Stamina is very important to have when you are a boxer or athlete. If you don’t have proper stamina you can get tired too quick and run out of stamina which can be a bad thing. Once you run out of stamina, your opponent has an advantage over you and it will be much easier for them to knock you out.
Having great stamina and improving your stamina is vital if you want to go far in boxing. Its no wonder why you do need stamina with boxing matches lasting up to 12 rounds with each round lasting 3 minutes. During each of those rounds you have to stay fast, sharp and on point to be able to fight the opposition and having stamina is paramount to be able to do this otherwise you will run out of steam.
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Some boxers renowned for their stamina include Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Felix Trinidad and Joe Calzaghe. Boxers with no stamina start to have sloppy form, their punches get slower and they just got punch as hard.
In this article we’re going to share some tips with how you can improve your stamina.
Skipping
Skipping is a staple exercise for any boxer. Not only does it increase stamina but it has many other benefits such as toning your body and adding muscle definition while also reducing the risk of heart disease and also great for weight loss among many other benefits.
Make sure you add jumping rope to your workout routine. Aim for about 20 minutes of skipping a day but if you are just starting off and are a beginner then we recommend you do about 10 minutes a day. Doing this everyday will make a compound effect which will make improve your stamina and endurance.
You can also do it for 2 or 3 minute rounds and see how many rounds you can do. Obviously it will depend on your fitness but try to do as many as you can. Take a minute rest between rounds and then carry on.
Once you have got good enough you can implement tricks into your skipping routine like double unders, straddles and scissors.
Check out the video below for some tips on how to do jump rope tricks.
HIIT
High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT is in basic terms just performing different intense exercises with little to no rest. The exercises can be anything such as squats, push ups, situps, crunches, dips, It is a great way of increasing endurance and it can improve your stamina by a lot if done regularly.
Doing High Intensity Interval Training will only improve your stamina but also improve cardio and increase your fitness. With HIIT workouts use should do as many reps in the given time as you can.
If you are a beginner, start with a simple HIIT workout. Start with 2 or 3 rounds each lasting with each exercise lasting 30 seconds. 1 round is doing all of the exercises once. An example routine could look something like:
- Push ups
- Mountain Climbers
- Tricep Dips
- Pike Press
- Crunches
- Shadowboxing
HIIT training is very effective way of increasing your stamina and helps with weight loss.
Below is another workout you can follow if you’re up for challenge.
Running
Running is another exercise that is a staple exercise to any boxers workout. Running can improve your stamina and endurance and has many other health benefits like relieving stress and depression. If you are a beginner or your fitness is not very good it can be hard to run for more than a couple of minutes or even less.
If you are like this it is best to start with baby steps. Start by walking for 5 – 10 minutes at a brisk pace then once you feel comfortable with that move on to running at a slow pace for 5 – 10 minutes. Gradually start speeding up your pace once you feel confident and start jogging. Once you can do that you can start jogging for a mile or two to build up your fitness.
Running works wonders for your fitness and endurance. You can even try doing sprints.
Set out a desired length of distance, say for example, 100 metres. Then see how fast you can sprint the distance there and back. See how fast you can run it a few times. This not only builds up your stamina but also improves your agility. You will start to move faster.
Mental Strength
Having strong mental strength is just as important as having physical strength if not more important.
If you have a strong mental attitude and your body gets tired, your mind will take over because it will be strong enough. It will think ‘I can do this, I will win’. That’s the mentality of professional boxers. The physical body has limits but the mind is limitless.
Check out this article on developing mental strength.
Another thing to remember if you are fighting is too always stay calmed and not to panic. If you stay calm and relaxed, you will be able to make better decisions. It is alright to feel fear but don’t let it overtake you. Everyone feels fear, even the great champions of boxing do. Use your fear as your strength and project it onto your opponent.
Always remember “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” – Cus D’Amato, world class trainer of Floyd Paterson and Mike Tyson.