Reasons To Start Boxing In Your 30s
Boxing is one of the oldest and most popular combat sport that has been around since ancient times. It is a very popular choice, both among people who want to make a career out of it, and average people who want to get in shape and improve self-defense skills.
In this day and age, boxing gyms around the world are adapting to the modern lifestyle. Or in other words, each gym includes an amateur group for people who want to train in boxing because of its health benefits and to develop solid fighting skills.
That being said, let’s look at some of the main reasons why you should join boxing in your 30s.
It’s never too late to learn self-defense tactics
Boxing is among the best martial arts you can learn for self-defense. Although it is a bit limited as it trains you how to use “only” your hands as weapons, do not make mistakes about it, it can be more practical than some other arts. Not a single martial art out there teaches better footwork, punching combos, and defense. And these are the most important skills in street fighting.
Yes, boxing is a combat sport where people learn how to fight under the rules, and students do not learn any self-defense tactics. But on the other side, the entire concept of boxing fits well within the demands of street fighting. Why? Well, there is one good reason.
The most common way of the attack out on the streets is by throwing a punch. An average person, trained or not trained in martial arts won’t start a fight with a kick, superman punch, or other flashy moves. An average person would never dive for a takedown or go for a clinch unless they are trained grapplers. The fastest and most natural way to hurt a person standing in front is to throw a punch, and this is why boxing is so effective.
It trains you how to block, slip or dodge a strike, how to use footwork to create angles, deliver fast counters, and many other valuable skills. Training puts a lot of emphasis on sparring where students learn how to stay calm in a fight, and how to apply techniques in a real fight.
Health and fitness benefits
First of all, boxing is a full-body workout that activates all the muscle groups in your body. It’s one of the rare workouts that equally improves both your upper and lower body strength. And if you stay dedicated to classes, it would get you in top shape in a very short time span.
The third decade of our lives is a time where we need to start paying more attention to our health and fitness. Boxing is a great choice because the classes are an ideal mix of anaerobic and aerobic workouts. Or in other words, it would improve your cardiovascular health, improve muscle strength and endurance. In the end, this makes your heart stronger and lowers your blood pressure.
On top of that, boxing classes are cardio intense and would push your mind and body over the limits on a daily basis. Although this doesn’t sound nice, bear in mind that high-intensity training burns a lot of calories.
To be more specific, an hour of boxing training can burn up to 1,000 calories, which is a lot! Hitting the heavy bag, pads, and sparring burns fat and helps you lose weight like nothing else out there. On top of that, you would lose weight while learning how to fight at the same time.
Helps you develop good habits
Whether we are talking about the gym workout, regular jog around the neighborhood, or boxing classes, it’s always the same. Working out a couple of times a week encourages you to get rid of bad habits, and focus on developing good ones. This is the moment where training starts changing your life outside the gym, and here is how.
One of the main keys behind succeeding in martial arts like boxing is to be consistent. But to be consistent, you have to be healthy, and to be healthy, you need to get rid of bad habits, notably when it comes to food and drinks. From this perspective, getting rid of your favorite street food, sweet drinks and snacks may sound like a disaster.
But once you start training hard, you will realize that living an unhealthy lifestyle is killing your progress in the gym. You would have less energy, even feel sick and weak at times, and clearly lack the motivation to train. This is the moment where most people start exploring and learning more about nutrition plans, how crucial it is to hydrate, sleep well, and rest.
You would start eating healthy food, a lot of fruits, fluids, which combined with training improves both your mental and physical health.
It is safe and fun
According to studies, boxing is the most dangerous combat sport when it comes to head injuries. It carries a high risk of brain and various other serious injuries that may impact your life in the long run. But on the other side, amateur boxing training is not dangerous by any means. Yes, you can get hurt, but those are the injuries you may sustain in other martial arts, or in other sports.
People who just want to get in shape do not have to worry about the dangers of boxing because it’s really hard to get hurt while hitting the heavy bag or pads. You are safe as long as you eat well, drink enough water, and take enough rest. On the other side, sparring is an activity where most people get hurt, not just in boxing, but in other martial arts as well. Any activity that includes contact between two people can easily end up in an injury.
However, bear in mind that there are levels in sparring and that you must wear full protective gear all the time. As a beginner, you would start by doing live drills with your partner that are very safe. For instance, your partner would throw a one-two combo while your task would be to block these strikes without throwing a counter. Once you feel ready, you may start light sparring and this is also safe as the main goal is to use around 50% of power and focus on technique.
Of course, hard sparring provides most adrenalin and fun, but at the same time, carries a risk of injury. As a 30 year old who is just starting out, it’s not recommended to do these types of sparring sessions that often.
Easy to learn
Boxing is a great option, probably the best, if you want to develop good fighting skills in a very short time span. Don’t get us wrong here, boxing is not a walk in the park and you need to spend many years training hard to reach advanced levels.
But at the same time, boxing is beginner friendly and you won’t have a hard time picking up the basics. This is mainly because, when it comes to basics, boxing revolves around 5 different punching techniques, and mixing it all together with footwork and upper body movement.
Yes, training is cardio intense, hard on your body, and you might have a hard time performing the techniques the right way. But it would all become much easier once you get in shape and become more flexible.
It is the best stress reliever
Once you hit the third decade, life comes to be much faster, more stressful, and you have much less time to figure things out and rest your mind. This modern day lifestyle can easily catch up with you and destroy your mental health. This can happen to all of us and the best thing we can do is to find a way how to relieve stress, and boxing might be an ideal choice.
The moment you arrive home after having a stressful day, you have two choices. First, you can take a shower, lay on the couch, and watch TV (in most cases). Or, to pack your bag, hit the gym and punch the hell out of the heavy bag. It’s one of the most primitive and easiest ways to let the frustration out of your mind and body.
And at the same time, it would trigger various positive chemicals in your mind like dopamine and serotonin, which is why we feel happy after a workout. That feeling of lying down on the mats tired while being happy for no specific reason is the best.
Laying on the couch, eating junk food, and spending 2 hours watching TV is the total opposite. It would destroy your mental and physical health in the long run.
save yourself the trouble. Go pick up boxing 👊🏻
