Boxing Workouts With Lifting

Combining speed, power, flexibility and stamina, successful boxers are well-conditioned athletes who also require physical strength. Though many boxers focus on dexterity and agility drills, developing knockout power may necessitate a progressive resistance workout program that uses weights. An effective weight lifting regimen can strengthen muscles and joints and help stabilize core muscles essential to boxing success.

  1. Power Cleans

    • The core muscles are in your abdomen, lower back and hips, and for a boxer these areas are important for balance, power and flexibility. An effective core weight training routine is power cleans, which involve grabbing a barbell with a desired weight plate on both ends, snatching it off the ground, lifting it up to your chest, then sweeping it straight over your head. This is a compound workout that strengthens multiple muscles, including the abdomen and shoulders, and increases a boxer's explosive power.

    Bench and Shoulder Press

    • Bench press exercises done on a bench press help to increase strength, which is the source of a boxer's power. Boxers do not need to lift heavy weights; using light weights with more repetitions are more advantageous as they are less taxing on the body and help develop lean muscle mass, which is ideal for a boxer. Shoulder presses are effective for strengthening the muscles of the back and shoulders and help increase the density of a boxer's triceps, which is an important component of developing muscular biceps.

    Arm Curls

    • One of the best ways for boxers to build their biceps is to use dumbell and barbell curls. Dumbbells come in various weights and are designed to isolate the muscle bellies of the bicep. Barbells also offer effective bicep exercises, but because they offer heavier weight options, they are designed to build overall arm size as opposed to isolating the individual portions of the bicep. Boxers should perform multiple sets of dumbbell exercises using light weight and high repetitions and limit barbell lifting to one or two sets.

    Squats

    • Squats require you to lift a barbell off a rack, balance the bar on your shoulders, lower into a squat, then lift yourself back to a standing position. Squats strengthen and build the muscles of the legs, which is a key aspect of a boxer's arsenal. A boxer with weak or spindly legs may not possess the natural anchoring to withstand an opponent's barrage of punches. Squats also provide benefits for a boxer's core, gluteus maximus (buttocks muscles), back and shoulders.