_p.png)
This site contains product affiliate links. We may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.
If you’re looking for a whole-body exercise session that help you get fighting fit this boxing conditioning workout is for you. Comprised of calisthenics, cardio and resistance exercises and, of course, boxing movements, this workout hits every component of fitness.
In this 1-hour boxing conditioning workout you will develop muscular endurance, explosive power, cardiovascular fitness, and your boxing skills.
This boxing conditioning workout is fully modifiable. Because it is designed around a circuit, all the exercises can be changed. For example, if you don’t have access to a kettlebell, then you could substitute another functional resistance exercise, such as dumbbell single arm snatch or barbell power cleans.
Also, you don’t have to be a boxer or aspiring boxer to enjoy the fitness benefits of this workout. If you are not a competent boxer, or your gym doesn’t have punch bag, you can always change the boxing exercise for something else.
Alternatively, you could access our Complete Guide to Shadowboxing and swap out the heavy bag exercise for shadowboxing. In short, you can tailor this boxing conditioning workout to suit you.
Boxing conditioning workout benefits
As I mentioned in the introduction, this boxing-inspired met-con workout is the complete training package. The boxing exercise, which is exclusively heavy bag work, will help you build awesome muscular endurance while also enabling you develop knock-out punching power.
The callisthenic exercises, two of which feature plyometric movements, will improve muscular endurance, explosive power and impressive muscular tonality. Furthermore, the whole-body resistance exercise, adds a strength element to this workout.
And finally, the cardio exercise – shuttle sprints – not only improve cardiovascular performance, but it will also develop stamina in the legs.
Benefits of boxing training
It’s not up for debate, boxing is the ultimate training method. If you want to improve all-round fitness, burn fat, and sharpen your fighting skills, you’ve got to take up boxing training.
Of all the different forms of exercise available, CrossFit, circuit training, weightlifting, none engage as many components of fitness as a boxing workout. In a single boxing workout – like the one below – your agility, balance, coordination, cardio, power and muscular endurance will all be tested.
Other benefits of boxing training include:
Fat burning
Increased muscle tonality
Improved bone density
Increased cardio-respiratory performance
Augmented muscular endurance
Improved core stability
Increased power
Enhanced reaction time and coordination and agility
Stress relief
Want to know more about the benefits of boxing?
Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There’s nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring.
Sugar Ray Leonard
How it works
Organised around a circuit format, this boxing conditioning workout oscillates between the heavy bag and exercises. The mechanics of this session are super simple: when you’ve completed the warm-up, you will start at the first exercise – clap-hand press-ups – and aim for as many reps as possible in 1-minute. From there, glove-up and get straight onto the heavy bag.
Your objective is to maintain high intensity output for each 1-minute round. Once the bell (buzzer) goes you are to transition immediately to the next exercise. After you have completed one full lap of the circuit, you can take a 1-minute rest.
As soon as your rest is over, get back off your stool, and get back into the fight.
Equipment needed for this boxing workout
Bag gloves
Kettlebell
25-metre straight for sprinting
5-foot box
Medicine ball
Boxing conditioning workout
Just to quickly recap on how you should approach this workout. Firstly warm-up with 10-minutes of skipping. Then, after organising the equipment to make transitioning between exercises faster, set a 1-minute repeater on your training timer.
When you're ready start the clock and hit the first exercise. The moment you minute is up whip your gloves on and start thwacking that bag. Maintain a high intensity throughout the 10 exercises. Take a 1-minute break at the end of a complete circuit.
10-minute warm-up: skipping
Metcon workout
1) Clap-hand press-ups (or normal press-ups if you can’t clap)
2) Punchbag (maintain a high punch output)
3) Kettlebell swings
4) Punchbag (maintain a high punch output)
5) Medicine ball slams
6) Punchbag (maintain a high punch output)
7) Sprints (25-metres high-intensity)
8) Punchbag (maintain a high punch output)
9) Box jumps
10) Punchbag (maintain a high punch output)
Boxing conditioning workout FAQ
Why is boxing good exercise?
Boxing is a good exercise because it builds complete fitness. For example, if you only ever trained resistance – weightlifting – you would no doubt build impressive strength and big muscles.
However, you would also develop a fitness imbalance to match the size of your guns. For though you might be strong, you probably won’t be able to chase down a bus or maintain high intensity output for more than a minute before pumping up like a balloon (figuratively speaking).
By contrast, boxing training requires that you develop a natural, balanced physicality. Granted, boxing won’t make you super-strong, and neither will it inflate your muscles. But it will help you forge a fighter’s physique, one that is lean and functionally useful.
What muscles are used when boxing?
All of them! Seriously, as far as I am aware, and I’m opened to be challenge on this, boxing training works every single muscle in the body. Including the muscles of the cardiovascular and respiratory system.
Is boxing workout good for weight loss?
Yes absolutely! Boxing is by far one of the best forms of training for burning fat and shaping lean, defined muscles. The way boxing does this is by blending multiple different training methodologies together in the same workout.
In our article that comprehensively covers How to Train Like a Boxer, we outline the training routine of Oleksandr Usyk, recently crowned Heavyweight Champion. In a YouTube video encapsulating his workouts, Usyk can be seen pushing himself through gruelling pre-fight workouts. These workouts consist of a mix of the following exercises:
Cardiovascular fitness: Running, Airdyne bike, Rowing
Strength building: Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Strongman exercises
Muscular endurance: Hammer work, Bodyweight exercises
Explosive power: Plyometrics, Gymnastics
Dynamic strength: Kettlebells, CrossFit, Battle ropes
Agility and coordination: Agility drills, Skipping, Juggling
General conditioning workouts: a mix of cardio and all the above
It’s this mix of exercises and the fact that fighters train at high intensities, why boxing is a brilliant weight-loss workout.
What is shadow boxing workout?
For the answer to that question, follow the link:
Related: Complete Guide To Shadow Boxing >
If you need any more boxing training advice, workouts and/or tutorials, or reviews of best boxing equipment, see our Boxing Page.
Need more workouts?
Then get your hands on over 80 more with the Hungry4Fitness Book of Circuits & Workouts Vol. 3.
About Adam Priest –
A former Royal Marines Commando, Adam Priest is a content writer, college lecturer, and health and wellbeing practitioner. He is also a fitness author and contributor to other websites. Connect with Adam via LinkedIn or info@hungry4fitness.co.uk.