Why Are Boxers are Always in Shape?

Have you ever wondered why boxers are always in shape? Like many of you I have wondered how it is possible to have such low body fat percentages with high levels of muscle tone. There is a point of fitness that moves far beyond what is required of a healthy lifestyle and into the realm of art. Boxers are a type of athlete that lives at a higher metabolic rate that most of us can only dream about.

Part of their success relies in the nature of their sport. Boxers compete by weight class and like their wrestling cousins they are placed in groups based on size (i.e. feather weight and heavy weight). The leaner, and more muscle per pound they have, the higher the advantage in the ring. Incentives to lose weight and keep themselves thin correlate into wins and losses.

Yet that isn't the biggest part of the story. They are thin and muscled because they burn a ton of calories per hour of training. A solid boxing practice with combinations and lots of movement leads to 700 calories burnt per hour. If you work out like this a few hours a day and watch what you eat you don't really have much of an option but to lose weight.

Think about it. If an average man eats 2,500 calories a day and you work out at least an extra 1,400 calories. Then you have a credit of 1,400 calories. Every few days you are going to drop a pound and this will add up over time. Therefore, in the matter of a few months you could be in fairly solid shape if you can maintain the practice.

Now we may also want to add that boxing will get you into that 75-85% percent heart-rate where maximum calories are being burned from fat. Slower workouts will pull from fat as well but at a slower pace than very high heart rates. Over 85% and you are likely burning all the sugars out of your system and foregoing long-term fat depletion.

A few days ago I started to attend boxing in my effort to round out my self-defense practices. I have a little experience with this but it has been limited to the martial arts and self practice. In this case, it was class work and I will have to tell you that I was dripping with sweat. It was one of the best workouts I had in a long time. If you want to get into shape try one of these a few days a week.