Women’s Boxing: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners

Boxing has long been a staple, fun, and effective exercise. Many gyms all over Australia have boxing rings where boxers practice their punches and footwork. Well-trained instructors, many of whom are professional boxers themselves, expertly train enthusiasts for either fitness or sport.

Boxing has become a top choice of sport for women. Not only is boxing great for self-defence, but it’s great for fitness and strength. Now, women’s boxing is one of the most popular competitive fighting sports around the world.

If you are a lady who wants to give boxing a try, then this article will give some great advice and hidden secrets on how to get into boxing for women.

Is Boxing Good for Women’s Fitness?

Boxing is a great way to get in shape, regardless of gender. One can even classify boxing training as a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) exercise, a cardiovascular exercise strategy that alternates short intense aerobic exercises with less intense recovery periods.

A 30 to 45-minute session burns massive amounts of calories and fat while toning muscles in all of the body’s muscle groups.

What Are the Benefits of Boxing for Women?

Boxing helps burn fat, tones muscles, and improves cardiovascular performance. Apart from the physical benefits, it’s also great for releasing endorphins. It also teaches self-defence, which can help give women more confidence in and out of the ring.

Hopefully, you will never have to use your boxing skills on the street. However, if you are attacked, knowing how to punch and attack or evade, block, and escape your attacker’s move effectively will help save your life. Even if you’re not in a dangerous situation, the mental exercise that boxing teaches you helps you become more alert to your surroundings. This type of spatial awareness can be a lifesaver; your defensive reactions will be faster and more instinctive.

Finally, boxing is a great mental exercise. When you punch and move, your body releases endorphins, making you feel good about yourself. Another benefit is that boxing builds up your confidence. As you become stronger, faster, more reflexive, and more knowledgeable about self-defence, you feel more confident and empowered.

A bonus: having a bad day? Simply let all that stress out by taking it out on a punching bag. It’s a healthy, safe way to let off some steam.

How Does Boxing Tone the Body?

Boxing provides a full-body workout. Every punch you throw hits your triceps, biceps, shoulders, and core muscles. Your legs get a great workout as you step, dance, lunge, and weave throughout the ring. Boxing burns a ton of calories and reduces fat, leaving you with a toned and healthy look.

There are some misconceptions about intense workouts resulting in you becoming overly bulky. That is far from the truth! Unless women are exercising specifically for bodybuilding, women won’t achieve the same muscle mass growth that men experience using targeted workouts.

It’s safe to say that boxing training will not automatically make women look bulky, unless they’re specifically aiming for that result.

Is Boxing Good for Weight Loss?

The best workouts for weight loss are often those with a combination of anaerobic and aerobic workouts, and boxing is just that (it’s mostly anaerobic, but it has some aerobic components to it as well).

Aerobic workouts are geared towards endurance training and cardiovascular health, while anaerobic training focuses more on muscle building and strengthening. A boxing workout demands a lot of energy. Because fat is just stored energy, doing the right boxing workouts along with addressing your overall nutrition and lifestyle can help you lose weight along with building muscle.

What Are the Disadvantages of Boxing for Women?

Boxing is a vigorous activity full of repetitive and sometimes high impact movements. Like any other workout, there is a chance of overtraining. By overtraining and excessively straining your muscles, you are more prone to injury. Make sure to take things easy at first, working your way up to more strenuous workouts as you become more experienced.

When you’re boxing, even in basic training, there’s the risk of getting hit. Even experienced boxers get hit, there’s no way around it. If you aren’t wearing protective gear, you run the risk of injuries like black eyes and concussions.

Finally, remember that boxing is a contact sport. This means there’s a very real chance of accidental injuries. For example, you may sprain your hand while practising on a too-hard punching bag. You might get injured during a particularly intense sparring session.

This is why you should only train with professional trainers. Your trainer will put your safety in mind while striving to help you achieve your goals.

Does Boxing Give You Big Arms?

Boxing doesn’t necessarily give you big arms, although they will get toned and defined. Boxing involves a lot of punching, which means that your arms do a lot of work.

The resistance training aspect of boxing involves thousands of punches striking an object of resistance, such as a trainer’s pad or punching bag. This is not specifically geared to build muscle size, but rather to build strength, improve endurance, and burn fat. But getting overly big arms doing boxing isn’t impossible.

To develop your arms to that degree of muscularity, you need to train for hypertrophy (muscle building). This is a type of resistance training revolving around lifting heavy weights for a number of reps. It also involves taking protein supplements to build up that much muscle.

However, unless you deliberately aim to build a lot of arm muscle, boxing training will not automatically make you bulky. It is much more likely to tone and define your arm muscles.

How Is Boxing For Women Different From Boxing For Men?

Even though the fundamentals of the sport are the same, men’s and women’s boxing are somewhat different from each other in terms of:

✔ The primary goals
✔ The journey into combat sports

Traditionally, boxing was a male-dominated sport. In ancient times, boxing was associated with hand-to-hand combat in the arena as a gladiator sport. It was only in 2012 when women’s boxing was introduced in the Olympics.

Even though boxing is now practised by both men and women, many people still think that boxing is a men’s sport. In general, many men focus on boxing as a combat sport, putting health and fitness second.

Women’s boxing is primarily taught as a way to get fit and learn some type of self-defence. Although the women’s competitive boxing scene is very popular, most women learning to box see it as a fun and interesting way to work out.

Is It Hard for Women to Learn Boxing?

It’s not difficult for a woman to learn how to box. Even if you don’t consider yourself athletic, a good coach can train you to your desired level of fitness or skill.

Note that a boxing workout is not just punching things. In most cases, coaches advise you to cross-train with other disciplines, such as weight training, endurance training, aerobics, and more.

How Do Beginners Learn Boxing?

A beginner is first taught the basic boxing stances. These are often referred to as “southpaw” if you’re left-handed (i.e., your right hand and the right foot forward. You lead with right jabs and follow with a left cross right hook) or “orthodox” if you’re right-handed (i.e. a mirror stance of southpaw). It is possible that you can adopt a southpaw stance even if you’re right-handed, and vice versa.

Boxing footwork is also essential, as this allows you to move efficiently throughout the ring. Instructors often teach you stepping and pivoting techniques first. As you get better, you can start learning fancier footwork that enables you to dodge, trick your opponent, escape from the ropes, and more.

Of course, you’ll be taught how to properly throw a punch that allows you to deliver a strong, accurate hit without injuring yourself. Some common punches include left jab, right cross, left hook, left and right uppercut, and the combinations that involve these.

Can I Learn To Box on My Own at Home?

Yes, it’s possible to learn to box at home, but it is best to learn boxing under the guidance of a trained professional. They are experts in teaching proper technique, defining expectations, ensuring safety, and guiding you on how to get into fighting shape.

Learning to box at home is definitely possible, although it’s considered not as effective as when you’re under professional guidance. Since the COVID pandemic started, many boxing instructors have created online boxing classes for those who are stuck at home.

However, nothing beats climbing into the ring and sparring with a trained professional. But under certain circumstances, home training is better than nothing.

What Boxing Equipment Do I Need?

Only a minimum amount of personal equipment is required. You would definitely need boxing gloves and hand wraps that fit you. Some gyms offer boxing gloves for rent, but it’s highly recommended you get your own for sanitary and size-fitting reasons.

You also need a good pair of training shoes. Casual footwear, running shoes, or “athleisure” sneakers may not provide the right foot support. Get trainers that provide excellent support.

Other equipment includes comfortable performance athletic wear, a gym bag for storing your items, and a water bottle; we recommend a squeeze bottle with a nozzle.

Punching bags, speed bags, and other boxing equipment can be found in the gym, so you don’t have to invest in this equipment.

Should I Choose a Women’s Only Boxing Class?

A women’s only boxing class is a great way to start learning to box. It’s a less intimidating environment to learn in, and others in the class are likely to be closely matched in strength. Learning in a class environment you feel comfortable in is essential to get out of your comfort zone and try something new

There’s nothing wrong with a mixed boxing class, however. In fact, some people choose to start with a women’s only boxing class and move to a mixed class. This allows you to have experience sparring with people that have different heights, fighting styles, strength and speed.

What Should I Expect From My First Boxing Class?

Your first boxing class will go through stretches, some fitness exercises, and some basic punching. Depending on who is hosting the class, there may be some introductions to help ease you into your new routine.

If you are totally new to a boxing class, then it is common to feel a little uneasy on the first day. Don’t worry though; coaches are there for you. All you need to do is pay attention and learn as much as you can.

Do not be afraid or embarrassed to ask questions. Boxing instructors are mandated to ensure you learn the sport/exercise properly. Also, no one gets it right the first time. Be patient as it takes some time to get proficient with the coordination and combos.