How to Start Boxing Workout If You’re Overweight

Boxing work out is a great way to lose weight and keep it off. Boxing is a high-intensity workout that combines cardio and strength training and, as a result, is more effective in burning fat than running or lifting weights. It’s also a great way to tone your upper and lower body, which is particularly important if you’re carrying excess weight.

The boxing training I outline here is for people who are overweight and haven’t exercised in years. It’s designed to get you started and to build confidence, but it’s not really challenging at the beginning.

Let’s get started.

What should you do before starting boxing training if you are overweight?

As we mentioned before, boxing is intensive training that requires condition. Moving here and there, throwing punches requires endurance, good cardio, and strength. If you lack these physical conditions, it’s tough to get started, and because of that, most people give boxing workouts up after a few sessions.

So, the first step is to prepare your body. That means we need to lose weight, improve the cardiovascular system, build some strength and learn the basics of boxing. Yes, we have to do many things, but the results you can get from such a lifestyle change are amazing.

Let’s get into the details.

Step 1. Switch to a healthy diet

Is a low-fat diet the key to a healthy lifestyle? Some experts say yes. Some claim that only a low-carb diet will do. Others believe that a no fat, no carb diet is the only diet that can help you lose weight. But are these claims true? Healthy dieting is not a one size fits all process. Because everybody is different and responds differently to different foods, what works for one person may not work for you.

Frankly, I tried some diets, but none of them worked for me in the long run. You know, I like eating delicious foods. 🙂 But, I have created my rules for a healthy eating regime during the years – which is very simple.

Here is what I do.

• I drink a lot of water. I’ve got the habit of drinking a big glass of water every 2 hours.
• I eat a lot of raw vegetables, fruits and use them for cooking. From veggies, we can cook a lot of delicious foods. I’ll never be a vegetarian, though. 🙂
• I eat different types of lean meat, from poultry to pork. I’m a predator who can’t leave without meat.
• I have meals 4-5 times a day, but I pay attention to the portions.
• I don’t eat after 6 clocks, and I have breakfast at about 8. So, I have +12 hours without food.
• I try to eat as little packaged food as possible. I rarely eat junk food.

Somewhere many years ago, I read “Eat what people had 100 years ago”. And, I follow this rule. What did they eat? Things found in nature and not manufactured in factories.

My eating regimen isn’t the healthiest and will never make me as lean as those guys on the covers of the magazines. But I’m healthy and strong even if I’m almost 40 now.

Turning back to the beginning, you should find or create a diet that works for you. In most cases, it brings nowhere if you follow a diet blindly.

Step. 2. Do cardio training

Cardio workouts for overweight people are like a devil. I think the problem is that people start with running, jogging and other demanding activities. And, if there is no success, failure comes.

Instead of jumping into hard cardio workouts, getting started with low impact workout is much better.

You may have heard the term “low impact” and wondered what it really means. While it sounds odd to call a workout “low” impact, the truth is that low impact workouts can be a great way to avoid injuries, especially if you’re just starting or having an injury that makes exercising difficult. Low impact workouts can help you get fit without straining your body so much so that you’re sore for days. Plus, low-impact workouts can be a great way to burn calories and lose weight.

There are two workouts I recommend for overweight people:

• Walking
• Cycling

Both activities give a good base for more challenging cardio exercises. For example, you start with regular walking, then with time, you switch to breast walking, then jogging, and finally running.

How often should you do cardio?

In the beginning, I suggest you have 2-3 cardio sessions for at least 20 minutes. When you feel your body is getting used to the new impact, you should increase the training’s length and intensity.

Step 3. Do strength training

Strength training has been a part of human evolution for thousands of years, and for a good reason. Building muscle and strength can be the difference between surviving or not in a survival situation. It could mean the difference between being able to lift a fallen tree to clear a path or not being strong enough and getting stranded. It could mean the difference between being able to support your own bodyweight or not.

Strength training helps build lean muscle and improve bone density, and it can also help you get stronger, which has several benefits. Strength training can help you:

• Improve your posture
• Reduce your risk of injury
• Improve your balance
• Reduce chronic pain
• Prevent arthritis
• Increase your metabolism
• Improve your athletic performance

Basically, there are two types of strength training: bodyweight training or lifting weights.

How often should you do strength training?

I suggest doing 1-2 week strength exercises. Strengthen all the body parts (legs, abs, shoulder, back, triceps, biceps, chest)  with 1 exercise. Do 2-3 sets with 15-20 repetitions. Use less resistance. Focus on higher repetitions and correct performance instead.

Bodyweight training

One of the most popular ways to get fit fast is through bodyweight training. Bodyweight training exercises sometimes referred to as calisthenics, are defined as movements or exercises in which all the resistance comes from your own body weight.

The most significant advantage of bodyweight training is that you don’t need fancy equipment to get started. That means it’s cheap and convenient. You can even do bodyweight training exercises in your own home. All you need for a good bodyweight training routine is a floor and some furniture to practice.

I prefer this type of training because all the exercises are compound moves that engage multiple muscle groups. Physically that is more natural to the muscles and joints compared to lifting weights. Plus, since more muscles are activated, more calories are burned as well.

The problem is that for an overweight person, the typical bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, or dips are challenging. But, there are tons of progressive movements you can do that requires far less effort—for example, wall push-ups, vertical pull-ups, etc.

Here is the book I recommend for everyone who wants to get started with calisthenics. I follow the program, and I feel excellent results.

Top Pick

Convict Conditioning

How to Bust Free of All Weakness

This is the most progressive bodyweight training manual ever written. Convict Conditioning shows you how to get strong and powerful using only your body and the natural environment as your gym. No equipment, no machines – just your own bodyweight. You’ll learn how to perform dozens of exercises in perfect form using only your body weight. Each exercise includes step-by-step instructions, detailed photos, and clear diagrams. The book is eight chapters long.

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Lifting weights

A pair of dumbbells is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment you can have at home. Whether you opt for fixed dumbbells or adjustable dumbbells, you won’t be stuck doing the same exercise over and over again. The most popular exercises for dumbbell training are bench presses, chest flies, overhead presses, bent-over rows, and squats.

Check out the following video to see how to get started with dumbbells if you are overweight.

Learn the boxing basics

The boxing basics are the skills and techniques that all boxers need to know to box effectively. We should learn some basics before starting a boxing workout routine. Here the things you have to learn and practice a lot.

Boxing stance

When beginning a boxing workout routine, one of the most important things is to develop a proper boxing stance, which is the foundation for all your boxing moves. A good boxing stance is relaxed, balanced, and strong, and allows you to move quickly and easily. (Of course, as you advance in your boxing training, you’ll want to add more elements, such as moving your head and upper body, and moving from your stance to punches and back again.) Of these components, how you stand is the most important.

Check out the video to learn the proper boxing stance.

Boxing footwork

Proper boxing footwork is essential if you want to be a good boxer.  It’s the base for every action you take in the ring.  Every punch, every movement, every defensive move: it all starts with your feet. Good footwork allows you to move in the ring efficiently and not tire yourself out quickly.  The following are some exercises to improve your footwork.

Fundamental punches

Knowing the six basic boxing punches is crucial for boxing training. The six basic punches in boxing are the jab (1), cross (2), left (3) and right hook (4), left (5), and right uppercut (6). Each punch is thrown using a different technique that you can learn from the following video.

As you see, each punch has a number which makes it easy for a coach to call out punches.

Tip: For boxing training, it’s enough to get good at jabs and crosses. So, focus on those punches first. Then, more to hooks and finally to uppercuts.

Easy punching combinations

In simple terms, a punching combination is when you throw more than one punch in a row. That’s it. It’s a straightforward concept, but it can be challenging to incorporate into your training.

Here a few combos that are easy to learn and perfect for overweight beginners.

• 1-2 (jab-cross)
• 1-1 (jab-jab)
• 1-2-2 (jab-cross-cross)
• 1-1-2 (jab-jab-cross)
• 1-4 (jab-right cross)

Shadowboxing

Many people think that shadowboxing is just a fancy name for “punching the air,” but it’s actually much more than that.  A way to think about shadowboxing is as a form of boxing training.  You can do your shadowboxing for fun, but it’s also a great way to improve your hand-eye coordination, practice your footwork, and improve your overall agility.

Watch the following video to understand what shadowboxing is all about.

Heavy bag training

A heavy bag is used as a training tool to help boxers develop speed, power, and accuracy in boxing. It’s also used to build endurance in the shoulders, arms, and fists while building strength throughout the entire body. In addition to using a heavy bag, boxers also use a speed bag, a smaller bag connected to a swivel and designed to be hit continuously in rapid succession.

Before getting started with heavy bag training, you keep in mind the following.

• Always wrap your hands and use heavy bag gloves to protect your hands.
• Don’t always hit the bag with power. Play with it instead. Imagine it’s a real opponent.
• As a beginner, it’s enough to throw the basic punches and easy combinations.
• Get a heavy bag which is about half of your weight. This way, it gives enough resistance to your punches but also swings.
• Don’t stay at the same place. Move around the bag, practice footwork, and keep the proper boxing stance.
• Start small. In the beginning, 2-3× 1 minute rounds will do.

Put everything together: A boxing workout plan for overweight beginners

If you have read my advice above you have a picture of what you should do.

Here is a weekly plan:

• Monday:
  • Practice footwork, stance, punches.
  • 3-5 rounds 1-2-minute shadow boxing.
  • 2-3 round heavy bag work for 1 minute.
• Tuesday: Walking or cycling
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Full body strength training
• Friday:
  • Practice footwork, stance, punches.
  • 3-5 rounds 1-2-minute shadow boxing.
  • 2-3 round heavy bag work for 1 minute.
• Saturday: Walking or cycling
• Sunday: Rest

Start small! Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take small steps forward. Use the progressive overload technique.

Progressive overload is a training principle that requires you to gradually increase the amount of stress placed on your muscles over a period of time. Some call it the ‘shock effect,’ others call it ‘muscle confusion. No matter what you call it, you’re essentially challenging your body in new and different ways to ensure you’re continually progressing and building your physique.

To sum up

One of the hottest new trends for fitness is boxing. The sport has been around for a long time, and it’s always been one of the best ways to get an intense, full-body workout. But boxing isn’t just for people who want to try a new way to get in shape or stay fit—it’s also an excellent choice for people who are overweight or obese. Why? Because boxing helps to strengthen and tone muscles all over the body. It also strengthens the heart and lungs and helps burn calories. And, finally, it’s a delightful way of exercising.

I hope after reading, my tips above, you want to start boxing training. I do boxing and bodyweight training for years now, and I feel how beneficial it is. If you need more advice, feel free to ask below. I’m here to help you.