A different kind of motivation

Everyone struggles with motivation at some point. It doesn’t matter if you are a competitive athlete or someone who just wants to do a bit of exercise to stay healthy. Your training routine can become a chore and you either push through or start to flag, finding reasons to skip sessions.

If you are looking for something that’s going to keep you motivated here are some reasons to consider boxing.

Focus

Boxing requires complete concentration. If you spar or compete, then any lapse can leave you open to being hit. Even if you are training on equipment, or shadow boxing, you are moving your body so that you can throw the most effective punches while protecting yourself from an opponent. From the start of the round to the end you are focused on your body position, foot movement, hand placement, breathing. Between rounds you can relax mentally and physically, gather your thoughts, and prepare to go again.

Numbers play a big part in most forms of exercise. Weight, time, distance; we have monitors and apps to track everything we do. Boxing can’t be reduced to numbers. When you train your mind is focused on your own movement and positioning, not distracted by a screen. You can get punch trackers and apps if your really want to, but counting punches is not the way to improve as a boxer.

Engagement

Boxing is a highly skilled sport needing timing, balance and coordination. There are the defensive skills; blocking and parrying, shoulder rolls, foot and head movement. When you throw punches, you have to coordinate the movements of your legs, body and arms to maximise power. You learn to throw from different angles and develop combinations. And then there’s putting it all together, flowing seamlessly from defence to attack, staying balanced, moving, controlling distance, and conserving energy.

Variety

Boxing offers lots of ways to train. There’s the high intensity physicality of the heavy bag or working on pads. Or more technically focused exercises like the double end bag or reflex bar. You can work on your own, with a partner or in a class.

You don’t need any special clothing or equipment to do shadow boxing or footwork drills. This makes it easy to do at home with no setup time required. There’s a lot that you can practice this way, offensively and defensively.

Boxing gives you an excellent cardio workout. With some other forms of exercise, it takes a lot to push yourself into that zone where you are really working hard. Doing rounds on bags, pads or in sparring will take you to your limit fast.

If you choose to spar, then there’s also the intensity that comes from hitting someone and being hit. It’s not for everyone, but I think most people do wonder how they would cope in a fight situation, even if it is in the controlled environment of a sparring session. There is an extra level of motivation that comes with sparring, and a sense of achievement afterwards. It is something to know you can take a punch in the face and carry on. And that certainly ought to be a spur to improve so it’s less likely to happen again.