Does Boxing Build Muscle? The Answer Inside


Boxing fight

Building muscle through boxing—is one of the most desirable things boxers want to achieve. However, doing so will require you to focus your nutrition plan on muscle growth. So, let’s see answer the common question: Does boxing build muscle?

Boxing training can build muscle if you participate in exercises that include impact, such as hitting a punching bag intensely. Likewise, To increase your muscle mass, you must consume more calories than what you burn per day. Also, you can incorporate resistance training to ensure you boost your muscle mass.

The science behind building muscle is simple. When you work out, especially in resistance training, you cause small tears in your muscles. Then, when you recover by resting (sleeping), your body will build itself back again; only this time, it’ll build extra fibers, to ensure you’re capable of performing the work you did last time.

Only next time, you’ll load more weight and perform more intensive workouts. As a result, your body will go through the same process again. That’ll, of course, cause an increase in muscle mass time after time.

Nevertheless, boxing training isn’t resistance training. The optimum way you can build your body—is by weight lifting. However, may folks don’t like the idea of lifting weight consistently, as they rather participate in a sport with more purposes, such as learning how to fight.

This article will discuss whether boxing is effective for muscle growth. Additionally, we’ll examine how you can do so yourself.


If you want to train boxing at home, hold up! At some point, you’d have to buy the essential gear to ensure you learn the art of punching the right way. So, I encourage you to buy these two items: This punching bag and these punching gloves. They’ll both make your journey much easier.

Is boxing good for muscle growth

The science of muscle building—is simple. First, you participate in resistance training, which cause micro tears in your muscles. Next, you must consume more calories than what you burn, which may be difficult for some. Once you rest, however, your body will build itself back stronger and bigger.

Boxing is suitable for muscle growth because it involves various exercises that have the capability of causing micro tears in your muscles. Likewise, it uses most of your muscle groups, including your legs, chest, back, arms, and shoulders. Eventually, you have the potential of building all of these to be stronger.

Nonetheless, various boxing exercises won’t cause said micro tears, and as a result, won’t be effective for building muscle. For example, the most common one is shadow-boxing.

Shadow-boxing is simply not as effective for building muscle because it doesn’t include any impact. Building muscle with martial arts is hard enough; so with such an exercise, it gets impossible.

And still, such an act is possible—with the right exercises and nutrition.

In the next section, we’ll discuss how you can increase your mass by training in the art of punching.

Before we do so, however, if you want to read about the best exercises to incorporate in your boxing training to increase your muscle mass, follow the link to an article of mine.

How to build muscle with boxing

This section will discuss what you can do to achieve the physique that you’ve always wanted to—while learning to fight. Essentially, martial arts aren’t that great for building muscle—as they don’t incorporate resistance training. However, it is possible. Here’s how:

If you want to build muscle mass with boxing, you must ensure you participate in exercises with included-impact. As such, shadow-boxing won’t be a suitable option, as it won’t cause micro tears in your muscles. However, involving some resistance training or calisthenics in your workouts—will eventually lead to muscle growth.

Boxing fight
Photo by Nemesia Production on Unsplash

If your goal is to learn self-defense while building muscle—I highly encourage you to ask your coach if he can involve some muscle-building exercises, even just for you.

These exercises may involve pull-ups, push-ups, and even the plank. Of course, if you have access to a proper gym with weights, you’ll be on the highway of muscle growth.

Don’t forget, however, that the increase in muscle mass happens while you rest. Many people think that if you work harder, you’ll see more results; But, that’s simply inaccurate. The increase happens when you sleep.

For that reason, you must ensure you don’t overtrain yourself. Often, it is caused by training too often, which you may currently experience. So, before going any further, I want to emphasize the importance of recovery and eating enough calories.

HOW TO AVOID OVERTRAINING SYNDROME

  1. Avoid monotonous training activities.
  2. Avoid sudden increases in training, such as doubling workout times or intensities. Gradual increases allow the body to properly train, adjust, and recover.
  3. Integrate appropriate rest periods into all training regimens.

How do boxers gain muscle mass

Today, many folks want to better their physical shape. But, they want to do so by training in an enjoyable sport—and not weight lifting. As a result, they seek other options.

Martial arts can be suitable for that purpose—if done right. So, let’s examine how do boxers gain their muscle mass.

Elite boxers, such as Floyd Mayweather, gain their muscle mass directly from resistance training, primarily weightlifting. And still, building muscle—is possible through proper boxing training. However, it has to include impact and sufficient levels of intensity, such as hitting a punching bag intently.

Boxing fight
Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash

I won’t lie, causing micro-tears in your muscles—which eventually will lead to muscle growth—is challenging only with boxing. As a result, if that’s your primary goal, ensure to incorporate body-weight exercises, such as pull-ups and push-ups in your training.

Nonetheless, there’s no better replacement to weightlifting for increasing your muscle mass. Therefore, it’ll be best if you shove some lifting sessions in between boxing training. Of course, you must do so with the help of a professional, as the last thing you want is to enter a state of overtraining.

If you want to save money by training boxing at home, ensure to follow the link to read a complete guide of mine on how you can do so.

Does boxing get you ripped?

Improving your physical shape—is a highly desirable trait. In fact, most people never dream of having the perfect body, as it seems too difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, if you participate in an enjoyable yet intense sport, such as martial arts—you can get ripped.

Boxing can get you ripped if you stay consistent and dedicated for long enough. Additionally, to lose body fat, you must consume fewer calories than what you burn daily. Martial arts can be a suitable way to promote that result, as participating in them can burn up to 1000 calories per hour, which is extremely high.

Getting ripped isn’t just about being in solid shape; it’s about not having as much fat while building your muscle mass. Eventually, you’ll get the ripped look by investing your efforts into consistent training.

Final words

To end this article, I want to emphasize my appreciation for the art of boxing. It has positively impacted the lives of millions. And, as a result, I owe everything to it, as I know how difficult it is for people to improve themselves, especially in these days.

If you’re looking for a way to improve both your mental and physical selves, I encourage you to start training in any martial art, such as boxing. However, if you’re unsure of which one you want to learn, follow the link to learn about the 11 deadliest martial arts from all around the world.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about the pros and cons of boxing. Knowing them will help you in your journey, by giving you more knowledge on the art you train in.

Levi

I've served in the military as a special forces operator for 4-years. In that period, I've trained in many martial arts, including karate, MMA, BJJ, boxing, and even Krav Maga. I want to share my passion with you, so here it is!

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