medical writer parisa hashempour tried boxing for a month and this is what she learned
It’s official, boxing is the sport of the moment. Celebs like Gigi Hadid are making Victoria’s Secret (get-fit) widely known and even Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You music video sees the singer and his fit love interest (played by Jennie Pegouskie) working out at a gym in boxing and then going on a date together.
It’s only been seven years since women’s boxing was shown on the bbc for the first time and what a long way the sport has come. Female boxers are picking up their gloves and hitting the ring and now, a host of new boxing boutiques are springing up in London, ready to cater to female fighters.
more: the new boxing boutiques: new fighting studios you can’t miss
I went from zero boxing experience to full training and while I’m not Ronda Rousey, I learned a few things along the way.
Because of both its fighting and its reputation as the ultimate workout, boxing has always appealed to me. But as much as I love the idea of picking up a pair of gloves, I’ve always been intimidated by the prospect of jumping into a ring. I have always been overtly feminine and while I hate playing with stereotypes, I think this has left me with little confidence in my physical ability. boxing for me would show that I can be mean and girly (think miss congeniality meets rocky).
So, after reviewing a boxing class for a healthista, my mind was made up. I instantly fell in love with the sport and knew I had to do it right. I decided to throw my fists first in six weeks of training with power of boxing, based in south london. I went from zero boxing experience to full training and while I’m not Ronda Rousey, I learned a few things along the way.
the gym: three days a week to the power of boxing
When I first walked into fitzroy lodge, power of boxing’s lambeth training gym, i was amazed at how much i felt like i was stepping back into an old gangster movie. the gym prides itself on its authentic country style and really has a charming, rugged appeal.
‘we believe in the power of simple, fun and authentic fitness. Non-contact boxing fitness is a perfect antidote to our hectic technology-driven lives,” says Power of Boxing founder Bear Maclean. The workout is a one-hour, non-contact, high-intensity group fitness circuit. the class combines cardio and boxing exercises, as well as pad work in the ring, muscle toning, and core strength work. it was reassuring to find out that the classes were non-contact and that I wasn’t going to get slapped in the face; Also, I loved the fact that the classes aim to develop and improve your general fitness: boxers are paired in the ring with jumping and training intensely to maintain a good level of fitness.
Swapping my regular sessions of running and yoga for boxing, weights, and strength and conditioning was a huge shock to the system
In addition to its authentic feel and hard training, what’s most impressive about the power of boxing is the positive impact it has on the local community. The Boxing Boutique works with the charity, the Carney Community and together they help keep children out of trouble and help ex-offenders reintegrate into communities through boxing. Below, in the battersea boxing gym, the words “discipline, respect, courage” stand out on the wall. By instilling these qualities in young people, they aim to keep them away from a life of crime. Classes are held in Battersea or at the Lambeth location, Fitzroy Lodge. the latter is one of the oldest boxing clubs in london and has been in existence since 1908.
the training plan: three days a week first in fitness
Okay, I wasn’t going to suddenly start training eight hours a day like a professional boxer would, but I had to seriously step up my gym routine. swapping my usual running and yoga sessions for boxing, weights, and strength and conditioning was a huge shock to the system.
The training plan included three power of boxing sessions per week. these sessions are made up of equal parts circuits and jumps, boxing on the punching bags, boxing in the ring, and a core and back strengthening exercise before a cool down at the end. In addition to this, I was instructed to go to the gym three days a week. I spent those three days at my first local fitness gym – two of these days would focus on training my core and the last day would focus on strengthening my arms and legs. I expected boxing to just be about using my arms, so I was amazed at all the different elements of training that came my way.
I hope this challenge forces me out of my comfort zone
on main days in the gym i would do floor work exercises like crunches, toe touches, seated twists and leg raises, and days when i worked my arms and legs i would be seen doing kettlebell squats , bicep curls and dumbbell lunges. my three days in the gym also included a certain amount of cardio work, usually hill sprints, 5K runs on a treadmill, and 12 minutes of shadow boxing with weights.
why do I do it?
Okay, that sounds like an intensive training plan, especially for someone used to more relaxed, steady-paced forms of exercise. So why did I decide to do it?
Even though I love working out, I find it hard to stick to one sport consistently, so I’ve never properly learned a skill when it comes to a sport. it would be great to confidently show up to a boxing class and feel like I know exactly what I’m doing. I know that boxing is a great sport to increase your fitness level, so I would love to be the fittest version of myself by the end of these six weeks. I want to build my endurance and push my body to the max, as I feel like sometimes when I exercise I can be too self-indulgent. I hope this challenge pushes me out of my comfort zone, and while I know it takes more than six weeks for your body to see changes, it wouldn’t be so terrible if I toned up a bit.
the endorphins that followed the sweaty workout were incredible
Also, since boxing is such a bad sport, I would also love to gain a little more self-confidence from this challenge. by that I mean gaining some confidence in my body and its capabilities. It would also be great to feel safer walking home at night knowing I knew how to take a hit.
week one: boxing is a serious stress buster
I woke up the first day ready for my new life as a boxer. The first week of exercise has been hard, very hard. but one thing that struck me almost instantly was the effect the classes are having on my stress levels. makes sense: hit the gym at the end of a long day and unload all that pent-up stress on a punching bag and some pads. seems to be doing wonders for my mental health.
The best thing about these classes is that everyone gets one-on-one time with the coaches to work on their skills. the coaches really take the time and go out of their way to make sure you’re doing it right and working to your full potential. having the trainers there to push me until I physically can’t go on really made me use all my energy, hitting as hard as I could and the endorphins that follow the sweaty workout were amazing. Allowing myself to feel stress and then channeling it into my punches had the ability to totally transform my mood. When the trainer yelled for another ten burpees, he was cursing under his breath, but the pain was worth the incredible, uplifting feeling that followed.
week two: leave your vanity at the door
this week I didn’t immediately collapse into a ball mid-board and run on the machines, although it still excruciatingly difficult doesn’t feel as impossible as it did earlier last week (yes, progress!)
But during my first week of boxing, it’s safe to say I still felt a bit self-conscious. a workout as intense as an hour-long boxing session leaves you looking like a mess, and at first I ached inside every time I remembered my huge patches of sweat, drenched through hair and smelly armpits. I died some more when I heard myself moaning from overexertion and breathing so hard that, at some points, it was all I could hear. I quickly learned that no matter how you look, sound, or smell (it’s okay, so it’s best to keep odor to a minimum), no one cares. it’s about putting all your efforts into hitting and crunching as hard as you can. everyone else in the room, no matter their skill level, is sweating as much as I am, and my sweat levels soon became something I was proud of.
I felt a bit silly standing in front of a mirror and beating myself up
And it wasn’t just in the classes that I felt self-conscious. because I didn’t feel very confident boxing, I was too shy to go straight to the gym and start shadow boxing in the first week. I did my first shadow boxing sessions in my bedroom, watching youtube videos and trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to be doing.
I finally gained enough confidence to get up and take my routine to the gym so I could use the weights and although I felt a bit silly standing in front of a mirror and punching myself at the end of the second week, I was going to the gym very happily hitting the air; in fact, it’s become my favorite part of my gym routine and something I’ll definitely keep doing after the challenge.
week three: mind over matter
The only thing I’m starting to notice this week is my levels of fatigue. I’m drinking more coffee than ever in my life and I really need it – every night I come home, sink into bed with relief and fall asleep instantly. That being said, there hasn’t been a day yet that I haven’t looked forward to my boxing session. The good thing about this sport is that although it leaves me in a big sweaty, hyperventilating mess, it’s also a lot of fun. it doesn’t feel like a chore in the way that going to the gym can sometimes be.
no music in the ring
While boxing requires an incredible amount of physical strength, by week three I realized that much of it is mental. sometimes your brain doesn’t want to do the things your body is capable of doing. by week three I was running on a treadmill at the beginning of a boxing class. I was in the middle of my run and the music playing upstairs stopped without warning. suddenly it was as if my legs turned to lead, without the encouragement of the music to keep going. when i started to slow down, one of the coaches, rupert, asked me why i was going so slow. I explained to him that it was hard to run that fast without the music and he just said “there is no music in the ring”.
I took a deep breath and picked up the speed on the treadmill again. this really made me understand the incredible mental capacity that athletes must have. I was nowhere near the level of exhaustion a boxer should have and I was ready to give up; it really is a case of mind over matter.
week four: your body is capable
Okay, I don’t look like a rocky yet, but after week three, I started making some real progress in terms of skills and fitness levels. jumping is such an iconic part of boxing and yet it was one of the things that scared me the most. I’ve managed to spank myself with the rope more times than I’ve managed to jump over it in the last three weeks, but I finally made it. week four has been amazing because i had an incredibly proud moment.
This week I beat my 5K time by three minutes and 18 seconds. this was a huge achievement for me because even though I love running, I’m definitely a slower and steadyer person. it just shows that you never know what you’re capable of until you try.
This week I beat my 5K time by three minutes and 18 seconds.
Exercising on my own and trying to improve my fitness levels has also added a new level of enjoyment to my training: I started being competitive with myself. Suddenly I get out of bed in the mornings and strive to beat my old times.
week five: your strength will improve
On my first week of boxing, I was doing about three proper push-ups before dropping to my knees. And I don’t mean to brag but (I will) by session one of week five, I spent the whole time doing push ups from a proper plank position. I’ve never considered myself as strong and so it feels seriously amazing to have come this far and I physically couldn’t stop myself from grinning as I collapsed onto my matt post-push ups.
And it wasn’t just push-ups that improved my strength. boxing is the best exercise for the whole body. when you throw a proper punch you engage your legs, hips, glutes, core, obliques, back, shoulders, chest and arms and I could be imagining it but I felt like every week I hit the punching bag with a little more force. . he was lifting heavier weights in the gym and was holding a plank for an additional 45 seconds; The speed at which this program forced me to improve my strength was incredible, as I had never improved my strength this significantly in such a short space of time before.
even the act of throwing punches gave me a lot of power and sometimes I found myself shadow boxing alone in my room
I’ve been feeling a bit defeated because even though it’s been five weeks I haven’t seen any big changes in my body, but when I playfully flexed my biceps this weekend my friend touched them with the intention of making fun of them . and I was actually kind of shocked. Although it’s still not very visible, my biceps definitely feel a bit more solid than usual.
week six: confidence
what I appreciate the most is the confidence that this sport has given me both inside and outside the ring. When I started this challenge, I knew I would learn how to punch and I knew my fitness levels would improve, but I didn’t fully realize how this challenge would affect the way I saw myself.
Although I seem very confident on the surface, I’m not very confident in my abilities, especially when it comes to something physical. forcing myself to do the last push-up or burpee, forcing myself to hold that board for another 30 seconds proved to me that I can do anything if I try hard enough. even the act of throwing punches felt enormously empowering and sometimes I found myself shadow boxing alone in my room. Every time I did this, my mood improved and I suddenly felt more confident.
what I really love about boxing is that as you get better, the sport remains difficult
Even though I was embarrassed at first, now I’m totally comfortable going to the gym alone and practicing punching on the bags and when I walk home at night I feel a little lighter knowing I could take a good hit on an attacker.
What I really love about boxing is that as you get better, the sport remains difficult. Both experienced boxers and beginners are sweaty by the end of the session. This experience has not only taught me a skill, but it has also taught me to have confidence in myself and my abilities; Besides, I feel really bad.
power of boxing sessions start at £12.50 per class and are available at both battersea and lambeth in london. Head over to the power of boxing website for more information.
and if you’d like to support the carney community, power of boxing will be holding a 24-hour boxathon and raffle on Friday, September 22 at 7 p.m. m. at their battersea location, so get involved.
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