Boxing is a great sport, whether you’re at it for fitness or to become the next champ. So here’s everything you’ll need to get to hitting.
Boxing is one of the best ways to stay fit. It’s a full-body workout in one go, it improves your endurance, and it’s a great source of cardio.
Plus, it’s convenient too. You don’t need a lot to start, but you’ll want to make sure you’re starting right. Here are the few things you’ll need to start boxing.
Boxing gloves
Buying a pair of boxing gloves might seem simple enough, but once you start looking through your options, you’ll find that there’s actually a lot of technicality to it.
But as a beginner, you don’t need to worry about getting technical. Let’s start with the basics.
Boxing gloves are normally categorized by weight, the most common ones ranging from around 10 to 16 ounces. As the gloves get heavier, the padding and protection get thicker, but the punching speed gets slower (and vice versa).
The general rule of thumb many beginners follow is to choose your glove based on your weight.
Athletes who are heavier tend to punch harder, so they’ll need thicker protection.
As for the fit, it’s relatively simple. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re fitting your gloves:
- Try the gloves on with inner wraps
- With the inner wraps, the gloves should feel snug (but not tight)
- You should easily be able to curl your hand into a fist
Overall, though, there’s no real need to overthink the gloves at this stage. The bottom line is that you should feel comfortable when you start learning all the moves.
Hand wraps
Hand wraps will be as essential to you as the gloves. The wraps you wear over your hands act as a barrier to protect your bones—especially your knuckles. Because let’s face it, landing a punch is not supposed to be comfortable.
When you put on the inner wraps, they will go down to your wrists too, adding support to the entire hand.
While there are many inner wraps on the market suited for different styles of martial arts, we recommend starting with traditional boxing hand wraps. These ones are usually made out of cotton and are reusable.
Choosing the length of your hand wraps will be the next step. Typically, traditional hand wraps will go anywhere between 120 to 180 inches. Similar to choosing your gloves, the general rule of thumb is to go for a shorter length if you have smaller hands, and vice versa. Most boxers just estimate this for themselves.
But, if you want our advice, we recommend going for a longer wrap than you might think. As a beginner, it’s better to have more support on your hands, especially while you’re still learning proper technique.
You can always winnow down a few inches over time.
Bonus tip: if you plan on boxing multiple times a week, we also recommend buying more than one pair of wraps. They get absolutely soaked, and you won’t want to reuse the same pair the following day.
Bonus: A jump rope
While this is not technically something you need for the act of boxing (you don’t need a rope to throw a punch), a jump rope will help you build a solid foundation for the sport.
Boxers are known to be jumping rope constantly as part of their training. We’ve all seen the iconic Rocky jump-rope scenes, right? They have good reason for adding it to their routine.
Here are a few reasons why jumping rope will add value to you as a boxer:
If you decide to add a rope to your shopping list, it will be the perfect way to warm up for a boxing session.
When choosing a jump rope, any rope will add value to your workout. Just make sure it’s the right length for your body. The general rule to follow is to make sure your rope is never longer than three feet more than your height.
And that’s it! Boxing is a great way to work out, and it’s a great sport too. But in any case, you’re sure to be ready to start out your journey with these essentials.
