How Many Calories Does Shadow Boxing Burn (Shadow Boxing To Lose Weight)
We all try to live healthy. One of our many goals in life is to remain fit and the only way to do that is to keep our calorie management correct.
Generally, we understand that exercise burns calories and one of the best exercises to do is shadow boxing.
Depending on our individual goals, we might want to find an exercise that burns a lot of calories, so it’s a good question to ask yourself – how many calories does shadow boxing burn if we are looking to lose weight?
The short answer is that generally, around 300 calories can be burned in a 30 minute shadow boxing session – but it’s not as simple as that.
So, it’s worth us exploring everything around weight loss and shadow boxing.
What Is Shadow Boxing?
Shadow boxing is when a boxer will move around solo and train themselves as if they were in the ring. It’s very popular with many boxers or boxing enthusiasts, whether that’s professional, amateur or even at a very young age before they’re old enough to put on a pair of gloves.
It’s fantastic exercise. It works and conditions the muscles, supports cardiovascular health and endurance, improves technique of boxers, improves mental wellbeing and is a good way to warm up or warm down.
As a boxing training tool, shadow boxing can improve a boxers’ rhythm, footwork, body strength and power, speed and pace, defence and offence.
Due to its free and open style, the boxer is in control over their workout and overall goals. One of the best ways to perform shadow boxing is with a camera or trainer.
This will benefit any goal you have, particularly if you’re training for a real fight – as you can ensure you’re not embedding your errors.
If you could pick holes in shadow boxing, you might argue that it doesn’t necessarily mirror a real fight as such. Boxing can be unpredictable, so you’ll not always be able to move in the right way or at the right time.
A Guide To Shadow Boxing
If you’re hoping to use shadow boxing to lose weight, you’re always better off understanding how you might go about planning it and performing it. The general guide to shadow boxing is:
Warm Up
Get yourself moving and the blood flowing. With any warm up, you don’t want to overexert yourself, but at the same time you’ll want to prepare yourself ready for the real workout. If you’re sweating, you’re probably working too hard!
The Technique
This is where a camera, mirror or trainer will come into play. If you’re looking to hone in on a specific technique or working on your defence etc – you’re going to want to slow down and think about what you’re going to do. It’s best to work point by point.
If you’re trying to do something that has multi-layers, you’re going to need to take it slow and progressively. After you have got the technique right, repetition is key to success. If you’ve got a coach or trainer, they’ll be able to guide you as to if you’re headed in the right direction.
Co-Ordinating
You’ve now got the technique right, but it can’t end here. In a real fighting situation, as we have said, you’ll notice unpredictability. You can’t expect the opponent to remain in the same place or do the same moves – you’ll need to change things up.
Try your jabs in different positions, move your jabs around and explore the ring. Always check your footwork while moving around and get natural with your movement.
Your Rhythm
It’s all well and good performing single strike actions or repeating the same technique but you’ll want to ramp it up and move to a 1-2-3 rhythm. Try 3 punches, 3 slips and 3 steps and repeat. You can reduce the amount of movement or footwork if you wish to, in order to get this right.
Working On Strategy
Using all of the techniques, you may notice that you’re sticking to the same strategy. It’s easy for us to do that as naturally we always sway to what we’re familiar and comfortable with. However, it’s important to switch things up and expect the unexpected.
Warm Down
Slow it down, calm it down and make a more relaxed shadow box. It’s important to reflect on the day’s session and speak with your trainer or review footage from the camera later. It’s crucial to warm down and prevent cramping and stiffness of your muscles.
Shadow Boxing As A Weight Loss Program
Many people opt to use shadow boxing as a way to lose weight, and it’s with good reason. As it burns around 300 calories for half an hour, you can incorporate shadow boxing with another 30 minute exercise for a super workout.
It’s important to note though, that as everybody is different – 300 calories is simply a guideline. Depending on your starting weight, you may burn more calories than another trainer.
It will also depend on how hard you are working, general and overall health and what you are eating before and after the workouts.
Shadow boxing brings in jabs, uppercuts and hooks. When you put all of these elements together including footwork and defence, you’ll find movement is increased and you’ll burn the calories with no problems.
Jabs are the predominant aspect of shadow boxing. Professional boxers pride themselves on their jabs and getting it right can seriously boost your name and confidence in the world of boxing.
Relax your dominant hand, straighten your arm from the shoulder and ensure that your knuckles are flat. As you’re going, increase the speed until the natural feeling of it is increased. Next, work on your non-dominant hand.
The Final Round
Using shadow boxing is a great way to lose weight but it takes hard work and dedication. Remember that everybody is different, so if you’re not getting results as quickly as somebody else – there could be a number of reasons why not.
Be sure to check with a professional if you’re concerned or with a trainer to check your progress.
This love then later flourished into an obsession with all things combat sports. From Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to full MMA, I have truly tried it all. And now, with this blog, I wish to bring my knowledge to others. I hope my articles will help others to learn more about these often misunderstood sports, and the skills needed to be successful.
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