Did you know that your legs are the main source of power behind your punches? Are leg workout for boxing important?
Yes, your legs help you get into a comfortable position to strike and also defend your opponent. So building strong legs are essential for boxing.
A leg workout for boxing is important to get a strong lower body. In this article, I have listed some crucial exercises that can help strengthen your legs.
Now let’s get started.
How Vital Is Leg Strength In Boxing?
As already mentioned, leg strength is crucial for you to fight your boxing match. But without proper training, you can’t win a match, and you will be easily eliminated.
3 main aspects of leg strength in boxing are:
- Endurance
- Explosiveness
- Speed and Agility
This is why as a beginner, you are taught to stand in a proper boxing stance. Perfecting your boxing stance allows you to be in a good position to strike and defend. Once you get the stance, you are trained to throw punches and other techniques in boxing.
Overall, to execute proper boxing techniques, one must have strong legs.
Leg Workout For Boxing
1. High knees exercise:
Your knees help in building strength and endurance in your legs. If you want to develop explosive movements in each leg, then practice high knees exercise.
This exercise is quite simple to perform. You have to bring each knee as high as possible.
However, let me explain to you clearly how you can perform high knees.
- Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Now bring your right knee up near your chest. While you get your right foot down, slowly hop slightly on your left foot and bring your left knee up near your chest.
- Do this alternatively as if you are jogging.
Your goal is to bring your knees as high as possible, hence high knees.
2. Air Squats
Boxing exercises are incomplete if there are no squats. The squats help in hip extension, which maximizes force transfer from the floor, through the core, and to the upper body.
Though there are different squats, air squats are considered more effective in developing strength in your legs.
To do this,
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your chest up and face forward and back straight.
- Slowly drop your hips at the same time bending your knees like situps.
- Then slowly rise again, raising your hips and straightening your legs.
So how many air squats must be done?
Though it depends on individual goals, you can start doing 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions daily.
You can also do it 3 to 4 times a week. To level up the exercise, carry a dumbbell close to your chest for resistance.
3. Agility Ladder
We know that footwork is essential for boxing. The agility ladder is a functional workout that builds strength and endurance in your lower body and improves your footwork and movement. You can enhance three crucial fitness areas using this workout speed, agility, and quickness.
Apart from strengthening your foot, this ladder also helps in burning calories.
4. Bulgarian split squat
This type of squat focuses on one leg at a time, engages your core, and improves your balance simultaneously.
This exercise requires a bench, chair, or at least an elevated platform for support.
How to do it?
- Start this exercise by positioning your feet backward on a chair or bench at a hip distance.
- Lift your left foot and place the edge of your toes on the chair or bench. Try to keep yourself balanced during the process.
- Slowly bend your support leg at the knee and carefully lower your body into a single-leg lunge. Your back must be straight while you lower your waist to your knee level.
- Then lift your waist and straighten the support leg back into the starting position to complete the rep.
- Do this Bulgarian squat 15 to 20 times per leg and do three sets each.
5. Deadlift
When it comes to leg training in boxing, a deadlift is recommended over squats. If you don’t like squatting for some reason, you can opt for a deadlift as an alternative. This intense exercise helps develop stability in your torso and thus provides ample support for your upper body.
Position your feet shoulder-width apart and place both your feet beneath the bar.
Now bend over your waist, reach the bar, keep your back straight, and lift the weight by inhaling deeply.
Once you have lifted the bar fully, hold it for a second and slowly lower it down on the ground while keeping your arms straight and your elbows locked during the process.
Conclusion
I can’t stress enough the importance of legs for boxing. Only if your legs are strong you can level up the game. To make your legs strong, you must work out well. So to help you out, I have picked some exercises for your lower-body workout that can help strengthen your legs. Thanks for reading through!