Ask any experienced boxer if they would prefer to be hit with a clean shot to the body or a clean shot to the head, and there is a good chance they will take a shot to the head over the body every time! A solid blow to the liver or solar plexus can be very painful and difficult to recover from, and once a good one has landed the area can be extra sensitive to any more that land after that.
This video shows a few exercises that will help a boxer build a strong core, allowing any beginner or aspiring fighter to properly prepare themselves against body punches that they are sure to be hit with while practicing boxing!
Abdominal strength and getting used to being hit in the body is an important part of training. If any boxer neglects to condition their core, when it comes time to a competition and their opponent lands a solid shot to the body, the remainder of the round can really feel like an eternity!
Ab exercises
Perform each exercise for 30 repetitions
- Straight leg sit-ups
- Bent leg sit-ups
- Crunches
- Side crunches (both sides)
- Toe touches (legs raised)
- Russian twist
- Ankle touches
Conditioning exercises
30 seconds each drill
- Straight punches to solar plexus
- Hooks to the liver
- Right hooks
- Punches to lower stomach
- Punches all over
- Punches all over – bouncing on toes
1 minute rest, repeat all steps again.
Ab exercises for boxing
Straight leg sit-ups
- Starting on your back, legs straight. Hands next to your head (not behind head where you can pull your up from your neck).
- Keeping your legs straight and heels on the ground, sit up so that your hips bend 90 degrees
- Return to starting position
Bent leg sit-ups
- Start on your back knees pointing up, bent approximately 90 degrees
- Feet flat on the floor
- Sit up straight so that your chest comes up toward your knees
- Return back to starting position
Crunches
- Starting on you back, feet raised in the air shoulders on ground
- Knees bent approximately 90 degrees
- Raise shoulder off the ground, bringing elbows toward knees
- Return to starting position
Side crunches
- Starting on left side, left hip and left shoulder on the ground, right knee pointing upwards
- Raise left shoulder off the ground, at the same time crunching right shoulder towards knee so that right elbow touches right leg
- Keep left elbow off the ground during movement so that you cannot use it to help you up
- After completing set, do same movement with other side of body
Toe touches (legs raised)
- Starting on back legs straight, pointed up in the air (90 degrees to your body)
- Raise your shoulders off the ground and reach with your arms to touch your toes keeping your legs pointed up
(if you don’t have the flexibility, you can also touch your ankles or shins. As long as your shoulders are coming off the ground) - Return to starting position to finish rep
Russian twist
- Raise your feet off the ground, with your body leaning back at around 45 degrees
- Balancing on your tailbone, place your hands on your chest so your elbows are beside your body
- While remaining balanced on your tailbone and feet still raised off the ground, rotat so that your left elbow touches the ground
- Rotate your body the opposite direction so that your right elbow touches the ground
- 1 rep is complete after BOTH elbows have touched the ground and you have returned back to the start
Ankle Touches
- Starting on your back, shoulders on the ground
- Keeping feet on the ground lift torso forward, returning to starting position once you have touched both ankles simultaneously
- (touching the ankles ensures the movement is completed, doesn’t allow “cheating”)
Core Conditioning Exercises For Boxing
Straight punches to solar plexus
- Aim for just under sternum
- Punch with both hands
- Very difficult area to condition, very effective place to punch your opponent
- Hit the same place every-time
- Start soft and gradually build power
Hooks to the liver
- Left hook to right side of partner’s body
- Punch in a slight upward direction (if punch were to continue through body it would end up at partner’s left shoulder)
- Aim to land punch just under partner’s rib cage
- Start punching soft and gradually build up power
Right hook
- Right hook to left side of partner’s body
- Punch in a slight upward direction (if punch were to continue through body it would end up at Partner’s right shoulder)
- Aim to land punch just under partner’s rib cage
- Start punching soft and gradually build up power
- Although right body hook not usually as effective as left body hook as liver is on partner’s right side, it still can be a very damaging blow
Punches to lower stomach
- Aim for lower abdomen, even as low as belt line
- Punch with both hands
- Hit various areas all on and around opponents belly-button forcing them to brace all of lower abdomen
- Start punching soft and gradually build up power
Punches all over
- Throw various punches all over stomach and rib cage, forcing opponent to brace entire core against blows
- Mix up tempo and power
- Punch with both hands
- Sometimes hit the with the same hand twice in a row to make get your partner to expect the unexpected
- Start punching soft and gradually build up power
Punches all over – bouncing on toes
- Partner receiving blows to continuously bounce on toes for duration of drill
- Throw various punches all over stomach and rib cage, forcing opponent to brace entire core against blows
- Mix up tempo and power
- Punch with both hands
- Sometime hit the with the same hand twice in a row to make get your partner to expect the unexpected
- Start punching soft and gradually build up power
Body conditioning should be incorporated into the training regime regularly. Starting as a beginner it is important to slowly build up the conditioning of the body over a period of time and not jump straight in to core conditioning at a high intensity, as this is likely to cause injury.