Boxing workouts have become a celebrity favourite when it comes to staying in shape – they have all the benefits of the training without having to actually take part in a fight. Some of the world's most glamorous women have been singing the sport's praises – Ellie Goulding said boxing left her feeling "empowered" and "helped" her stamina onstage, while Gigi Hadid regularly shares snaps of herself training in the ring.
We take a look at the benefits of trying a boxing workout…
Gigi Hadid regularly shares sneak peeks of her boxing workouts on Instagram
It's a full body workout
Boxing uses your upper body, lower body and core muscles, and with repetitive routines you can be sure you're improving their strength and flexibility. Sparring, bouncing, punching, kicking and pivoting are all key exercises in a boxing routine, and while they are high intensity workouts, they have low impact on your joints, making them ideal for working your muscles without damaging them.
It can help with weight loss
Because it's a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout, you can burn as many as 500-1000 calories in a single one hour session. The exercises can help decrease your fat mass while increasing your muscle mass, leaving you with a toned figure.
Ellie Goulding has said that boxing leaves her feeling "empowered"
It can strengthen your heart
The key to any boxing workout is interval training, which can help to develop cardiovascular fitness. That means that regular sessions can help maintain a balanced heart rate, as well as improving the strength of the heart muscles themselves.
It can relieve stress
The nature of the high intensity training means that boxing can be a great way to get rid of any stress that's building up. It also requires a lot of focus to work on the routines, so it can be easy to end up leaving worries at the gym door!
