Punch Your Way to Fat Loss

High intensity interval punching is a fantastic way to kick up the calorie burn, work the entire body including the abdominals, and maximize fat burning. Punching drills are easy to integrate into your workout. They can be used as a stand alone method for your interval cardio or can be added into your strength training circuits to keep your heart rate up and maximize cal burn. 

 

Learning to throw proper punches involves utilizing the whole body in unison and involves recruitment of many major muscle groups. Pivoting and shifting your weight on your punches will activate muscles from your lower body up through your hips, core, and upper body. This can be an excellent activity to add to your program especially if you find it difficult to focus on exercises that work your core. It is easy to really focus on activating hard to work areas like your obliques as well as the rest of your abdominals while rotating properly through your punches.

 

Interval punching drills are an excellent way to burn up those calories and really step it up a notch. There are various ways to perform interval punching drills. 

My favorite options involve straight punches using small dumbbells or striking a heavy bag. Choosing 2 pound to 5 pound dumbbells are ideal. You could use slightly heavier if you really want to focus on shoulder conditioning. Alternating jabs and crosses continuously with punching height at least at eye-level or higher is optimal. 

 

Decide on what interval periods you would like to train at and then set a timer. A good place to start if you are a beginner is 10 seconds hard sprint pace and at least 20 seconds rest before repeating. Based on your fitness level, you can adjust the interval periods accordingly. To make this really challenging, you could attempt 20 seconds work interval and 10 seconds rest before repeating. 

 

Another easy drill to integrate involves a right cross followed by a right uppercut. These punches are thrown continuously, rotating completely back to your beginning stance after each punch to maximize rotation and utilize the core more effectively for a great abdominal workout.

             Right Cross                                                                       Right Uppercut

                                    

                 photos by Kevin Alford

 

Just adding 2 to 5 minutes of these punching intervals into your workout routine may help you blast through plateaus and really boost the intensity and results.  You could also add 20-30 minutes of boxing as your main cardio training method which may help make your workouts less monotonous and more enjoyable. Remember, intensity is key. 

Get Tough, Get Fit!

 

Tommy Mack

BS, CSCS, ACE-CPT

 

Tommy is a nationally certified personal fitness trainer, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist CSCS, and golden gloves and pro level boxer. Tommy specializes in fat loss, boxing and kickboxing training, interval training and more and utilizes fitness boxing techniques to maximize weight loss results. You can check out more info about Tommy and his website at   www.MackFitness.com

 

 

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