The 6 Best Boxing Conditioning and Strength Workouts for All

Attacking opponents with explosive punches and evading counterpunches are an essential part of a boxer’s training. During the bouts, boxers are judged based on their strength and punching power. It is quite difficult to quantify the extent of conditioning and strength, as well as the ability to last a long time in a fight. This is what makes it necessary for boxers and athletes from other combat sports such as BJJ, MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai to train for conditioning and strength to win their fights.

Considering this need for boxers, here we are discussing 6 of the best boxing conditioning and strength workouts that can keep them always ready to fight and win.

1. What Is Conditioning In Boxing?

Conditioning can be defined as the ability of a fighter to tolerate and gain endurance to survive for a long time in a match. In other words, conditioning is a practicing method for improving an athlete’s body’s ability to bear sustained efforts.

Conditioning is the key when it comes to enduring boxing fights. Though workouts help fighters improve their strength for rapid and explosive blows, endurance comes from conditioning, which is the key determinant of the duration you can last in a match while launching powerful attacks at your opponents.

2. Why Are Conditioning Workouts Important For Boxers?

Conditioning and strength are as important for boxers as the headgear, boxing gloves, and other essential boxing gear are for protection and lasting till the final round. The primary objective of a conditioning workout is to increase the time duration when it comes to performing any activity and delay exhumation.

A boxer must exert himself for many hours in order to prepare for a match by repeating the same training segments and steps. The less time you take to get tired, the more you will suffer during the fight.

In order to make your training more fruitful and effective while fighting, you need to condition your body to utilize the strength you have gained from training. The duration of every round of a boxing match may vary from 3 to 5 minutes, and the number of rounds can also be 3 to 12, but your only goal is to survive and keep yourself intact till the final whistle.

If you get exhausted earlier than your opponent, you will provide them with opportunities to knock you out, as it will make you drop your guard and open up your chin. In this case, conditioning is the best way to overcome the endurance problem, and cardio exercises, including aerobic and anaerobic training, are the best choice to perform.

3. Best Strength And Conditioning Workouts For Boxing

If you are in search of some of the best strength and conditioning workouts to improve your boxing game, here are some incredible ones for you that can help achieve your goals.

Also Read: Best Boxing Workouts for Beginners to Polish Your Techniques and Body Conditioning

3.1. Burpees

Burpees seem like a simple exercise, but it is quite challenging, which is why not so many people enjoy doing them. If you are able to perform this exercise, it indicates you are physically fit. Burpees are beneficial in so many ways, but for boxers, they are an incredible boxing conditioning workout.

Burpees help you improve your explosiveness, shred your core, and boost your stamina as they engage your shoulder muscles, biceps, and triceps. Burpees are a comprehensive full-body workout that swiftly boosts your heart rate and helps you increase your cardiovascular strength and build endurance.

• Here is how you should be performing burpees for the best results:
• Start from the squat position and keep your feet shoulder-width apart while keeping your knees bent.
• Bring your hands down and inside your feet on the ground.
• Now, keep your weight on your hands and push your feet backward as you are performing a push-up.
• Perform a push-up and while doing so, keep your back straight from head to heels in the proper way.
• Do a frog kick by jumping and bringing your feet back to the starting position.
• Stand and jump swiftly while you reach your arms above your head.
• When you land back, get into the initial squat position to go for the next burpee.

3.2. Deadlifts

Any exercise or workout that is focused on the core muscle group will be great for boxers to perform for conditioning purposes. Deadlifting helps you develop lower back and core strength as well as activate your glutes and hamstrings, which makes it the best boxing conditioning workout.

Follow the below steps to perform this boxing conditioning workout.

• To begin, load the barbell with the appropriate weight and stand shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed forward. Position the weighted barbell so that it is on your shoelaces when you look down.
• Raise the heavy barbell to your waist level by bending your knees slightly.
• To do a rep of this exercise, raise the weight to your waist, thrust your hips forward, and lower it to your mid-shin level.
• Repeat.

Also Read: Train Like a Pro: Get in Shape with This Intensive Boxing Workout to Get Yourself Fit

3.3. Push-Ups

You may assume push-ups are a very basic exercise, but they are outstanding when it comes to conditioning and strength. The more push-ups you perform, the fitter you become. The aspect that makes this exercise a key component of a boxer’s conditioning and strength workouts is that it emphasizes the arms, shoulders, and chest.

Endurance in arms is of great importance for a fighter as it helps in improving punching speed as well as explosiveness, which are essential to knocking out your opponents during the match.

Here is how you should perform push-ups to maximize your benefits:

• Get on all fours and place your hands a little wider than your shoulders.
• Arms and legs should be straight.
• Lower your body so that your chest should nearly be touching the floor.
• Pause for a moment, then push your back up.
• Repeat.

3.4. Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are as important as other conditioning and strength exercises are. They are exceptional when it comes to stimulating the upper back and developing upper body strength. This exercise is incredible for pull motion as you can use it in multiple clinching situations during a boxing match.

Pull-ups are one of the toughest exercises on the list for conditioning as they require a massive amount of strength to perform even a single rep. However, you cannot ignore its effectiveness for a boxer.

Here’s how to perform pull-ups with the right technique:

• Begin with your hands on the bar, almost shoulder-width apart, with palms facing forward.
• To be in the starting position, extend your arms above you, curve your body back, and stick your chest out slightly.
• Now, pull your body up towards the bar by using your back until the bar comes at your chest level while exhaling.
• Slowly lower your body back to the starting position and inhale.
• Repeat.

Also Read: Boxing Circuit Training for Strength and Conditioning: Tone Your Body Like a Fighter

3.5. Jump Rope

Rope jumping is one of the most common exercises that most boxers do in their training routines. It provides a unique cardiovascular challenge that any other workout can not replicate. Jump rope is not only a perfect tool for building conditioning. It is also effective for developing better coordination.

Considering its simplistic nature, do not think it is an easy thing to do. This can be one of the most intense exercises that you may ever have experienced. However, the thing that makes it exceptional is that it is a lot of fun and will not let you get bored with it.

Here are some easy steps to perform jump rope perfectly:

• Start by holding the rope and keeping your hands at hip level.
• Rotate your wrists for swinging the rope and jump.
• Remember that you have to jump with both feet at the same time. However, you can add variations to the move by jumping on a single foot or by alternating between feet.
• Repeat for the desired time or count.

3.6. Agility Ladder

The agility ladder is another extraordinary, yet most common, exercise among boxers that help them in multiple ways. From strengthening your lower body and legs to improving footwork and coordination, you can use this exercise to your advantage. This is considered a staple in boxing training when it comes to improving footwork, which is one of the key determinants of success in boxing matches.

The agility ladder workouts are fantastic for raising heart rate and burning a lot of calories. It means that you can use this exercise to cut weight and get lean too. In addition, this workout also enables you to maneuver yourself across the ring.

These are some of the incredibly useful agility ladder exercises that you should incorporate into your conditioning and strength routine.

• Forward and backward movements.
• Side-to-side stepping.
• Forward 2 steps, backward 1.
• Jabbing forward.
• 1-2 hook, step left.
• Moving forward with a 1-2.
• 1-2, step right.

4. Takeaway

In the boxing sport, survival till the final whistle always depends on a boxer’s ability to endure, and for that, conditioning and strength are of great importance. The above-stated workouts are excellent for helping boxers build conditioning and strengthen their bodies to last all the rounds in a boxing match.