Does Boxing Give You Abs?

When you think about boxing, usually the first thing to come to mind is the competitive side of the sport. That, and how it’s a fantastic full-body workout and an effective way to keep in shape! There are actually more benefits than you probably know about when it comes to boxing, with muscle toning being a huge one. One popular question about the subject though is, does boxing give you abs?

Toned, well-defined abs take a combination of different things. There’s no real quick fix if you want to have good looking and long-lasting abs in and outside of your training. Various elements have different effects on your body. Abs, just like any other major muscle group, need to be considered carefully.

Ultimately, you need to look at two things in particular. They are the fundamentals of any muscle tone building exercises, and they work across the board.

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• Calories
• Muscle

Calories

Always at the forefront of trying to get well-toned abs is your body fat percentage. If you want to be able to see your abdominal muscles clearly, you need to make sure that the levels of fat on your torso are to a minimum. For that to take place, the chances are that you need to reduce your body fat percentage across the board. There are several different ways that you can do this, and boxing is one of them.

Almost all of the different training techniques that are involved in boxing are huge calorie burners in the long run. Exercises like sparring, skipping and running all have great calorie burning rates over long periods. If you have the stamina to keep them up, they can do incredible things for your body. It is definitely up there with the best cardio that you can be doing, and this is great news if you’re trying to get abs.

Muscle

The next thing to look at when it comes to whether boxing gives you abs is the actual muscle size of your abs. If you are using them a lot, of course, then their muscle definition will increase, and so will their visibility – if you can lower your body fat. The more ab exercises that you do, the larger the muscles in your abdomen will get.

Luckily for us, boxing is a great way to gain muscle definition. The punching and full-body movements involved in your training will directly impact how your abs are forming. They act as full-body stabilisers throughout every exercise that you’re doing, and even more so when the emphasis is placed on one part of the body. Just make sure to avoid imbalances in your training.

So, can boxing give you abs? Overall, getting abs isn’t really defined by any one thing, and you need the balance of the muscle-building and calories burned to get a low body fat percentage to be able to see abs. Eat right and train right, and you’ll see it happen (here’s a good workout to get you started). Boxing is definitely up there with the best ways to get there!

Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.

If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.