Shake Up Cardio | Unique Ways Boxers Build Fight Endurance

Boxing is a high-action sport, and fighters need a ton of stamina to keep the pace for an entire match. But, sometimes I personally find running a bit boring and like to shake things up, and I know I’m not the only one. Here are some awesome ways to spice up your cardio exercises that you might not think of in your everyday training.

5 Ways to Shake Up Your Cardio

Swimming

When it gets hot in summer, nothing is more refreshing than a good swim, it's fantastic cardio, and is one of Flo Master’s favorite forms of active recovery as well! Swimming laps around a pool use just about every muscle you have, and also get your lungs and heart rate working in no time! Try for however many laps you can at a smooth, steady pace.

Tabata Bag Drills

One great way to get your anaerobic endurance up is with Tabata drills on the heavy bag. By working the classic 10 seconds on, 5 seconds off rhythm at maximum effort for 1-3 minutes at a time, you very accurately mimic the actual rhythm and pace of a competitive match. You can find this drill in the FightCamp App under 10-to-5 Interval Sprint. This helps build your lactic acid threshold and arm endurance in addition to being great cardio training. Plus you get to punch something!

Footwork Heavy Sports

This might seem obvious but doesn’t cross a lot of people’s minds: playing any sport, even in a casual setting, is a great way to increase your cardio. For example, I have a soccer field near me so on days when I don’t feel like just jogging, I can usually find a pickup game there. Anything like soccer, basketball, tennis, or dancing are great ways to supplement cardio training and will help with your boxing footwork as an added bonus.

Hiking

If you have a local trail, it's always good to get out in nature every once in a while and hiking is a great way to get your resting heart rate down and your leg endurance up while still enjoying the gorgeous scenery. Just make sure to bring water and healthy snacks! 

Shadowboxing Punchouts

I used to do this one all the time during the height of the lockdown when I couldn’t necessarily get out to run very often but still needed to keep a baseline cardio fitness. The idea here is to find a rhythm with 4 punches (I use the jab, cross, lead uppercut, and rear uppercut) while maintaining proper form and repeating it as quickly as you can for as long as you can without taking a break. It's awesome for your shoulders and improves your punching form as well.

Shaking Up Your Cardio

Roadwork is super important to any boxer’s fight camp, but sometimes it’s good to shake things up and switch to a new cardio activity. The most important thing for me personally is to never be bored during training, because that’s when I start to fall off the wagon on work ethic. 

Train Like a Fighter

Take your workouts to the next level and train like a fighter with the at-home connected fitness solution used by world champion boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. FightCamp has everything you need to work out on your schedule, with premium boxing equipment and hundreds of on-demand strength, conditioning, kickboxing, boxing, core, and recovery classes led by real fighters. 

As Mike Tyson said - “FightCamp is the next level of training!”