What boxing covers, and what it leaves out
A fitness boxing session is hard work. Rounds on the bag, pad work and conditioning between rounds keep you moving for most of the hour, and your whole body is busy throughout. What boxing rarely does is add load in measured steps, or work every major muscle group against heavy resistance.
WHO's 2020 guidelines advise adults to do muscle-strengthening activities at moderate or greater intensity, involving all the major muscle groups, on two or more days a week, as well as regular aerobic activity. A boxing-only week leans towards the aerobic side, and lifting covers the other side directly. For how sessions run at RPM, see boxing at RPM.
The two plans compared
| Boxing only | Boxing plus weights | |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions a week | Two to four boxing sessions | Two or three boxing sessions, plus one or two strength sessions |
| Aerobic work | Plenty, from rounds and conditioning | Plenty, from the boxing sessions |
| Muscle strengthening | Some, depending on the conditioning work | Every major muscle group, with load you can increase |
| Skill | All your training time goes on technique | A little less boxing time, unless you stack sessions |
| Measurable progress | Rounds, combinations and how you feel at the end | The same, plus weights and repetitions in a log |
| Recovery to plan | Hard rounds on consecutive days can pile up | Heavy leg work needs spacing from footwork-heavy rounds |
| Venue | A boxing class or club | A gym with bags, or a boxing club plus a gym |
What to lift if you box
A boxer's strength session does not need to be long. Five or six exercises covering the whole body will do:
- a squat pattern, such as goblet squats or a leg press
- a hinge, such as a Romanian deadlift or a hip thrust
- a push, such as a dumbbell press or press-ups
- a pull, such as rows or a pulldown
- a carry or a trunk exercise, such as farmer's carries or a plank
Start lighter than you think, stop each set with a few repetitions in reserve and add weight slowly. A coach can check your technique in the first sessions and adjust the exercises around an old niggle. If you are managing an injury or a medical condition, get clearance from your doctor or physiotherapist first.
A sample week for each plan
Both examples assume evening training after work, with Saturday and Sunday off.
| Day | Boxing only | Boxing plus weights |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | Boxing | Boxing |
| Sunday | Rest | Strength: full body |
| Monday | Boxing | Rest or a walk |
| Tuesday | Rest | Boxing |
| Wednesday | Boxing | Rest or a walk |
| Thursday | Rest or easy cardio | Boxing, then a short strength session |
| Friday | Rest | Rest |
An example, not a prescription. Adjust it to your level, and tell your coach what else you do in the week.
Spacing sessions so you recover
The clash to avoid is heavy leg work the day before a footwork-heavy session, or hard conditioning the day before your heaviest lifts. A few ways to arrange the week:
- If boxing and lifting share a day, box first while you are fresh for technique, then lift.
- Keep at least one full rest day a week, and count a gentle walk as rest.
- Put your heaviest lower-body lifts a day or more away from your hardest rounds.
- In a hard week, cut the strength session short rather than skipping boxing you have booked.
- Watch the gap between a late class and an early session the next morning, because short nights make the second one harder.
Summer and Ramadan change the picture. In the hottest months, the trip to the gym can tire you before you start, and during Ramadan many people train after iftar and ease off. A month of fewer, shorter sessions is fine. If something hurts rather than feels tired, stop and have it checked by a doctor or physiotherapist.
When boxing alone is enough
- You can only train twice a week, and boxing is what gets you there.
- You are in your first months of boxing and still learning the basics. Add weights once the technique has settled.
- Your coach already builds strength into the conditioning, with sled pushes, slam balls or bodyweight work. Ask how much.
- You would drop boxing to make room for lifting. Keep the training you will actually do.
If you are still choosing between the two as your main training, fitness boxing or strength training compares them goal by goal.
Worked example: three evening classes and no more time
Take a project manager who boxes three evenings a week and cannot add a fourth day. He wants to get stronger without losing his classes.
| Option | His week | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Boxing only | Three boxing evenings | No measured strength work |
| Swap a class | Two boxing evenings and one strength session | One fewer boxing class |
| Stack | Three boxing evenings, with a short strength session after two of them | Two longer evenings a week |
He stacks. Twice a week he stays after class for a 25-minute full-body session on machines and dumbbells. After six weeks he checks his log and how his boxing feels, and if the long evenings start to drag on the next class, he will drop back to one stacked session.
Bags and a weights floor in one club at RPM
At RPM, fitness boxing runs in the functional area of the Mixed section, where heavy bags hang beside a turf lane with a sled. Photos of the training floor in the same section show plate-loaded machines, cable towers, benches, dumbbells and a squat rack with colour bumper plates, so you can box and lift on the same visit. See strength training at RPM for that floor.
Women can also use the Ladies section, which has its own strength and cardio equipment, and the roster lists Imen Hasnaoui there as the combat and self-defence coach. Of the three tiers, Engine adds coached programming, and inclusions are confirmed on enquiry. Ask about sparring rather than expecting it.
Sources
Questions, answered.
Will lifting slow my punches down?
It is a common worry. Two short strength sessions a week are a long way from training aimed at size, and a coach can keep the loads moderate and the movements quick if speed matters to you.
Do bodyweight exercises count as strength work?
They can, if they are hard enough for you and cover the major muscle groups. Press-ups, lunges and pull-ups are a fair start, though they are harder to progress than weights once they feel easy.
Do I need different shoes for boxing and lifting?
Flat, stable trainers work for both. Ask your coach before wearing anything with a thick, soft sole on the bag or under a loaded bar.
I am a woman who boxes. Does any of this change?
No, the same principles apply. If you prefer a women-only space, ask about combat sessions in RPM's Ladies section, which has its own strength equipment too.