More and more women are taking up boxing as a way to improve their athleticism, strength, and agility. If you balk at the idea of getting the ring with another woman as a necessary step to get stronger and faster, you should know that boxing isn’t all about combat.
There are a lot of benefits of boxing for females that have nothing to do with punching someone else or getting into a physical fight. You can train your body and develop muscles using boxing without ever throwing a punch against another person.
Of course, if you want, boxing can be very competitive and combat oriented. You can get into that physical fighting side of the sport and enjoy the benefits that come from that as well.
Let’s talk about some of the benefits for women in particular when it comes to boxing. Even if you never punch at another human, there’s tons of advantages to going to the gym and hitting a punching bag for a while.
Muscle Toning
You may think that boxing isn’t for you because you don’t want to bulk up and look muscular. Not every woman who boxes looks like She-Hulk, so don’t get the wrong idea that you’re going to bulk up just because you’re taking up some boxing.
Hitting a punching bag is in great way to build muscle tone and definition. It’s a superb cardio exercise that burns a lot of fat and get your heart rate up. It also builds muscles in key upper body areas, working the shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, back, and core.
You can get a toned, fit look in all those areas through regular boxing sessions. You might be amazed at how quickly your muscles develop and how soon you start seeing some real definition there.
Of course, it helps to eat a low carb, low fat, low sugar diet that’s high in lean protein. This will develop muscle and reduce fat growth in the body.
Great for Your Heart Health
One of the other benefits of boxing for fitness for females is that it helps your cardiovascular strength and ability. You will improve your circulation and strengthen your heart, as this cardiovascular activity works your heart muscle and allows it to work for longer and harder.
It increases the stamina and strength of your heart, which can help you to live longer, enjoying a healthy heart and lowering your risk for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems.
Boost Your Endurance
Increasing your heart healthiness means you’ll have more endurance, and it also means that your lung capacity will increase. As you hit the punching bag over and over again, you will be exerting yourself, sweating profusely, and breathing heavily.
Doing this regularly will expand your lungs’ ability to provide air and oxygenation to the rest of your body.
It’s an invigorating workout routine, and you’ll definitely benefit from greater stamina and endurance in any kind of physical activity you do. You’ll take longer to get tired and out of breath, and you’ll be able to run for farther and longer without getting exhausted.
Any kind of physical exercise that requires decent lung capacity and a strong heart will become easier for you. You will be able to do longer workout sessions without getting tired, which means you’ll see greater gains in your musculature and athleticism.
Better Strength and Recovery
As you’re getting stronger by boxing, you’re also building functional strength. This is strength you need for daily activities. You’ll be able to lift more, carry it for longer, and exert yourself without causing muscle soreness and achiness.
Imagine putting yourself through a strenuous workout, the hardest you’ve ever been through, and coming out the other side of that feeling great. Imagine the next day that you don’t feel overtired or sore. That’s because your body has learned to recover faster.
Thanks to the oxygenation your body is getting because of the cardiovascular workouts you’re doing, your muscles recover quickly. Of course, you’re going to have to couple strenuous workouts with plenty of sleep and a healthy diet. That will help your muscles recover as well.
However, doing a workout that is as demanding as boxing and doing it on a regular basis will improve your overall athleticism and muscle recovery.
You have less downtime, which means you’ll be able to spend more time working out and more time gaining muscle and getting stronger. This is all true whether you’re a man or a woman, and boxing provides those kinds of benefits across the board.
Learn Self Defense
As you train, you will learn valuable skills that may help you out later in life. It’s a sad thing that women are at more risk for being taken advantage of than men. It’s sensible to try to protect yourself, and boxing teaches you how to do that.
If you’ve never thrown a punch and if you don’t have much strength in your arms, you may have trouble defending yourself effectively. Boxing as a form of exercise teaches valuable life skills that may come in useful one day, saving your life or keeping you from being taken advantage of.
If you don’t want to be another statistic or a victim, then boxing can be so much more for you than just a way to build some muscle and get a good workout.
You can be prepared when someone tries to do you harm, and you’ll know how to throw a punch and defend yourself. Even without professional combat training, you can learn how to defend yourself properly.
In most instances where someone defends themselves from an attacker, they only need to throw a couple punches, not actually getting into an all-out fight where blows are traded back and forth. They just need to do enough to injure their attacker and escape, and practicing boxing will provide you with the tools to do that to keep yourself safe.
Boosts Mental Health
Boxing is also excellent for your mental wellbeing, allowing you to focus on yourself for a while rather than on others.
Women will naturally want to care for others, sometimes putting the needs of others above their own. This can be to their detriment at times, as they may neglect their own needs.
Boxing puts the focus squarely back on yourself, and if you need time to destress and self-care, boxing can be a great way to do that. As you exert yourself, the body releases hormones that help you to destress and feel better. This can help to use bottled up energy that could be built up by stress and anxiety.
Any frustration or anger you have pent up can be released and dissipated in a healthy way when you box. It could be damaging to your mental health to keep these things holed up inside, and boxing helps you to release them in a way that benefits you and keeps you from hurting other people or saying something you don’t do tend to.
Boxing is a healthy way to vent, and after a tough day or a frustrating week, it’s a good way to work off some excess energy and to invigorate yourself.
