punches generate their body starting for the body of the feet, moving through the glutes and turning at the hips, extending finally through the lats, chest, shoulders and triceps when done correctly for maximum force in each punch thrown.

Boxing classes don’t just involved punches however, they usually also involve a ton of conditioning, circuits and core work that will be great for toning the whole body and even getting a six pack if you stick with it long enough!

 

Great For Releasing Endorphins

Intense Exercise is notoriously good for releasing endorphins into our body. Endorphins are the chemicals that make us feel happy and that is why the key to overcoming depression and anxiety is to get active.

Having tried nearly every sport under the sun, boxing is by far the best I have seen for releasing those feel good chemicals.

 

Increase In Confidence

There is nothing like the increase in confidence you get from learning how to box properly and it is not just the feeling of being able to beat people up.

The feeling of being able to protect yourself in any situation is awesome but the discipline it takes to keep going on your boxing journey builds your character and self esteem to a point where you may feel and act like an upgraded version of yourself after some time.

 

Stress Relief

Anyone that works a 9-5 or stressful job will understand the feeling of stress that can build up in our bodies and letting this stress sit there without an outlet can have serious effects on our mental and physical health.

Getting to the boxing gym is the number 1 that I know to hit that stress as hard as you can leave it all on the gym mat.

 

Boxing is a lifestyle

Boxing is a sport that can become a hobby to keep you in shape for your entire life and you may only need to focus on improving at boxing to get in incredible shape and tone your arms as a secondary benefit. Boxers can be in shape all year round and you can burn so many calories from all the training that you can eat cheat meals quite regularly and still stay in excellent shape.

It’s a much better way to stay in shape than just running on a treadmill and watching your diet down to the exact calories every day. For me, that is something that is boring and not worth the sacrifice. I much prefer working out hard and boxing is one of the best ways to do that.

Once you catch the boxing bug, you might find yourself out jogging to improve your cardio or shadowboxing and jumping rope at home to improve your game for when boxing comes around.

 

Best Boxing Exercises For Toning The Arms

The Heavy Bag

The heavy bag is a great stress reliever, you get to hit it as hard as you can and it will keep coming back for more. The heavy bag is great way to drill your combos and potentialize your power and speed.

It is intensive on the arms and will burn the fat in the area first leaving them toned and you looking ripped and lean.

You can work in rounds on the bag or you can do drills like 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds hard for a 3 minute round.

 

Jumping Rope

Jumping rope is great for boxing as it increases our conditioning and our hand and foot coordination which is crucial for moving around the ring, closing the distance on your opponent and then landing your punches.

Jumping rope is also a perfect way to blast belly fat and really condition the shoulders and arms. The arms will get tired long before the legs with skipping making it a perfect way to tone the arms and get in peak condition.

You can even skip at home for 2 minute rounds with 30 seconds of sprinting and lifting your knees up to your stomach for ultimate conditioning.

 

Shadow Boxing

Shadow boxing may seem awkward at first but it is a great way to improve at boxing and increase your fitness. Just like all other forms of punching, it is heavily dependent on the arms and will burn up the fat in the arms if you are in a deficit.

All the best boxers put a heavy emphasis on shadow boxing and you can even include light dumbbells to make it an even more intense workout.

 

Pad Drills

Pad drills with a partner can be an intense anaerobic exercise. That means the arms will fill with lactic acid making it painful to keep going but if you put in 100% your arms will recover and come back stronger, leaner and with more definition so you are better able to deal with the exercise next time.

Pad Drills might include you partner holding the pads while you do 1 punch – 1 push up, 2 punches – push ups all the way up to 10 and then you swap over and it is you partners turn.

In the next round You can swap the push ups for burpees and in the third round you could do

 

Circuits

Circuits are a crucial part of increasing your boxing fitness and it will also give you an overall full body workout.

You work on a station for 20-30 seconds before moving quickly to the next station and there can be 6-10 stations in a round. A full workout may include 3 rounds and the stations may include Push Ups, Sit Ups, Jumping Squats, Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Shadow Boxing With Dumbbells, Pull Ups, Dips, Leg Raises, Plank and more.

Getting toned arms is one benefit of this and getting a full ripped and lean body is another one.

 

Sparring

Sparring is the ultimate test of your boxing conditioning and skills. You have to worry about and not getting hit and the combination of moving around the ring, engaging with your opponent, taking punches to the body and head and throwing you own is probably the most intense workout in boxing.

If you can last 5 or 6 rounds of sparring, you should be in amazing conditioning, provided that you have kept your diet healthy and you are working out 3-5 times per week.

 

Conclusion

If you are talking about conditioning and toning your arms, boxing and rowing are two of the very best sports that you can practice to lose any excess fat from your arms and build a little bit of lean, functional muscle.

If you are going on holidays, lean arms and a lean body can give you a lot of confidence to wear what you like and feel great doing.

Give boxing a try today and let us know how you get on in the comments.

Boxing is a tough yet rewarding sport and sparring is one of the challenging yet enjoyable aspects of the game. The question of how long you should train before sparring will depend a lot on the gym you are in and whether you feel comfortable sparring or not.

Some gyms you might do some body sparring in the very first session where you throw light punches at your partners body to get used to giving and taken but full on sparring is a bit more serious and you will need to develop at least a basic offence and defence before you jump into the ring.

If you come from another sport, you may already be tougher, have good coordination and you may pick up the footwork and movements a lot more quickly than someone who is new to sport. It can still be a shock to a get a stiff jab in the nose so I would say to wait about 1 month of training before you jump in for proper sparring.

For people who are completely new to sports, you should take direction from your coach. A good coach will never throw you in at the deep end and you can always ask them if they think you are ready for sparring. I would say to give it at least 2 months from when you start out fresh in the game but you need to feel comfortable that you can protect yourself at all times and throw an effective jab with a few combos.

 

What To Keep In Mind For Sparring

When you do start sparring there are any number of things to keep in mind like picking a partner you are friendly with, so they can take it easy on you, teach you the ropes and help you to improve quickly.

If you have experience in another combat sport like Muay Thai or Kickboxing you will already know the ropes but keep in mind that they are different sports so you could give it a few weeks to get to know people you are going to be sparring and get used to just straight boxing.

 

Things You Need To Be Good At Before You Start Sparring

Foot Work

Foot work is the most important aspect of boxing. It allows you to close the distance on your opponent to land your punches but it also enable you to move out of the way of their attacks by moving backwards and to the side.

Footwork is the first thing you learn in boxing because everything else is built upon the fundamentals and basics.

You need to make sure you have to correct footwork to get out of the way when your opponent is moving towards you and looking to land punches before you start sparring.

As you get more comfortable in the ring, you can start pivoting and slipping to the side to create angles for you punches and avoid the counters coming back.

 

The Jab

The second most fundamental part of boxing is the jab. Nothing will stop your opponent in their tracks like a good stiff jab. If you cant throw a proper jab, their will be nothing to stop you opponent walking straight into to your range and throwing bombs so you really need to get a good solid jab before you jump into the ring to spar.

Not only is the jab important for defence, it is also crucial for your offence as almost all of your combos will begin with a jab. If you land the jab on your opponents gloves then you will know for sure that you also land the right hand afterwards and as you get more comfortable with sparring, you can start to put your combos together.

 

Keeping A Solid Guard

You have to be able to keep a good defensive guard so you can take your opponents punches on your gloves without feeling too much of the impact. You also need to be able to catch their body shots on your arms and protect your ribs and liver.

Keeping a solid guard is a must, you can’t start panicking when there are combos coming towards you and you need to remain as calm as possible.

Keeping a good guard can also mean parrying the jab as it comes towards you and as you improve you will be able to catch and counter and use your opponents attacks to exploit the openings they leave behind.

 

Head Movement

You don’t have to catch every punch on the gloves, you can slip your opponents jab and come back with your own right hand over the top. You can slip to the left as the right cross comes in and left a left hook to the body or the head.

If you are moving your head, your opponent will be more hesitant to throw punches because they will be more likely to miss and this is a solid form of defence.

You can also roll after you throw your own punches as you get better so your head is long gone by the time your opponent has time to answer back with their own combos.

 

Tips For Sparring

There are certain unwritten rules of sparring like you shouldn’t bully anybody and if you are levels above them you should try to teach them to improve instead of beating them up but coming in as a beginner there are some crucial rules to live by if you want to come out of the ring unscathed.

 

Get The Right Gear

16 Oz gloves, a gum shield and a groin guard are going to be the bare essential key elements to protecting yourself and your sparring partners. Once you get involved in sparring you can also invest in boxing shoes as they will help you move around the ring faster and sharper.

Head gear might also be compulsory in the gym you are training in and although it might not stop concussions, it will stop your face from getting marked up, black eyes and cuts.

 

Spar Someone On Your Own Level

Take your time in the gym and try to get talking to people so you can find out people that will help you to learn in sparring instead of going to hard. Try to find someone that is around the same size as you and around the same skill level.

 

Don’t Hit Harder Than You Want To Get Hit

If you go into sparring throwing bombs, you can expect to get bombs thrown back at you. It doesn’t matter how good the person you are sparring is, they wont like full force punches flying at them from someone they can easily beat up and they will hit you hard to give you some warnings before they start to beat you up.

Sparring is an opportunity for everybody to improve, its not a 12 round championship fight so act accordingly and don’t throw haymakers.

 

You Need To Be Fit

The last thing you want to do is gas out in sparring. One of the most feelings you can experience is have a fighter moving towards you throwing punches and you are too tired to even keep your hands up.

Boxing is an intense sport and you need to have a good level of fitness to be ready for sparring. If you box and you are already fit, it will still be tough but if come into the sport with no fitness, it will take at least 2-3 months to get ready for competitive sparring.

The get fighting fit you need to do 5-10km runs, shadowboxing, jumping rope, heavy bag, double end bag, speed bag and pad work. You also need to do conditioning drills on the bags and circuits to get a complete level of fitness for boxing.

 

Try To Relax And Control Your Breathing

When you do get into spar, try to stay as calm and relaxed as possible. Don’t make you arms too stiff or it will cause you to get tired more quickly and it will affect the fluidity of your movement. Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and exhale the carbon dioxide as you throw each punch.

Use your footwork to set a comfortable distance and move side to side to keep your opponent at bay until you are comfortable to exchange. Make sure you are comfortable in your skills and don’t jump in at the deep end.

 

Know When Its Time To Increase The Intensity

If you and your opponent are the same size and the same level, the spar might get a bit more competitive. You need to be ready for this and if you get hit with a bigger shot, they key thing is to not get angry but calmly wait for an opportunity to land your own big shot.

A good fighter never gets angry and if you can keep your cool, you will quickly be able to find an opening to land you own shot as part of a good hearted spar where both fighters can improve.

 

Conclusion

Sparring is a big step for anybody who want to improve at boxing. It is the ultimate test of whether or not you can fight and there no feeling like the one you get after a good sparring session.

If you have aspirations to go on an have a career as an amateur or even as a pro, sparring is one of the biggest steps you can take.

Don’t jump in too quickly but don’t leave it too long either, if you are in doubt about whether you should spar or not then you can always ask your coach. If you are getting better at the body sparring and you don’t mind taking a punch, don’t be afraid to give it a go.

 

Let us know how you get on in the comments!