Our coaches at PUSH Gym can incorporate fitness into your daily routine in more ways than one. Christopher Flower helps his clients “get that heart beating and sweat flowing” by practicing boxing, which he calls “my first true love when it comes to cardio.”
It starts with a broad stance — knees bent, with one foot forward and the other foot back. As you defend your body against punches and throw them yourself, this position lets you quickly maneuver forward and backward, left and right. “It’s a balancing act — keeping our weight primarily on the balls of our feet, allowing ourselves to become more agile and lighter on our feet,” Flower said. When he trains clients, they begin by building some rudimentary skills, then push their pace.
Flower recognizes several benefits to boxing, including hand eye coordination and agility — skills that decline as we age. With limited time to land punches, clients are consistently working on their reaction time and dexterity. “I can’t think of a better way to build [hand eye coordination] or maintain it than landing punches on small targets,” Flower said.
Boxing also focuses the mind, forcing the boxer to put any stress and mental baggage on the backburner.
For Flower, “after a few rounds, any mental turbulence plaguing me beforehand has taken a backseat,” he said. “When the workout is over, my life responsibilities slowly trickle back in as delightful bite size pieces that are so much easier to deal with after I got my workout.”