The workout that packs a punch
Why boxing is the new spinning
Boxing classes have been around for years. Most of us would identify them as the sweaty “boxercise” classes taught in the local sports centre — a fat burning session, where pads and panting come high on the list of priorities, and true technique somewhere far below.
But all that is beginning to change. Serious boxing is making it’s way onto the fitness scene — and it’s not just the Victoria’s Secret models that are picking up on it (which, trust me, they are).
BXR London is an example of this, a boutique boxing gym that stepped into the ring back in January and is endorsed by heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Its founding committee also includes Mark Ronson, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and Sara Sampaio and Maryna Linchuk (see, I told you about the Victoria’s Secret models).
The idea is for the gym to offer equipment and classes good enough for an athlete and implemented by quality coaches who are all professional fighters. No bad shape or dropped guards allowed.
There are two types of training packages offered. The ground floor is a pay-to-train concept for nonmembers, known as Sweat by BXR. It boasts a variety of fitness classes, including cardio, strength and conditioning, and skills classes designed to improve your boxing technique. Then, for around £180 a month, you can pay for a membership, which allows you to attend three of the Sweat by BXR classes, have full access to the upstairs gym, which includes an 18 by 18 foot boxing ring, and book personal sessions with the professional trainers. All of this is focused on training like a champion.
It is during one of the one-on-one sessions when the boxing gets really serious and I find myself under the instruction of head boxing coach, Gary Logan.
A martial art
Logan refers to boxing as a martial art, emphasising the importance of technique. “Boxing can be fun — it is fun, but we teach it knowing that you can be under threat at any day of your life and you should feel confident enough that you can fend off an attacker. So that’s the whole concept of how we do it here at BXR — it’s not just taught as a boxing workout.” And it really isn’t. The session begins with Logan teaching me the correct stance of a boxer. Weight on the back leg, knees bent, hands by your face, stay balanced. I throw a jab into the air and promptly find that balance is something I do not have. “It’s all about your core,” Logan informed me.
A few more careful pointers and it’s time to enter the ring — me with boxing gloves, Logan with pads. We walk through all of the basic moves I need to know: jab, cross, hook. But it isn’t just a case of throwing punches at Logan’s pads. Every wrong foot, every time I come off balance, every time my hands drop down from my face, we stop and began again. Here, technique is everything.
So BXR takes boxing very seriously — but, as a beginner, is it really going to help you get fit and tone up? In a word, yes. “You are enduring your body so you’re getting fitter and cardiovascularly you’re getting fitter,” says Logan. “From anyone who comes in who wants to work at losing weight or at toning. you can do it.”
After 45 minutes of effectively squatting whilst throwing my weight around with an engaged core, I certainly feel the burn of muscle toning. But Logan isn’t letting me go just yet: he’s saved a circuit of jump squats and rope battling for the end of the session.
Endorphin releasing
I leave exhausted, but on a high because, as Logan says, it’s endorphin releasing. It’s a similar feeling to the one you get after an hour’s spinning class — but the difference here is that, for the next few days, my whole body aches like I’ve done a couple of rounds with a heavyweight. After spinning, you feel it in your legs; here, I feel it in my legs, my arms, my stomach, my hands, my back, my shoulders everything, basically. Areas I didn’t even realise I’d worked on hurt — which is about as good a recommendation for the class as you can get.
While some of BXR’s members are fighters themselves, proving the high standard of the gym, there is a huge variety in the people taking to BXR, according to its founder, Olia Sardarova.
“We expected a lot of members to come from intense, demanding jobs, trying to release that postwork-related stress. However, we found that our members come from all sorts of backgrounds and jobs — all with their own motivations behind joining, and we have a lot more female members than we anticipated.”
Logan agrees that the classes’ appeal should know no bounds. “The great thing about boxing is that everyone can do it, from young children to the very old anyone can do it. That’s what I’ve enjoyed most about it.”