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If you want to burn calories, trim up, and get fit in the process, you should start including the occasional boxing cardio workout in your routine.
A boxing cardio workout offers an engaging alternative to standard sweat sessions.
Instead of forcing yourself on that obligatory long slow run (so dull!), you could mix things up a bit by putting yourself through a fat-busting boxing workout.
As well as disintegrating calories and enhancing whole-body fitness, this boxing cardio workout will help bust stress.
And the other great thing about this boxing cardio workout, it requires hardly any equipment or space.
Boxing cardio workout for all
And don’t think you need to be a boxer to train like one. This is a common misconception that’s resulted in many people missing out on the benefits of the boxing training methodology.
To take part in this boxing cardio workout all you need is a skipping rope, a bit of space for bodyweight exercises, and a resistance band. That’s it!
Boxing cardio workout benefits
Though this boxing cardio workout won’t transform you into the next world champion, it will provide you with a new training dynamic. One that will stimulate your physicality in different ways.
In addition to offering some much-needed variation, this boxing cardio workout will put you through your paces. By doing so you’ll enjoy a high-intensity sweat session that will burn some serious calories.
Boxing workouts build whole body fitness
Furthermore, because this boxing-inspired workout features calisthenics exercises as well as cardio, your whole body will be actively engaged.
Thus, while promoting cardio fitness and consuming a week’s worth of calories, this workout improves endurance and muscular tonality.
Boxing training helps fat loss
In our article 10 Benefits of Boxing, we discuss at length why boxing fitness is one of the best training methods for burning fat. To sum up, boxing fitness burns calories so effectively because it is both high intense and involves lots of cardiovascular exercise. Most boxing sessions start with either a 30-minute run or 20- to 30-minute skip. And that’s just part of the warm-up!
Moreover, unlike more traditional training methods (gym-based sessions), boxers take very little rest during a workout. As a consequence they maximise their training time.
And because the majority of the workout is spent sweating, as opposed to resting, posing, or switching between exercise equipment, much more energy is expended. If more energy is expended, then more calories are consumed. If more calories are consumed, then there’s less to be stored as fat.
Boxing cardio workout hints and tips
Below there are three separate workouts: basic, medium, horrible (I mean hard). The titles assigned to each workout speaks for itself.
If you want a moderately relaxed session, perhaps to be used as a pre-session warm-up or post-weightlifting workout pulse raiser, go basic.
But say you fancy a bit of challenge, maybe that circuits class didn’t live up to expectations, or you need to atone for an over-indulgent weekend, medium is for you. It’ll put you through your paces but won’t leave you feeling (or looking!) like Rocky after going twelve with Apollo Creed.
For those who want to do duke it out with the Devil, there’s only one workout for you, and that’s horrible (obviously). This is a nasty session that will induce a hellish cardio burn.
And for those true fitness sadomasochists, dare to do all three workouts – on the bounce!
Related: discover more benefits of boxing training
This boxing workout includes skipping
To maximise the fitness outcomes of this boxing cardio workout, it’s helpful if you can competently skip: i.e., maintain a fluid consistent skipping action for minutes at a time while also being able to pop out a burst of double-unders without tying yourself in knots.
The three workouts are structured around skipping and involve ‘jump rope’ HIIT blasts.
However, if you skipping skills are on par with that of a primary school girl (no offence to primary school girls), not all is lost. For you can substitute skipping for short shuttle sprints. But skipping is preferable by far.
Related: need a skipping rope? Check out our top picks!
How to skip like a pro
For those who can skip, but just haven’t done so in a while, below you will find a technique refresher.
If you have never skipped, or you were one of those unfortunate people born with two left feet (no offence to people with two left feet), jettison the skipping and settle for sprinting.
Step 1: WARM-UP! Your warm-up should consist of ankle and knee mobility exercises. Also, air squats, light bounces, and low intensity plyometric jumps should be incorporated into your pre-skipping warm-up.
Step 2: While holding the rope in your hands, practice double footed jumping – you are not skipping yet, just practicing the mechanics. Spend 1- to 2-minutes doing this.
Step 3: Holding the handles loosely, the rope at rest behind you, turn it over and jump the rope once then stop.
Step 4: Repeat Step 3 for 1- to 2-minutes.
Step 5: Now attempt to jump the rope as many times as possible without stopping. Ensure to count the number of jumps you achieved as you are going to try to beat it next time.
Step 6: For 5-minutes work on sustaining a consistent skipping action.
Boxing cardio workout
Before attempting any of the boxing workouts below, ensure to warm up thoroughly first. Ideally your warm-up should be consistent with the workout and feature similar – preferably the same – exercises.
To make life easy for yourself, you could have a low intensity run through the basic workout. This will suffice as a suitable whole-body warm-up while also providing you with a feel for the session structure.
1: Basic workout
The basic boxing cardio workout is short and sharp making it ideal for a warm-up or to cap a weightlifting session.
Remember, if you can’t skip, shuttle sprint for the same duration.
1-minute skipping (aim for 80 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing (not sure how to shadowbox? See our complete guide to shadowboxing and master this highly underrated exercise.)
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
2-minute skipping (aim for 80 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
3-minute skipping (aim for 80 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
Total workout time: 15-minutes
2: Medium workout
At almost double the duration of the basic, the medium boxing cardio workout would suffice as a session on its own. In addition to an increase in rounds, you are also required to maintain a higher skipping output – 90 revolutions per minute.
Also, you’ll notice that the skip duration increases with each successive round.
2-minutes skipping (aim for 90 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
3-minutes skipping (aim for 90 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
4-minutes skipping (aim for 90 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
5-minutes skipping (aim for 90 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
Total workout time: 26-minutes
3: Horrible workout
The final boxing cardio workout is a 42-minute slugfest that will put even the fittest pugilist through their paces.
As with the medium, the number of rounds has increased along with the skip duration. But a couple of other intensifiers have been thrown into the mix.
You now must maintain 100 skip revolutions per minute. No mean feat I can tell you – especially when the skip duration increases. Also, you are to change up the gears over the final 20-seconds of each minute by performing double-unders. Ouch!
And finally, when shadowboxing you should fasten yourself into a resistance band of between 20 to 30kg resistance. This will put a nasty burn in the shoulders and tire the arms out for the bodyweight exercises.
2-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute – double-unders last 20-seconds)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
3-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
4-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
5-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
5-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
5-minutes skipping (aim for 100 revolutions per minute)
1-minute shadowing boxing
1-minute bodyweight exercises: 5 burpees - 5 press-ups - 5-seconds plank - 5 squat jumps
Rest 1-minute
Total workout time: 42-minutes
For more boxing-related articles, including training, workouts, tutorials, and reviews of the best boxing kit, see our dedicated Boxing Page.
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About Adam Priest –
A former Royal Marines Commando, Adam Priest is a content writer, college lecturer, and health and wellbeing practitioner. He is also a fitness author and contributor to other websites. Connect with Adam at info@hungry4fitness.co.uk.