Boxing warm-up: how to prepare well before training

Why warm up before boxing training?

Awakening the Mike Tyson in you starts before you even punching bags. Before chaining jabs and hooks, you must prepare your body for the effort.

Warming up allows you to gradually increase your body temperature and limit the risk of injury.

More specifically, warming up before boxing training is essential for:

• Put your heart in a condition of effort by raising your heart rate
• Prepare all your organs to meet the oxygen needs that will be needed during physical activity
• Stimulate your muscles and joints for the boxing movements you will perform during your workout
• Start focusing on your boxing session.

This physical and mental preparation must be done at the very beginning of your training but it can also be done again before starting a new activity or a new, more intense exercise.

A boxing warm-up: what does it look like?

As with all combat sports, the warm-up in boxing is divided into two stages: the general warm-up first, then the discipline-specific warm-up afterwards.

General warm-up for athletes

During the first phase of the warm-up, you will perform exercises common to all sports. The objective is to gradually use all the parts of the body involved in the effort.

Jumping on the spot, heel-buttocks, knee raises, joint rotations (neck, shoulders, pelvis, knees), you are spoiled for choice in terms of exercises to perform.

Specific warm-up for boxers

In the second phase, the specific warm-up allows you to gradually integrate exercises and movements specific to boxing.

This is where shadow-boxing (punches thrown into space) and small right-left movements come into play. Enough to warm up your muscles properly before your hiit boxing session Or other.

Stretching at the end of the warm-up: for or against?

In sports practice, you can perform two different types of stretching: static stretching and dynamic stretching.

But should you stretch at the end of a warm-up? Some coaches will tell you yes, others will tell you no. We help you see things more clearly.

Static stretching...

Static stretching corresponds to the best known and most practiced stretches.

These are stretches during which you hold a position for between 15 and 30 seconds, trying to go as far as possible in a progressive manner. You don't use any momentum, just your body weight.

vs. dynamic stretching

Dynamic stretching is done in bursts and is not maintained for more than 15 seconds.

With a swing, you bring one of your muscles into a position that stretches it.

More concretely, this involves, for example, the heel-butt exercise. These movements allow you to dynamically stretch your hamstrings, the muscle located at the back of your thighs.

So, when warming up, do we stretch or not?

In conclusion, for a boxing warm-up, yes we stretch, but not just any way.

You can include dynamic stretches during or at the end of your warm-up to increase your muscle temperature and prepare the muscle for exercise. Be careful to do them correctly so as not to injure yourself. So avoid doing it if you are coming back from an injury or if you are not really in top form.

On the other hand, leave static stretching for the end of your workout. They will then allow you to improve your flexibility and relax your muscles. Ideally do them 15 to 20 minutes after finishing your session.

Good practices for a boxing warm-up

In order to achieve a warm-up worthy of the greatest boxers, remember to follow three essential principles: progressiveness, alternation of rhythm and adaptation. 

Take it gradually

We can never tell you enough, the objective of a warm-up is to raise your body temperature and prepare it for more intense effort. To do it without straining your body, it's quite simple: gradually increase the intensity of your exercises.

So finish your warm-up in style with the most demanding exercises to increase your body temperature. But be careful, you don't have to end up with a sideways fist either.

Alternate the rhythms of your exercises

After successfully raising your body temperature, you now need to maintain it so as not to cool down until your session begins.

Our advice to get there:

• Alternate exercises that involve all the muscles in your body and those that only involve certain muscles.
• Avoid walking during your warm-up to avoid lowering your internal temperature.

Adapt your warm-up

For your warm-up to be effective, you must also adapt it to the sport you are going to practice, to your sporting profile as well as to your training environment.

For French boxing, also known as foot and fist boxing, you will spend time warming up your upper body and your lower body.

On the other hand, if you are more like Mohamed Ali and you choose to do English boxing, you will only be able to rely on your punches. You will therefore warm up your upper body particularly well: arms, shoulders, wrists.

And of course, whether you are a beginner or experienced, young or old, whether it is sunny or rainy at your training location, you will also have to adapt the duration of your warm-up accordingly.  

What equipment should I use for a boxing warm-up?

In general, you don't need any boxing equipment especially for warming up before your workout.

However, if you have a jump rope on hand, you can use it for both your general warm-up and your specific warm-up.

In addition, the skipping rope is truly THE boxer's accessory. All the biggest players use it in their physical preparation.

How do you know if you are properly warmed up?

You've followed all our advice to the letter and now comes the question of whether you did a good warm-up. Trust your feelings.

And to help you, here are three unmistakable clues:

• You're hot
• Your heart rate has increased (but you are not out of breath either)
• You feel more than ready. to let off steam in the ring!

If all these points are validated, your warm-up is complete. Put on your gloves, and let's go for the rest of your session!

Exercises to warm up correctly

We've already told you, there is no typical warm-up in boxing. We have therefore selected several exercises that you can add to the to-do of your warm-ups. Make your choice.

Head to toe rotations

To wake up the joints, we advise you to perform each exercise for 15 seconds.

• Head : move your head up and down. Then from right to left. Then make complete turns in one direction, then the other.
• Shoulders: arms stretched out to the sides, make circular movements forward, then backward.
• Elbows: left arm extended in front of you, place your right hand under your left elbow. Then extend your left arm above then below your opposite hand. Repeat the same exercise on the other side.
• Cuffs: rotate your wrists in one direction then the other.
• Hips : hands on your hips, rotate in one direction then the other.
• Knees : knees slightly bent and touching, make small rotations in one direction then the other.
• Ankles: on one foot, leaving the tips of your toes on the ground, rotate in one direction then the other. Repeat the movement with the other foot.

Jumping rope

If you have a jump rope, you can use it after your joint start. The exercise possibilities are endless with this iconic boxer's tool.

Accelerate the pace, diversify your jumps and vary your supports. You will increase your heart rate while strengthening your arms and shoulders. And as a bonus, you tone and strengthen all of your muscles.

It's all in one: ideal for a gradual warm-up.

Shadow boxing

This part of the warm-up aims to gradually warm you up. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds while jumping in place. This will begin to awaken your inner Rocky.

1. Jump in place with your arms in guard position (your fists are clenched at your cheeks and your elbows remain against your body)
2. Now throw straight punches forward with your right arm. These are called straight jabs. Remember to return to your guard position between strokes.
3. Repeat the same exercise, throwing left jabs this time.
4. Now alternate a right jab and a left jab before returning to your guard.

You can continue the shadow boxing by performing the sequences that you like. Jabs, hooks, uppercuts, let your imagination run wild. The idea is to get you in the mood for your session.

No need for physical preparation to take a course Boxing Circle

Now that you know how to be perfectly warmed up before a boxing workout, it might be time to move on to the boxing session itself.

And for that, we have the solution: 50 minutes of training combining boxing and muscle strengthening.

Come and discover the world of combat sports with zero combat. If you want to free yourself from daily stress and hit something without getting hit in return, this is the ideal solution.

Our coaches are there to support you in offbeat, energetic and musical sessions. In addition, our sessions are suitable for everyone, regardless of your level.

We're waiting for you in the Tigers round!