Shadow Boxing for Health
Boxing gyms focused on fitness versus getting in the ring are popping up across the country. Boxing provides numerous benefits including cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, agility, stress relief and a boost to your confidence and self-esteem. When you box you feel hard-core, invincible and better able to tackle any challenge that comes your way.
Not everyone has access or is able to join a boxing gym, but the good news is you can get similar benefits from shadow boxing with no equipment, anytime, anywhere.
Here’s some tips for starting to shadow box:
Warmup
Take a minimum of 5-10 minutes to warmup your entire body focusing on your shoulders, arms, back, hips and core. Arm circles, torso rotations, leg swings, presses, pulls etc at slow speed and no load will help prepare your body for shadow boxing.
Recoil
It’s important to understand that when you’re shadow boxing, you’re not actually hitting anything to absorb your power. Make sure you keep your punches tight and compact so you can control the force and keep your joints and connective tissue safe. A good tip is after you punch, recoil, or retract your punch. Imagine there’s a rubber band between your elbow and your ribcage so that after you punch, your elbow quickly returns to its starting position at your rib cage.
Master Your Technique
Start in a boxers stance with your feet about shoulder width apart and your body positioned in a ¾ stance (this means that you’re not facing directly square to your pretend opponent, but instead are turned slightly to the side).
Your knees are slightly bent, feet positioned as if on a train track not a tight rope and stay on your toes.
Hands are at chin level with your lead hand forward and power hand at cheek.
Your hands are in a light fist, elbows in line with your hips and tucked in close.
Your palms face in, shoulders relaxed, eyes forward and abs tight and strong for control and power.
This is your starting point for all punches.
Here’s tips for the 4 most common punches:
Jab
Start Hands up & punch with the front arm
Punch extends in a straight line at shoulder level
Palm turns downward at extension and shoulders relaxed
Elbows stay in, lead with your fist and wrist neutral
Breathe out with each punch
Stepping forward slightly with the lead foot at the moment the punch is thrown helps the delivery
Non-punching arm remains in position
Power Punch or Cross Punch
Start Hands up & punch with the back arm
Punch is initiated from the lower body as the body drops and then lifts and rotates (foot, hip and shoulder). Keep your abdominals strong and active.
Punch extends in a straight line at shoulder level
Palm turns downward at extension and shoulders relaxed
Elbows stay in, lead with your fist and wrist neutral
Breathe out with each punch
Non-punching arm remains in position
Upper Cut
Start hands up
Drop elbow and then drive fist straight up to the ceiling – like a “piston”
Elbows stay in, lead with your fist and wrist neutral
Punch is initiated from the lower body as the body drops and then lifts and rotates (foot, leg, hip, core) – Use the legs and hips to drive the punch upwards.
Exhale with drive up
“Target is opponent’s ribs or jaw”
Non-punching arm remains in position
Hook
Start hands up
Elbow bends 60-90 degrees and stays bent throughout the hook
Lead with your fist, palm down, wrist neutral and forearm parallel to the floor
Punch is initiated from the lower body (foot, leg, hip, core) Use the legs and hips to drive the punch, rotating to direct punch
Exhale with punch
“Target is opponent’s side of body/face”
Non-punching arm remains in position
Combinations
Once you’ve mastered the technique for each individual punch, then start combining punches into combinations that will get you breathing heavy, heart pumping and blood flowing.
Try the following punching patterns for 30-60 seconds each side to keep your body balanced. Feel free to do a little skip in between each combination to reset and refocus.
Try varying the speed of the combinations so sometimes you go slow and sometimes faster so your pretend opponent never knows what to expect.
As the combinations get more complicated, be sure to practice and memorize them before you add too much force and speed. Just imagine the additional benefits to your brain and cognitive development once you’ve mastered some of these below!
Jab/Punch 30-60 sec each side
Jab/Upercut 30-60 sec each side
2 Jabs/Punch 30-60 sec each side
2 Jabs/Uppercut 30-60 sec each side
Jab/Punch/Hook 30-60 sec each side
Jab/Punch/Hook/Uppercut 30-60 sec each side
2 Jabs/Punch/Hook 30-60 sec each side
2 Jabs/Punch/Jab/Punch/Hook/Uppercut 30-60 sec each side
Yours in health & fitness,
Sherri McMillan
Sherri McMillan
Sherri McMillan, holds a master's degree in exercise physiology and has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for more than 33 years. She has received numerous industry awards including 2010 CanFitPro International Presenter of the Year, 2006 IDEA Fitness Director of the Year, 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 1998 CanFitPro Fitness Presenter of the Year and 2005/2006 ACE Fitness Educator of the Year - Runner up. She is a fitness trainer, fitness columnist for various magazines and newspapers, author of five books and manuals including "Go For Fit - the Winning Way to Fat Loss" and "Fit over Forty" and the featured presenter in various fitness DVDs. She has presented hundreds of workshops to thousands of fitness leaders throughout Canada, Australia, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, Germany, England, Spain, South America, Asia and the U.S. She is the owner of Northwest Personal Training in downtown Vancouver, the founder of WHY Racing Events & WHY Community, participates in various community fundraisers and can be found running, biking, or hiking around the community. Find more information at nwpersonaltraining.com.