Friday, January 13, 2012

Importance of Aerobic Training for Boxing

Imagine being as out of breath at you've ever been in your life and then getting punched hard enough to make your diaphragm spasm. That's boxing. Even without the added difficulty of an opponent, boxing cardio training is an excellent way to get aerobic exercise.

Importance
According to boxing coach Bill Packer, your wind is your most important boxing tool. If you can be the second athlete to run out of cardiovascular gas, then you will have a period of time where you rule the ring. Cardiovascular endurance doesn't just mean the ability to move and keep breathing, it also governs how well your body gets oxygen--the fuel for your muscles--to the muscle groups that make you punch, bob and weave.
Target Rate
According to the Close Combat fighting system, sport fighting keeps the heart rate at 115 to 145 beats per minute between physical exertion and mental stress. Thus, a cardiovascular workout program for boxers should keep the heart rate at between 115 and 145 beats per minute during the core part of the workout.
Kinds of Cardio
Boxing requires both major kinds of cardiovascular strength: sprint and endurance. Endurance is your ability to keep up cardiovascular exertion over an extended period, such as for a long road race. In boxing, this is the cardio that lets you fight through an entire round and then through subsequent rounds for the duration of the fight. Sprint cardio is the cardio that allows you to put forth extraordinary effort in short, aggressive bursts. It's the kind of cardio power you see in sprinters and weight lifters. Boxers use sprint power to put forward extra effort at the end of the round, and to fuel quick flurries of punches.
Drills for Endurance
To build endurance cardio, you need to engage in prolonged cardiovascular exertion. Jogging, called road work by boxers, is one of the most common and popular ways to do this. Cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing are other kinds of endurance cardio exercise.
Drills for Sprint Power
Sprint power drills exercise short bursts of extreme effort. Sprints are naturally a good example of this, as are speed weight lifting, pliometrics, heavy bag workouts and calisthenics. Interval training, where the athlete alternates between short periods of extreme effort separated by equal periods of light to moderate effort, are also a good way to build sprint power.
Fitness Boxing
Fitness boxing is a group exercise program that uses boxing moves to build a solid cardiovascular workout. Though it's a serious workout that builds strength, tone, wind and endurance, classes rarely focus on proper technique or fighting strategy. Consider a fitness boxing class if you want the exercise but not as part of getting ready for a fight.

 
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