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You gotta know by now that I just love boxing workouts for fitness. I have gone over a lot of the benefits in the Boxing for Fitness series of posts here on the website.

But wait there’s more!!

Here are a number of other reasons why I think boxing should be high on your to do list:

1. Cost

You can get a great workout with no equipment whatsoever. Shadow boxing is going to give you a great workout and you don’t need any equipment.

2. Space

Regardless of wether you are training by yourself or with a partner you really only need a few square metres to get the job done.

3. Time

You can get a great workout in 30 minutes or less.

4. Oddly enough, it can be low impact.

Low impact for the lower body most definitely. Compare this to something like running which is going to beat your joints up big time.

5. Great for your shoulders.

As long as you don’t have a shoulder injury, you will find that boxing strengthens not only your muscles but really improves your shoulder stability and strength. (Trust me, I know first hand on this!)

So here’s the thing. If you can come up with a reason why you can’t box i’m all ears. But it had better be a good reason.

There is so much going for it in terms of the benefits of boxing and there is very little (if nothing at all) that should stop you from being able to box.

Here you go, straight to the the point.

It’s what I like because it is what works.

I don’t see the point in doing exercises to ‘fill in time’. If you are going to do an exercise it may as well have a purpose. If not, find another one that does. (That is unless you have so much spare time on your hands that you want to waste it on pointless exercise…)

Number One

Front Squat Variations

It’s not that I don’t like back squats, it’s just that I think front squats are superior.

Why?

• With the right tools they are a lot easier to teach and learn.
• You don’t need as much load to work the legs –> less spinal loading
• They work the anterior core more

So in a nutshell, you can get up and running with them quicker because you don’t have to spend a whole heap of time ‘learning’ how to do the exercise. You won’t get much benefit from an exercise that you can’t load up because you can’t nail the correct technique. You can still smash your legs without smashing your back. And they smoke your abs (this is cool for everyone!)

You could squat properly at some stage...

Number Two

Push Up Variations

Why?

This old school classic is almost infinitely variable for both the beginner and the advanced trainer. Elevate your hands to make it easier or you can elevate your feet to make it harder.

You can also add resistance with bands, sandbags (or both…yikes!!). You can vary the with and angle of your hands and elbows to target different muscles and you can incorporate your lower body (think spider man pushups) to blast your core as well.

From a biomechanical point of view, your scapula should be free to move and not  trapped in on a bench. Not to say that you shouldn’t do bench presses, but at least balance it out with some non bench ‘chest’ exercises.

Number Three

Swing Variations

Why?

A lot of people tend to disregard the muscles they can’t see (too many squats and pushups maybe…!) All of the muscles on the back of their body which are typically important for your posture, muscle balance, injury prevention and strength. Your hammies, glutes, lower back, upper back all need to be worked as much as the muscles on the front of the body.

Personally I think kettlebells are the best tool for swings, you can pretty much swing anything. Be very careful when you are swinging cats though….

Seriously though, weight plates, dumbells, sandbags, water bags will all get the job done fine. Just be sure to stay super tight through your core, keep your back straight and in control of the weight at all times.

This movement can be used for power or endurance making it a great all rounder.

Wrong sort of swing...

Number Four

Pull Up Variations

Notice I didn’t say pulldown variations….if you are going to do pulldowns, us some bands and not a machine, they will keep you honest all they way up and down (you’ll know what I mean when you try them!)

These are another great exercise for your back muscles to help get that balance back.

Now with pullups you can add weight to make them harder or make them easier with bands or help from your trainer. Change your hand with and rotation to challenge your strength and different muscles and you have endless options for change or advancement.

If you want a great ab workout (and who doesn’t!) hold a weight between your feet and let me know how your abs feel the next day or two…

Now, give it to me straight….

Do you like the list? What would you add? What would you take away??

Leave a comment below….

Chances are that you have a job.

Chances are that your job doesn’t require as much movement as even the same job 10 or 20 years ago.

Chances are that your job is causing your body some stress be it mental or physical.

Chances are you could implement a few of the following to improve both your health and fitness whilst you are at work.

Read On…..

1. Stand Up

Most jobs these days require a lot of sitting. Heck, I’m even sitting down as I write this and you probably are as well reading it.

The problem with sitting down a lot is that it places a lot of stress on your lower back. Add to this the fact that you are going to shorten the muscles in your hamstrings, hip flexors, abdominals and chest and then multiply this with some less than ideal sitting posture or ergonomics and you have a recipe for disaster!

So instead of finding opportunities to sit down, look for opportunities to stand up. Build habits around activities you do often and you will find it becomes part of your day. Stand up when you are on the phone for instance, this will get you up from your seat, lengthening your postural muscles, and giving your lower back a break.

2. Drink More Water

Yeah, yeah. We’ve heard it all before. But there’s a massive gap between knowing and doing. And to throw in another of my favourite sayings, “If you’re not assessing, you’re guessing”, unless you know how much you are ACTUALLY getting each day then how can you increase your intake?

Get a drink bottle designed to be refilled and avoid reusing an old plastic water bottle. Aim to get through at least two litres per day, PLUS what you need for exercise. (to start with this may even help with point number 1!!) The exact amount you need will obviously vary from person to person, but start with the two litre goal and then adjust as required.

3. Be Less Charitable

…or find another way to be charitable. Yes I’m talking about the fundraiser chocolates and lollies. Yes they get eaten. Yes the calories still count! Make a donation and eat an apple. The organisation will get more of the money and you will get less fat and sugar. It’s a win-win scenario.

4. Multi Task

Aim to get something done at lunch time other than eating lunch. A walk down town to pick up that gift, or just a walk to get out of the office and get moving. Eat your lunch at the same time and you can tick off two boxes.

If that doesn’t work, take your lunch for a walk, and eat it 10-15 minutes away from the office. Take the newspaper with you or do whatever else you normally do at lunch, but find ways you CAN do it not excuses why you CAN’T.

5. Free Parking and Public Transport

Inner city parking can be quite expensive. Actually it can be really expensive. But if you were to park out of town a bit and walk in (think 10-15 minute radius) or park near some public transport out of town, catch the bus or train somewhere close to work and get some extra exercise in there, it will add up. Once again look for ways and reasons why you can instead of putting up barries as to why you can’t.

If you are already doing these, great work. If you have any other ideas to share, just leave a comment below.

Following on from the success of the post 8 More Ways To Instantly Improve Your Eating, here is the workout version. Too often we get caught up focusing on minutia instead of getting the basics right. If we take the back basics approach, more often that no there is a lot to gain. Enough rambling, lets get to it.

1. Stand Up. If you can do an exercise standing then….do it standing. We sit down way too much these days so the last thing you want to be doing when you are trying to improve your health, fitness and physique is to be exacerbating an existing problem.
2. Avoid Machines. The most advanced machine known to man is, well, man itself. (Perhaps I should have said the human, but I didn’t!) Body weight exercises, free weights and other forms of resistance such as kettlebells, sand bags, resistance bands will get the job done. The only ‘machine’ worth using is an adjustable cable. If you don’t know how to exercise safely and effectively without machines get someone (ideally me…or at least someone qualified to do so) to show you what to do.
3. Work the whole body. Yes guys, there are muscles on the back of your body. A full body workout isn’t just chest, arms and abs! Your strength in general will increase if you can squat or deadlift more weight. Strengthen your butt and hammies and you will be able to run better and fill out your jeans at the back. Increase the weight you can row, or the number of chin ups you can do and all of a sudden your bench press increases. Get to it and work the muscles you can’t see in the mirror.
4. Go unilateral to save your back. Huh? Uni what? Think single leg exercises. Step ups, lunge variations and single leg deadlifts. These will work your legs just as much as the bilateral versions (two legs) but because you aren’t using as much weight you will decrease the amount of stress on your spine.
5. Get up (and down). One of the best ways to get your heart rate up is to get your body moving vertically. Think about it this way. Star climbing, jumping, hill running. All of that is seriously hard work. If you want to keep the intensity up in your workouts, either throw in some sort of jumping exercise (jumping, skipping, burpees) or alternate between floor exercises and standing exercises. This little trick will send your body into a calorie burning frenzy!
6. Weights first, cardio last. If you are doing any sort of cardio, metabolic or conditioning work make sure you leave it to the end. The reason I suggest this is two fold. First of all you want to be lifting the maximum weight possible for all of your exercises. If you are fatigued from intervals, you won’t be doing this. Secondly, if you are fatigued , physically and mentally (and you should be after some serious conditioning work) then the chance of injury will be higher. Follow this formula. Warm up, weights, intervals -> go home.
7. Change it up. Whatever you are doing, even the most perfect workout, will have a shelf life. I’d suggest that somewhere between 3 and 6 weeks is the most you should follow the same program for. Even if you are making physical progress you will find that your potential progress might be limited when you get bored with a program. If you really like the program, mix it up, do something different for 3 weeks and come back to it.
8. Have goals. Last but definitely not least, goals will make or break your success. Have at least one if not many. A goal might be just to workout 3 times per week. It may be to deadlift 210kgs for 5 reps (that’s one of mine right now), or it might be to train consistently for 4 weeks. Whatever the goal is doesn’t matter. If you don’t have one, why are you training?

I could keep going on but I’m sure you’ve had enough listnening to me! Lets have at it. What is your number 1 method to instantly improve your workout?