How training in the ring can help you succeed
Combat sports don’t have the best press. Professional fighters risk their health every time they step into the ring. While boxing carries the obvious danger of getting physically hurt, have you ever stopped to consider there might be mental health benefits to fighting and training?
Celebs like popstar Ellie Goulding and even royalty in the form of Meghan Markle’s husband Prince Harry have turned to the noble art for different reasons. Popular role models with a global profile like these cite coping with anxiety and processing grief as reasons for donning a pair of gloves and finding a sparring partner.
There must be mental health benefits to boxing, then. Any form of physical exercise comes recommended to us by doctors. You don’t have to be Muhammad Ali between the ropes to improve your mental health, either. Let’s take a look at the well-being benefits of boxing.
Manage stress and overcome anger
Modern life is tough. Pressures are attached to work and even the most consummate professionals can get stressed. Training with a punching bag is a great way to relieve tension. You don’t hurt yourself or others practicing jabs, hooks and crosses on it.
All of the anxiety and aggression a person may feel can be released in the process of hitting a bag. Physical activity like boxing releases endorphins – those feel good hormones that, for a time at least, cause worries to melt away.
Build self-confidence
Self-esteem has never been more fragile among human beings in the Western world. Anything that helps to build it up is definitely a good thing.
Even pro athletes can have crises. Just look at former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury. Drink, drugs, and depression threatened to completely derail his in-ring career after the British fighter dethroned Wladimir Klitschko.
Getting back into training allowed him to restore his self-confidence and. Fury’s comeback to pro sport was complete when he split the judges down the middle in a sensational draw with WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Fury’s foe will soon be back in the ring and is a hot odds-on favorite in the boxing betting on his latest title defense against Luis Ortiz.
Boxing has the ability to strengthen your resolve. Sure, you may get knocked down in the ring but — as the famous 90s pop hit by Chumbawumba told us — you can get up again!
Social aspect
We’ve all bailed on a gym session. The difference with boxing is there’s always likely to be others training and you can’t spar without a partner. That means there’s a social aspect to it that differs from regular gyms which can be lonely places where you struggle for motivation.
Training with a buddy or even in a group means you’re much more likely to succeed with whatever goals you set yourself. You are also supporting other members of the group, so you build a sense of community.
So much of boxing training — sparring, using the pads and even circuit training — cannot be done alone. Together, we’re stronger!
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