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| A boxing gym is much more spacious than your regular gym. |
Before I start with my workout regimen I want to tell you how different a boxing gym is from the ubiquitous kind that I mentioned a while ago. A boxing gym has all sorts of different equipment that you won't ever see in your average gym. In the boxing gym I go to, Elite Boxing Gym, these are:
- Heavy punching bags (obviously)
- Double-end bags
- Speed bags
- Wall Bags
- Kettle Bells
- Lightweight dumbbells
- Jump ropes
- A Spar Bar
- A boxing ring (I think that counts as equipment)
I don't utilize all of the equipment listed above; I usually ignore the wall bags and I just casually toy with the spar bar from time to time. The rest of the equipment I use though, and they're great for improving one's technique and form in boxing just as much as they're useful for breaking a sweat.
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| A boxing gym will typically have a boxing ring and a timer. |
Now that I've painted a picture of what the boxing gym has to offer, let's get right to my workout regimen:
1. Jogging - 3 rounds
That's right my first exercise doesn't include any of the equipment I listed down. Not yet. I jog around the gym for 3 rounds. For those of you who don't know a boxing round is 3 minutes in length with a minute of rest in between each round.
When I jog I try to jog at a pace that's near sprinting speed. I avoid jogging leisurely to keep the blood pumping. The jog serves as a warm-up after all.
2. Jump rope - 2 rounds
Once I'm all warmed up from the jog, I grab a jump rope and start skipping. Naturally, I go into the Boxer's skip for this exercise. If I hit the rope while skipping that's alright, I just carry on my way like it didn't happen. To prevent the exercise from getting monotonous, I like to incorporate a view tricks and moves into my skipping. I must admit I only do 2 rounds of these because I want to save up my leg energy for the other exercises that are yet to come.
3. Shadowbox - 2 rounds
Before I start shadow boxing, I wear my hand wraps. This takes a while so I get more than my fair share of 1-minute rest from the previous exercise. This is when I try to get into the rhythm of boxing. I'm more focused on form, technique, and defense in this exercise than working a sweat.
Ideally, the first round of shadowboxing is done with lightweight dumbbells in my hands and the second round is done without any dumbbells to improve my speed, but sometimes I just do both rounds without any weights at all.
4. Mitts Work - 3 rounds
This is where the fun begins. My trainer puts on the boxing mitts, I put on my boxing gloves, and then we begin our combination drills. Focus and concentration are of utmost importance in this exercise. There is a delicate balance between speed, power, and soundness of technique. My trainer critiques my performance if I'm not boxing properly. I try to keep the quality of my punches consistent throughout all 3 rounds without showing any signs of exhaustion to improve my stamina and endurance.
5. Heavy Bag - 3 rounds
What comes after 3 rounds of punching? Even more punching! And there are more punches to come after this exercise too. A heavy bag is a simple tool that's made to be punched, but it's important to not neglect technique when using this equipment. The aspects of boxing that I take into consideration the most when I use the heavy bag are distance, range, and accuracy. The bags in the Elite boxing gym have a logo at eye-level so I like to make that my target when I work the heavy bag.
6. Double-End Bag - 3 rounds (and beyond)
This is my favorite tool to use in the boxing gym. I'm only required to use this piece of equipment for 3 rounds but I aim for 6 rounds with this. It develops good habits, speed, and hand-eye coordination. The double-end bag instills the rhythm of boxing into the individual practicing on it. I make sure to work my head movement and footwork when I use the double-end bag.
7. Mitts Work again - 2 rounds
My arms are already tired by this time in the workout, but that's when my endurance and stamina start to improve. I focus on keeping my hands up at all times while I do my combination drills.
8. Speed Bag - 3 rounds
Although it's called a speed bag, it doesn't actually improve speed, per se. It hones my rhythm and -- given how exhausted I am by this time -- it improves stamina and endurance even more. This can get repetitive just like the jump rope exercise so I like to mix it up by alternating between punches from ones to twos to threes.
9. Ab workout - 2 sets of 5 different exercises
This is the most difficult part of the workout because my body barely has any energy left to complete this set of exercises. It's also the last one. I try to do 2 sets of several different ab exercises like crunches, planks, Russian twists, burpees, and so on.
That's about it for my average workout regimen in the boxing gym. If you tally the number of rounds from each exercise, excluding the ab workout, we have about 21 rounds in total, which roughly translates to 63 minutes of exercise. Sometimes when I'm feeling really energetic, my coach likes to add in other exercises in what he calls circuit training, which is a hundred times more difficult. Circuit training is for another blog post. Sometimes my coach puts me in a sparring session, which I already made a blog post about here.
