Top 10 Reasons To Do Boxing And Yoga

Boxing and yoga might just be the perfect fitness combination. They are very different yet very similar at the same time. Boxing is intense, exhausting, and sometimes a little scary. On the other hand, yoga helps you relax your mind and your muscles. Both will give you a good workout and relieve you of stress in their way. So, why should you do both?

They Work Good in Synergy

They complement each other perfectly: boxing is anaerobic, and yoga is aerobic. This means that they target different energy systems in your body. Boxing uses short bursts of energy, while yoga uses long, steady-state energy.

A boxing workout will help you develop energy in short bursts, in the same way, sprinting does. Since yoga uses steady-state energy, it will slowly build up your conditioning, just like running. A boxer needs to have both types of energy systems developed.

During a fight, you will need to throw fast punches which will burn a lot of energy in a short period. But the fight also goes on for many rounds. That is why you also need to have steady-state cardio developed also. You also can interchange them during the week.

Suppose you feel more tired and beat up from boxing than you can go for more yoga workouts. This will help your muscles relax and recover. If you feel energetic and need stress to relieve, you can choose more boxing workouts in the week.

They Do Not Interfere With Each Other

As we said earlier, boxing and yoga work well together. For example, if you take a different combination of sports, your body might be in trouble. Your muscles might not have enough time to recover. You might also feel overwhelmed and tired from two types of intense sports.

For example, if you take up weightlifting and boxing, your muscles will need more time to recover. There is also the possibility you are not going to progress in either of those since you will be too tired to do so. That is why boxing and yoga are so good together because they do not interfere.

After a tough boxing workout, you can go to a yoga workout without worries. You will relax, work out slowly, and breathe properly during yoga. Because of those things, your body will slowly release endorphins, making you feel good. They will also make you more relaxed.

Enhanced Flexibility And Mobility

You will become more flexible: boxing requires a lot of upper body movement, and often we forget to stretch our shoulders and chest. Even though boxing mostly uses the upper body, a lot of your power comes from your legs. During boxing, your legs are at constant work.

They will get sore together with your upper body. Boxers often forget to stretch their legs since they “didn’t work them” in the boxing session. You will most likely have to stretch your whole body during a yoga session. You will stretch your arms, legs, shoulders, back, abdominal muscles, and more.

This will improve both your flexibility and your mobility. All boxers know that mobility in the shoulders is of great importance. Yoga helps open up these areas so that you can have a fuller range of motion when you box. And a fuller range of motion will make your techniques more fluent.

Improved Balance And Coordination

You will improve your balance and coordination. Boxing requires quick movements and a lot of coordination. In that regard, yoga helps you to develop better balance and control over your body. While you boxing, you must make a lot of moves that need a balance.

Throwing a jab forward or a hook requires that kind of balance. Or springing back and dodging punches and ducking under hooks. All of these moves need balance and coordination. One of the greater benefits of yoga is the development of balance.

During a yoga session, you will have to do a lot of hard positions you are not used to. These positions will work multiple muscles you didn’t even know you had. By working the smaller, more hidden muscle, your body will make them stronger.

The stronger these small muscles are, the better they will be at balancing. You will also develop good coordination during a yoga session. There are a lot of moves in yoga you need to do in proper order for the position to be correct.

In the same way, in boxing, you will need to know the right order in which to move your body. You will build a lot of strength during boxing which might help you hold some of the yoga positions for longer.

You Will Learn How To Breathe Properly

You will become more aware of your breath: boxing is an intense workout, and it is easy to forget to breathe. Sometimes you are fighting someone who has more endurance than you. This will force you to move more and burn more oxygen.

The more oxygen you burn, the harder it is to breathe. And the harder it is to breathe, the more you lose control of your breathing. Yoga will help you with building endurance in your lungs and your muscles. Yoga will also help you learn how to control your breathing and breathe properly.

Yoga helps you to be more in tune with your breath and be aware of how it affects your body. This awareness will help you to stay calm under pressure and perform at your best. You will no longer labor for air and get tired as quickly.

In the same way, if you are starting yoga and you have boxed before, there is a high chance you already know a thing or two about proper breathing techniques.

More Strenght And Power

You will build strength and endurance. Boxing uses every muscle in your body, especially the muscles in your arms, legs, core, and back. Yoga also uses all of these muscle groups but in a different way. By doing both, you will build strong muscles and increase your endurance.

Boxing will work your fast-twitch muscle fiber. The fast-twitch muscle fibers help you exert a lot of force quickly. Producing a lot of force quickly is a must in boxing. If your punches do not have a lot of force, they might as well be useless.

On the other hand, yoga will work your slow-twitch muscle fibers since you need to hold a position for a prolonged period of time. Your slow-twitch muscle fibers are the ones used when some sort of endurance training is performed.

The strength you have gained from boxing will help you maintain positions in yoga. While the strength you have gained during yoga will transfer to boxing the same way.

Better Endurance

You will improve your cardiovascular health: boxing is a great cardio workout. It gets your heart rate up and gets you sweating. Yoga is also great for your cardiovascular health. It helps to lower blood pressure and improve circulation.

As we said earlier, boxing is a great way to build your fast-paced endurance. Yoga, on the other hand, will build your steady-state endurance. Both yoga and boxing will help you build endurance in your muscles. And both will help you build endurance in your lungs.

Boxing will do that through a lot of intensive workouts, while yoga will do it by teaching you how to breathe. There is also the Hot Room Yoga which is performed in hot and hard to breathe rooms. This type of yoga will especially exhaust you.

But it will also show you how to control your breathing and teach you how to use the little oxygen you have properly.

Prolonged Calorie Burning

You will burn more calories: boxing is a high-intensity workout that can help you burn a lot of calories. Yoga is a low-impact workout, but it still helps to boost your metabolism and burn calories. By doing both, you will be able to torch even more calories!

A boxing workout can make you burn 800 calories in an hour. A yoga workout can make you burn between 150 and 450 calories in an hour. Of course, both depend on your gender, age, weight, and intensity of the workout.

However, both will make a decent dent in your daily calorie burn. Since boxing is a high-intensity workout, it will also burn calories 24 to 48 hours after you stop working out. By doing three boxing workouts and three yoga workouts a week, you could end up burning a pound of fat a week.

Of course, this depends on your diet more than anything. The added benefits are that the less weight you have, the easier it will be for you to hold positions during yoga. In the same aspect, the less weight you have (“fat”), the easier it will be for you to move around the ring.

Reduced Stress

You will reduce stress: boxing is a great way to release all of the built-up tension in your body. Yoga helps to calm the mind and relax the body. Together, they are the perfect combination to relieve some built-up stress.

Boxing helps you relieve stress by punching a boxing bag or a boxing partner, just don’t hit them too hard. It helps you release some of the frustrations you might have accumulated during the day. Yoga also helps you relieve stress but in a different way. It is still a workout, but it is relaxing.

It helps you focus on the moment, which will make you forget about some of the troubles you might be having in your life. As we said, through controlled breathing, you will help your mind and your body relax and give them the rest they need.

Both boxing and yoga are great stress relievers. It just depends on which one you prefer.

Improved Focus And Persistence

Yoga is an excellent way to improve focus and increase productivity. A study done by the University of Washington found that people who did yoga three times a week for eight weeks had better attention spans than those who didn’t do yoga.

It also makes you feel present at the moment. A yoga session requires you to focus on what your coach is telling you and to focus on your body. It makes you more mindful of yourself and your surrounding. Boxing helps you build focus in a not-so-different way.

To be a good boxer, you need to have good focus. If you are not focused enough on your opponent, you just might get knocked out. If you are not focused on your positioning and defense, you are just opening a weak spot for your opponent.

And one of the more unlikely benefits of both boxing and yoga is building persistence. It is clear how you build persistence through boxing. Every time you are close to quitting, you, as a fighter, know you cannot. You must continue fighting even if hurt, scared, Toor tired.

Yoga can help you build a part of that persistence, especially hot room yoga. Some positions during yoga might be uncomfortable, and they might hurt. However, you will need to hold out and push through the discomfort. Boxing and yoga are great ways to improve both.

Conclusion

Boxing and yoga are excellent when trained separately. But if you train both of them together, you might see even better results. They do not interfere with each other, meaning you can progress in both of them at the same time.

Some things you have learned in boxing can and will transfer to your yoga sessions. And some things you have learned in yoga will help you during your next boxing workout or match. Increased focus and persistence, and learning to breathe will do wonders for your boxing career.

And let us not forget the fact that yoga will help your muscles relax and recover by bringing more blood flow into them. As you can see, boxing and yoga are a great combination.