There are few feelings better than when you finally achieve the strong, toned abs you’ve always wanted. The key to a great core workout is finding the right exercises and techniques that work best for you.
This article will provide you with 10 boxing workouts to get stronger abs. With a little dedication and persistence, you’ll be on your way to achieving the strong midsection you’ve always wanted.
Why is core strength important?
Having strong abdominal muscles is important for many reasons. For one, having strong core muscles can help to prevent injuries. If you have weak abdominal muscles, you’re more likely to suffer from lower back pain and other issues.
But beyond injury prevention, having a strong core can also improve your performance in other exercises. Having strong abs can help you to better stabilize your body when lifting weights or doing other exercises. And if you’re looking to improve your athletic performance, a strong core is essential.
Why is core strength important in boxing?
Boxing has some of the fittest athletes in the world and they need to be in serious shape to be successful in the boxing ring. Boxing is possibly the most physically demanding sport that requires strong and powerful muscles throughout the entire body, including the core.
The core muscles are responsible for stabilizing the trunk of the body and generating force during punches and other offensive and defensive movements.
There are a few different reasons why having a strong core is important in boxing. One reason is that a strong core helps protect the boxer’s lower back and spine from punches.
Another reason is that having a strong core helps the boxer generate more power in their punches. Finally, having a strong core can help the boxer maintain good balance and stability while throwing punches and moving around the ring.
Having strong abs is important for boxers because it helps protect their back and spine when receiving punches from their opponents. When a punch lands on the stomach, it causes an impact force that travels up the spine.
This can lead to possible injuries such as herniated discs, internal damage, or a sprained back. A strong core in boxing helps absorb some of this impact force and protects the spine from injury.
Do boxers train core everyday?
Professional boxers when in they’re in fight camp train their core muscles multiple times a week, doing a variety of exercises that target all of the major muscle groups in the abdomen.
By consistently training on their core strength, boxers are able to maintain proper form and technique during bouts, which can often be the difference between winning and losing in boxing.
However in order to fight at an optimal level in boxing, it is important to be in the best shape possible, so it’s critical to have rest days to recover from delayed onset muscle soreness and avoid potential injury.
Sit-ups
Sit-ups are a great boxing workout to get started on your ab workout routine. They target the rectus abdominis, which is the muscle that runs along the front of your abdomen.
Instructions: To do a sit-up, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Place your hands behind your head and slowly lift your upper body off the ground, using your abs to curl up towards your knees.
Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position. You can make this exercise more challenging by throwing a 1-2 punch after lifting your abs towards your knees or you can it harder by doing sit-ups on an incline.
Plank
Planking is an excellent way to work your core muscles. The plank position strengthens the abdominal muscles, back muscles, and the muscles around the spine.
Instructions: To do a plank, simply get into a push-up position, then lower yourself down so that your elbows and forearms are resting on the ground. Hold this position for as long as you can.
The key to getting the most out of planks is to maintain good form. Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe and be sure not to let your hips sag down or pop up too high.
Bicycle Crunches
Bicycle crunches are a variation of the ab crunch exercise, they are a great way to get stronger abs. They mainly target the entire core, including the obliques.
Instructions: To do a bicycle crunch, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head and lift your shoulders off the floor. Bring your right elbow to your left knee as you straighten your right leg. Repeat on the other side.
Flutter kicks
Flutter kicks are an exercise that engages the entire core, including the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques.
Instructions: To do a flutter kick, lie on your back with your legs extended and your arms at your sides. Raise your head and shoulders off the ground and contract your abs.
Keeping your legs straight, lift your right leg about 6 inches off the ground and then lower it. Repeat with your left leg. Continue alternating legs for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
V-Up
The V-up is more of a challenging move than some of the other ab exercises, it targets your entire core like the other workouts, including your abs, obliques, and lower back.
Instructions: To do a V-up, lie on your back with your legs straight and your arms at your sides. From here, raise your legs and torso off the ground to form a “V” shape with your body. Hold for a count of two, then slowly lower back to the starting position.
This move may look easy, but it’s actually quite difficult to do correctly especially if you don’t have a strong core. When you raise your legs and torso off the ground, be sure to keep your abs engaged so that you don’t collapse in the middle. Keep your back straight as well—if you round it, you’ll put unnecessary strain on your spine.
Russian Twist
This move is great for strengthening the obliques, which are the muscles on the sides of the abdomen.
Instructions: To do the Russian Twist, sit on the ground with your knees bent and your feet off the floor. Lean back so that your torso is at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Hold your hands at your chest or extend them out in front of you.
Twist your torso to the right, then to the left. Be sure to keep your back straight and don’t let your hips move. As you get stronger, you can hold a weight or a medicine ball in your hands to increase the challenge.
Leg Raise
Instructions: There are a few different ways to do a leg raise, but the most common is to lie on your back with your legs straight and raise them up until they’re perpendicular to the floor. You can also do this exercise with bent knees if it’s too difficult to keep your legs straight.
The leg raise is a great exercise for strengthening your abs, as well as your hip flexors and quads. To make it even more challenging, you can do hanging leg raises.
To do hanging leg raises, you’ll need to grab a bar or a set of parallel bars and hang from them and lift your legs towards your stomach and make sure your legs are straight when lifting your legs.
Alternating leg & arm plank
Instructions: Start in a push-up position, then raise one arm and one leg off the ground. Hold this position for 30 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. You should feel your abs burning after a few sets.
This exercise is an advanced plank but it’s still a very good core workout. It requires you to engage your core muscles constantly in order to maintain balance. By doing this exercise regularly, you will see a significant improvement in your core strength.
Toe Touches
Instructions: Lie on the ground with your legs extended in front of you and your arms at your sides. Using your abs, slowly lift your torso off the ground and reach forward with both hands toward your right leg. Try to touch your right toes with both hands.
Side Plank
The side plank is a great exercise for targeting the obliques, which are the muscles that run along the sides of the abdomen.
Instructions: To do a side plank, simply lie on your side with your elbow under your shoulder and feet stacked. Lift yourself up so that your body is in a straight line from head to toe. Hold this position for 30 seconds, then switch sides and repeat.
Conclusion
These boxing core workouts are an excellent way to get stronger abs, burn belly fat and lose weight. There are a variety of exercises that can be done to target the core muscles, and they can be done at any time, anywhere.
The best part about some of these core boxing workouts is that they don’t require any equipment such as a boxing punching bag, ab machine, all you need is your body weight. This makes them perfect for at-home workouts or when you’re traveling and don’t have access to a gym.
So there’s no excuse not to try them out! Start with some of the basic ab exercises and then progress to more challenging ones as you get stronger. Soon you’ll see a noticeable difference in your abdominal strength and definition.
