5 Reasons Grad Students Should Start Boxing

Grad school is no joke. Whether you’re getting an MBA or a PhD, graduate school is an ultra-demanding academic experience that can take a toll on your mind and your body. Maintaining your physical and mental health is crucial in instances of high pressure. At FightCamp, we’re on a mission to help busy individuals such as graduate students find fun and effective ways to take care of themselves inside and out.

Here are 5 ways training with FightCamp’s at-home boxing equipment and free app can make a big difference in your well-being during grad school.

5 Reasons Why FightCamp Is Perfect For Grad Students

1. Work Out On Your Schedule

If there’s one thing grad students are always running short on, it’s time. We would all love to dedicate a full hour or two to our health and fitness each day, but between classes, assistantships, studying, and jobs, that’s not always a realistic goal.

The best exercise routine for people with busy academic and professional schedules is a quick, efficient, and convenient one. With workouts ranging from 8-minute abs to 15-minute boxing workouts and 4-round workouts and beyond, FightCamp empowers you to make the most out of the time you have. Each professional trainer-led boxing and kickboxing workout is a high-intensity cardio workout that puts your body in both an aerobic and anaerobic state, helping you burn more calories and increase muscle strength.

If your only free time is at 5am before the rest of the world wakes up, you can queue up your FightCamp workout! Want to work out at midnight? The bag is there!

2. Improve Your Overall Health

Grad school can be an extremely sedentary endeavor. We spend prolonged periods of time sitting hunched over our desks to read, write, and study. When we’re short on time, we skip meals or eat the cheapest, fastest take-out we can get. Sleep and exercise fall to the bottom of our to-do list. In short: it’s all too easy to put our studies before our bodies and fall into unhealthy patterns.

The irony, of course, is that exercise is proven to support strong brain function. (We are academics! We need brain power!) So even though it’s hard to fit it in, finding time for regular workouts – no matter how short or long – during grad school is essential for our academic performance and our overall well-being.

Additionally, countless studies have shown that physical exercise markedly improves mental health and overall wellbeing. Boxing 2-3 times a week with FightCamp will benefit your health in multiple ways. Yes, you’ll probably notice that you feel stronger and look more toned (a sweet perk), but boxing will also make a huge difference in your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, help you feel more energized during the day, and improve your ability to focus deeply and think clearly. We’re not telling you to give up your morning (and afternoon) coffee — we’re just saying that with FightCamp, you might not even need it!

3. Get Stronger With The Supportive FightCamp Community

Starting or restarting a boxing routine during grad school can be daunting. You have so much going on — how will you push yourself to stay accountable? That’s where the FightCamp Community comes in!

First of all, the FightCamp trainers are way too much fun. As you explore the FightCamp app, you can choose whatever workout you’re in the mood for, each led by a dynamic and motivating trainer.

Plus, our trainers are super engaged and responsive on social media, and you can use the FightCamp app to connect with trainers and other members of the FightCamp fam and support each other through friendly competition, encouragement, and stats sharing. Our innovative Punch Trackers count your punches, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you become determined to out-punch your own personal record! You can track your energy output, punch count, and overall progress in the FightCamp app. The feeling of getting even just a little bit stronger, faster, and better every day is so addicting, and we could all use that extra boost of confidence that comes from crushing a boxing workout!

4. Relieve Stress

We’ve all had days in grad school where we’ve really just wanted to punch something. Between papers, exams, internships, and research, the amount of stress grad students deal with on a daily basis can be a lot, to say the least. In our opinion, boxing is one of the best forms of exercise to mitigate and alleviate the chronic stress that comes with grad school and help manage feelings of anxiety.

FightCamp’s at-home boxing workouts are perfect for getting all your aggression out in a healthy and constructive way. There truly is nothing like delivering a brutal combination of punches and kicks to a punching bag to make you feel like you can handle anything! When you box, the whole world fades away, and it’s only you versus the bag. For 25-35 minutes, nothing else exists. If you’re really in the zone, you can stack your workouts or add on an ab workout after your 8 rounds on the bag. And when you’ve finished your workout, you know you’ve crushed the hardest part of your day.

5. Improve Sleep Quality

The stereotype of grad students as academic zombies surviving on minuscule amounts of sleep has some basis in reality. Grad school is a huge time commitment, and if we’re also balancing a job, assistantship, and family, the demands on our time are even greater. All too often, sleep is the first necessity to be sacrificed. So we want to make sure that the sleep we do get is recharging our bodies and minds as much as possible. Regular high-intensity cardiovascular exercise like boxing training (even just 25 minutes, 3 times a week) can markedly improve our quality of sleep. The repetitive motions of punches help clear our minds and prepare our brains for sleep, while the physical exertion of a boxing workout helps our bodies fall asleep faster when we hit the pillow.

Bonus - No Permanent Installation Necessary

FightCamp’s space-efficient and easy-to-set-up at-home punching bag lets you get in a great workout without leaving your house or dorm room. Since the FightCamp heavy bag is free-standing versus hanging, it’s perfect for grad students renting a house or apartment who can’t risk putting holes in the drywall.

Make Boxing Workouts Part of Your Life

Establishing and sticking to a healthy boxing routine is about making small changes that fit into your life, NOT making big changes in your life to fit an unrealistic fitness goal. FightCamp’s convenient and efficient at-home boxing workouts are designed to help busy people build manageable blocks of physical exercise time into their day. Boxing as a grad student will help you fuel your mind and muscles to crush every day of your degree program!

Are you ready to make a healthy change, live your best grad school life, and train like a fighter? Get access to hundreds of boxing, kickboxing, strength, conditioning, recovery, and stretching workouts that will push you mentally and physically. Download the FREE FightCamp App and train with real fighters from the comfort of your own home.