So maybe you’ve tried a few different methods of working out and nothing seems to be….. well…. working out for you. Running is boring, pumping iron like Arnold isn’t for you, you don’t feel like doing zumba or you’re tired of sitting in a spin class. There is a lot of hype out there that we all get bombarded with on a daily basis. New “insane’’ workouts or extreme fad diets come and go all the time.

Have you ever came across some old magazine or video from the 80’s that featured some new, innovative workout and you look at it and think “what the hell were they thinking”? Well, what most of the people you know are doing is going to look just about as ridiculous 20 years down the road. This is the great thing about life and the nature of progress, even if it leaves us feeling embarrassed about the fact we bought that ridiculous inner thigh machine or got that membership to this or that hip gym we are still hopefully making real progress.

Throughout modern history a few things have stayed around to become known as great workouts and one that has truly stood the test of time and is really as american as baseball and apple pie…… it’s Gloved Boxing. Gloved Boxing started and became popular in the US near the beginning part of the 20th century. It represented the antithesis of all sports. There is no one else, but you and your opponent and you test not only your wits and reflexes against them. You have to go through extreme physical preparation to even be ready to just go the distance. ESPN ranked Boxing the hardest sport in the world a few years ago because of not only the physical damage that can happen in a fight, but mostly because of the variety of demands it places on your body from a purely conditioning standpoint.

Unlike weight lifting or running, Boxing demands that you have strength, speed, power, endurance and quick reflexes. Any Boxer that lacks in any of these areas often ends up having a very tough time getting very far. It’s because of these requirements that Boxing Training and specifically Personal Boxing training is so effective.

You don’t have to get hit, as many already know, to experience the positive effects of Boxing personal sessions. In a well designed sessions that is coached (emphasis on a “coach” not a trainer that just counts reps while they check out their own arms in the mirror or check out someone else) by a legitimate Boxing Coach, you get the sweet science while your body gets challenged in ways it has never been before. You get a lean and mean fighter’s body from sessions like this, not a bulky look or a slim and weak emaciated appearance.

You get a body that looks good and can actual perform some pretty amazing feats like sharp combinations, fast hand speed, quick footwork and powerful punches. It’s a lot more satisfying to be able actual perform something with your newly found conditioning instead of just being a good looking exterior and not have any ability….. you know, all show and no go.

Now what are the drawbacks to Boxing Personal Training? Well for starters if you’re looking to be a bodybuilder it’s probably not a good fit. Boxing keeps you from putting on an excessive amount of muscle, but it will tone and strengthen your whole body.
Another con is a Boxing Personal Training session can be dangerous in two different ways. One of them is way more serious than the other. Here is the less serious one first….

Depending who you train with you could be looking ridiculous…..

There are many fitness trainers, BodyBuilding trainers and general personal trainers that believe because they can fit their hand into a focus mitt that they can train you one on one in Boxing. Honestly working with people who have no idea how to Box can oftentimes be much easier than working with someone who has already been trained by one of these individuals. Although, I am extremely proud of the many instances I have taken on someone who has started with one of these trainers and turned them around and made them look pretty amazing!

You see vids of these trainer with their unsuspecting clients all the time on social media. The “coach” is slapping down hard on every punch and working harder that the client! To be clear I am not raging on beginners. The client is only moving their arms and therefore only getting an arm workout, their chin is up, there hands are down and neither the client of the “coach’ ever get any better. Sure some people are impressed just as some guys are impressed by another guy showing off how much he can bench press by hip thrusting a bar off their chest or by loading up a bar and squatting about a quarter of the depth it would take to be a decent squat. So if you want to be like that then by all means keep on training with these individuals, but there is one more reason you may want to consider.

A while back I was training a client in one on one at a local gym. Their scheduled changed for a couple weeks and we weren’t able to get any sessions in. So a well meaning Bodybuilding personal trainer came to my client and offered to do some Boxing work with her. Fifteen minutes into the workout, BANG!!!….. The client had broken their wrist. I talked to my client after this incident to find out the details. Many people who like to pretend to be in the know are probably thinking they know the answer to why she broke her wrist, “She didn’t wrap!”….. no that wasn’t the reason.

The sequences she was going through up until that final punch that lead to her injury was setting her up for an accident and only people in the know could see the pattern. No one day course on Boxing or Boxing fitness instructor class will teach you this, it is something you must learn from the experience of working with champion athletes and knowing the ins and outs of the game.

If you mess around with trainers that are just picking up a little boxing instructing on the side and don’t study the art from a systematized and well laid out frame work you may slide by without any issues besides just looking goofy. At worst you could cause injury to yourself that could’ve easily been avoided if you would have simply worked with someone who is actually qualified.

All these things are important to weigh in your consideration of doing any Boxing training. I am obviously a little biased to Boxing as a path to fitness, but no matter what you find to be a fit for you in make sure you are with people who know what they are doing.

THE FINAL BELL

Remember, if you want to change your fitness or change your life, don’t wait to do it. Action is the essential component to any achievement. You can know what to do and say what you need to do it, but until you begin and take that first step and then keep marching forward you will not get the body and life that you want. Make a choice to take control of your life now and remember if you don’t make a choice you are still making one and that is to do nothing and let the next five years be like the last five… START NOW!