Shadow Boxing For Weight Loss
A majority of people have never thought about shadow boxing as a useful means to lose weight. Rather, many of them believe that shadow boxing is only for professionals such as boxers. This article will explain why shadow boxing is a wonderful way to cover fundamental punches and lose weight effectively.
Shadow boxing is usually used as a cool-down or warm-up activity before doing a boxing workout. However, shadow boxing punches can be merged in two-three minute rounds which burn tons of calories, elevate your heart rate and strengthen the muscles of your back, arms and shoulders. A 30-minute shadow-boxing routine can consume up to 300 calories. You don’t require any equipment for this, all you need is a little basic boxing knowledge, a mirror, and a champion’s mind. There are 3 major shadow boxing punches and with the help of them, you will able to shed the pounds off! You have to remember that relaxation is the key to any shadow boxing punch.
Jabs
The most primary punches of the shadow boxing is jab. You can gain the respect of an experienced boxer if you are able to deliver a proper jab. Stand in front of a mirror, starting with your dominant hand in a relaxed fist, stretch from the shoulder while moving your arm until you reach a full extension. Make sure your knuckles are horizontal and flat and in front of your reflection (imaginary opponent’s face). Perform your jabs repeatedly until your speed is increased and your punches feel natural and effortless. Switch to your non-dominant hand, if you have trained your dominant hand and repeat.
Uppercuts
To give a lifting kick to your opponent, use your upper trunk to throw an uppercut punch. Begin with your dominant hand by keeping your feet shoulder width-apart. Keep your biceps flexed, shoulders relaxed and rotate on your toe as you carry to fist up beneath your opponent’s chin. During this punch, keep your arm flexed in a “V” shape and rotate your upper body slightly with the punch. Similarly, like the jab, you should practice with your dominant hand first and then move towards other hand, and ultimately perform in combination with both.
Hooks
The hook begins from the same position as the uppercut (arm in a “V” shape in guard position, shoulders relaxed and feet apart). As you throw this body blow, your upper body should move and elbows must come up with your arm in one motion. Your aim is to target the torso of your opponent. All the energy of the punch will come from the pivot of your foot. Practice this move with both of your hands until it starts feeling easy and natural.
Remember, as with any sports activity, shadow boxing may also feel unnatural or awkward in the beginning and may take a lot of practice. As you make your workout more challenging and master your punches, you should focus on adding footwork to stimulate your metabolisms and burn even more calories. Take it as fun and mix it up with other activities to avoid getting bored or reaching a plateau. Incorporating other activities with shadow boxing is not only helpful in a long-term workout routine, but also helps to shed those extra pounds more quickly.
Shadow Boxing Routines I Wrote for My 4 Week Online Bootcamp Clients
Feel free to save these to your phones or computers. Please let me know if you have any questions on the movements. Click the images to get a full sized version. The challenge below includes video demonstrations of any required movement patterns (as this is shadow [cardio] Muay Thai.)
