For a fun, fast-paced workout that really packs a punch, give boxercise classes a try. Great for building up your cardio fitness and burning lots of calories quickly, boxercise is a popular exercise for people of all ages and levels of experience, helping you to lose weight and improve your strength, fitness and coordination.

Here are a few reasons why you should get your boxing gloves on…

Workout benefits

Boxing gives you a real cardio workout that keeps you moving the whole time, helping you to improve your fitness and blast calories fast. Throughout your session you’ll get your heart rate up quickly, and work on increasing your endurance to so that you can work at a high intensity for a decent workout period.

Boxing is also great for toning your upper and lower body, giving you a strength training workout as well as a cardio fitness challenge. It’s not all about the arms- boxing can also help to tone your thighs and glutes, so it’s great for your overall strength and weight loss program. Don’t worry about bulking up either- because boxercise is such a high repetition workout, you’ll develop tone rather than muscle. And throughout the class, you’ll learn a sequence of moves including punching, weaving and ducking, which over time will help improve your balance, timing, agility, reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

The adrenaline rush of friendly competition is a real motivating factor, and can be an addictive feeling. The energy of others is likely to keep you pumped up throughout the session as well. It can also be a boost to your mood and confidence- many people feel strong and powerful when they boxercise. Although it’s not a self-defence class, it can feel very empowering to throw a decent punch.

What to expect

Many gyms will offer boxercise, cardio box, or box fitness classes. Usually, a class will last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, and will have around 10 to 15 people, who pair up and practise pad work and sparring together. This means you face opposite your partner and throw punches that they block with padded gloves, then you swap and block theirs. There is no body-to-body contact, and you will always be punching the pads rather than faces, so the risk of injury is minimal.

Boxercise for beginners

Even if you’ve never tried boxing before, you shouldn’t feel daunted about trying out a class. Some trainers suggest that boxing is actually easier for many beginners than running, especially if you are overweight. It’s easy to modify the movements for different levels of fitness and experience, so anyone can participate, and you’ll build up your skills and endurance quite quickly. Don’t think you’re not strong enough either- boxing is about technique rather than strength, and the movement really comes from the roation of the back, rather than the arms. Once you pick up the basic moves, you should be fine- and you might find it really enjoyable and rewarding.