Olympic boxers usually retire when they turn 35 years old and professional boxers are encouraged to do so at 50, but if you are doing it for fitness, boxing for seniors is a great sports option you can consider for yourself!
Additionally, boxing classes for seniors do not include sparring with a partner (since it is fitness boxing). You will be punching your trainer’s pads, the air or the bag and no one will be exposed to a potential injury and you will get all the benefits.
Is boxing good for seniors? The answer is definitely yes. Some of the benefits of this training, aside from being fun, are aerobic workouts you will be getting into, achieving strength and improving your mental and physical health.
The boxing stance will strengthen your core muscles, your back and legs and when you punch, you will gain muscle mass in your arms and shoulders. Boxing is a very complete workout and can be beneficial for any age. You can read our article “What part of your body does boxing work” more details on specifically what muscles you work the most in boxing practice.
As for the aerobic part of boxing, it will benefit your mental and physical health. In other words, it does double the work by keeping you both physically and mentally fit. You will also be challenging your balance which will decrease your risk or falling and harming yourself in everyday life.
Boxing and seniors are also a great combination because of the mental challenge this sport can be. When someone is learning a new skill, you exercise your mind as well too. Keeping up with a rhythm, concentrating to do the movements correctly and with precision requires mental and physical coordination which will make anyone, at any age, mentally fit.
Nonetheless, we encourage you to consult a doctor before starting a new sport in your life, just to check that you are healthy enough to start boxing.
Benefits of boxing for seniors
If your body is starting to ache, your back hurts and you love eating a piece of cake every now and then you know that you need to work out or do some changes in your life. However, there are no sports out there that interest you and you are not a fan of the gym, so what are your options for a complete body workout?
At Be Happy Boxing we say that the answer to that question is, of course, BOXING, and here are four reasons why:
- Cardiovascular health
Boxing can be fun medicine for your heart. When you are punching away, your heart’s pace starts to rise: you are doing cardio and you can have a good cardiovascular workout by punching the bag instead of taking boring walks around the block over and over again. We have nothing against walking, but let’s face it, it can get repetitive.
Cardiovascular health is essential for longevity and functionality. It is also necessary for your long-term health and you can benefit from good cardio exercises in boxing class. For instance, heart disease is one of the most dangerous health conditions in the world today, according to Livestrong, and it can be slowed by exercising regularly.
As you age, it is important to stay physically active and boxing is a discipline that will help you maintain and improve your physical ability. It is a fast-moving sport that will teach you how to react quickly to dodge and throw punches as well as improving your reflexes and hand-eye coordination.
It is also known that aerobic exercise, such as boxing, improves heart health and function and decreases the risk of having a heart attack.
2. Mental health
According to an article published by Health Guide titled “The mental health benefits of exercise”, people who exercise on a regular basis tend to do so not only for the physical benefits but also for the enormous sense of well-being. “They feel more energetic throughout the day, sleep better at night, have sharper memories, and feel more relaxed and positive about themselves and their lives,” you can read on their website.
Health Guide also says that exercise can help positively with depression, anxiety, ADHD and other mental issues. It helps relieve stress, improve memory, help you sleep better and boost your mood. The best news is that you do not have to exercise to the limit, modest amounts of exercise can make a huge difference in your health.
Among other benefits exercise has for anyone at any age that are worth mentioning are:
- Sharper memory and thinking;
- Higher self-esteem;
- Better sleep;
- More energy;
- Stronger resilience.
3. Training for everyday tasks
Do you find it hard to open a jar? Or when you climb up the stairs your back hurts? Well, this is another reason to choose boxing for exercising, even if you are a senior. This sport will help you obtain better body posture, functional strength and a stronger core. Combine this with a balance of upper-body, lower-body and abdominal strength training, as well as stretching, your body will be ready always for daily life and pretty much nothing will stand in your way.
4. It’s fun
In addition to the benefits for your overall health, boxing is fun. You will meet new people, socialize, you will feel good with all of those endorphins and positive changes you will see in your body, and much more.
As you progress and acquire new skills and see how you are improving your technique and your body is not aching anymore or you can now carry more comfortably the grocery bags, you will also realize how beneficial it was to get started in boxing, even if you think you are too old for it.
Why should women over 50 start boxing?
You may feel like hitting something or punching is bad, that it is an aggressive thing to do, but the truth is that it does not have to be. Women above 50 can benefit immensely with fitness boxing, which is not about competing or combat, but it is a cardio workout that will strengthen your body and improve your overall health.
You may have heard that girls are not supposed to hit, but it is just part of a deeply-ingrained cultural training that prevents many women from considering boxing as a training option, especially if they are over 50.
Nancy Sommers, a contributor at the HuffPost, shared her story about how she started boxing at 64 and how it has changed her life. In that article she lists three reasons why women who are over 50 years old should consider boxing:
- Mental benefits
A woman taking up boxing after 50 is most likely someone who is challenging her comfort zone and overcoming fears. Bravo! There is no growth possible in the comfort zone, so if this is you considering learning to box, you have just taken a huge step in your life.
Boxing exercises for seniors will require you to concentrate, which means you will be exercising your mind. Sure, you can also spend your days doing crossword puzzles or Sudokus, but boxing will exercise not only your mind but your body at the same time (it sounds hard to try to do a Sudoku while walking).
2. Physical improvement
We have already mentioned it several times in this post: boxing is one of the best workouts out there. It is also an option for losing those extra pounds you have there since you can burn over 500 calories per hour. You will also build muscle, develop stamina and endurance, which makes it one of the most complete cardiovascular and resistance workouts there are, especially for women.
3. Spiritual connection
Nancy also mentions spiritual benefits that come with boxing training. “It might seem paradoxical that something so physical can be so spiritual, that stillness can be found in movement, but boxing, like meditation, focuses attention and calms the mind,” she wrote. It is a moment when you are with yourself and all of your life’s issues, debts, work arguments are gone… at least while you are concentrating on boxing.
Safety precautions to consider when boxing as a senior
Boxing is safe and if you are not planning on sparring or fighting anyone, there is no reason why you should get hurt, other than if you are not using a correct technique. If your wrists hurt, you may be doing a few things wrong and we encourage you to check out our post about this topic. However, there are some safety precautions to take if you are a senior boxer.
- Note the age gap
The Boxing Australia website, for instance, says that “there is to be no more than a ten-year age difference between the matched competitors e.g. 41 to 51 years. Master boxers may also compete against Elite boxers provided there is no more than a ten-year age gap e.g. 32-42 years”. In other words, you should try not to fight anyone who is 10 years older or younger than you, if you decide to compete.
2. Consider seated boxing training
You can also consider doing seated boxing training if you fear the risk of losing your balance and falling. You will get to throw punches and work out your core and upper-body muscles. If you have a lower-body injury or a neuromuscular disease, such as Parkinson’s, seated boxing is the best way to go because it is safe. Remember that the older you get, the harder it is to recover.
3. Take proper precautions
Take the proper precautions before starting to punch to avoid unnecessary injuries. “Start by using hand wraps to protect the bones of your fist and wrist. When you put cotton hand wraps on, be sure to wrap them around your wrist and knuckles three or four times each to secure your bones,” recommends Livestrong.
4. Choose the right boxing gloves and the right gear
Also, use boxing gloves that are right for you. They come in different sizes and offer different levels of padding. You can read about the best gloves for women in 2019 and also check out some of the best boxing gloves for men. The biggest you can find weight 16 ounces and they have a lot of padding for protecting your knuckles from injuries.
Finally, do not forget headgear and mouthpieces if you decide to spar, but remember, you can learn boxing without having to do this, which we believe is the safest way to go for a senior who is just starting out in this sport.
Finding motivation for boxing as a senior
We believe that your overall health and all of the benefits for your mind that we listed above is enough motivation for you to consider boxing as your exercise of choice as a senior. However, if you still think you will need extra motivation to get started or to stick up with it, keep reading some more!
You may say that since you have never been an active person, you have always hated sports or working out and prefer to stay at home and watch TV, how on Earth will you find the motivation to get off the couch and start an exercise program after having reached “a certain age”?
The Boxing for Life website says that a common excuse they hear a lot is that “I have become too old, exercise is not for the elderly”. However, elderly exercise is possible and more common than you think.
Aging is something that cannot be stopped, every day that passes by you are a little bit older. It affects everybody and there is nothing you can do about it. Additionally, motivation often fades with the years and people want to be more comfortable or do not have enough time for training. However, getting older does not mean the road has ended for you!
There are many ways you can find motivation as a senior, whether you want to try boxing or another physical activity. Getting started is the hardest part, we completely understand, and the inner couch potato can be our worst enemy.
“We subconsciously waste a lot of energy trying to figure out how to get out of a workout. But has it ever occurred to you that we make it into something much worse than it actually is? After all, it’s not about running a marathon three times a week or preparing for a bodyweight training competition. We’re just talking about a 20 to 50-minute run or workout – and it doesn’t even have to be every day,” Runtastic said in an article.
First of all, put your workout clothes on. This can be your first step. Do not think about it, just get dressed. Find something that feels comfortable and that makes you feel good when you wear it. After you go to your boxing session, write down how you feel now. It is like keeping a little journal that you can go back to when you are feeling lazy to exercise and remember how good you felt after working out.
“Generally, we want to skip our workout because we’re tired, busy, low-energy, and have too many things to do. But when you’re done working out – hello endorphins! You’ll probably write things down like: I feel great, I am so happy I finished that workout, I have so much energy, I feel so strong!”, according to Runtastic… and Be Happy Boxing too!
Try not to do the same workout over and over again, add some variety! You can also try to walk or run as a cross-training and will help you stick more to your routine in the long term.
Schedule your workouts in your calendar. By doing so you will have no excuse to back out or you will not schedule two things at the same time by mistake.
Surround yourself with motivation. One option is by watching good boxing movies to get inspired, you can check out the list of our top 18 films about boxing where you can also look at other inspiration options, such as reading motivational quotes by boxers or following influential boxing accounts on social media.
Are you one of those people who do not like to do things alone? If you are, it is totally fine since working out in a group makes everything better and it is a way of combining exercise with socialization. Find some friends (they can be senior friends if you prefer so that you have something in common) and get moving!
Finally, improving your eating habits is another motivation. When you eat too much unhealthy, processed and high-sugar foods, your body is not getting the nutrition and energy it needs. These foods will make you feel tired, lazy and unmotivated, so check out this diet for boxers that will be aligned with your exercising goals.
Need more motivation for boxing? Keep reading some more
- Remember why you started in the first place
Maybe you want to fit again in your favorite pants or would like to obtain more strength for your everyday chores. Find what gets you moving and remember it every time you struggle with motivation to exercise. Try also asking yourself if you really want to go back to square one because you could not be bothered.
2. Get addicted to the post-exercise endorphin rush
It is true, people can get addicted to the endorphin rush you get after exercising, and so can you. Some people even confess to be “smiling like an idiot” for a few hours after they worked out.
3. Set a goal
You can set up any goal you want and it can be anything from not running out of breath when going up the stairs to the second floor at home or being able to carry your own bags from the grocery store without feeling that they weight as much as an anvil. However, your goals have to be realistic with clear milestones but whatever it is write it down and go back to it every once in a while.
At what age can you start boxing?
We have covered everything that involves boxing for seniors and you may be thinking: Ok, I know that I can start boxing after my 50s, but, how old do you need to be to start?
Children can start at any time, but World Safety 2018 recommends at least wait until the child is 10 years old to start with amateur boxing and no physical contact yet. They will be learning the techniques and could become professional boxers in the future if they stick with it.
Will my child hurt someone in boxing practice? It is unlikely that young children can cause serious injuries to anyone since they do not have the power to do so yet. They will more likely be categorized with other kids his or her age or the same size and will be equipped with headgear and gloves for protection.
Children can benefit from boxing in the same ways anyone can: physical health, overcoming fears and anxiety, managing stress, and so on. They will also become more aware of their own body, movements and speed as they learn the basics of boxing.
Some of the drills children can get involved with are: Jumping rope; squats; shadow boxing; intervals; pad work; basic footwork. As a parent, you may want to equip them with comfortable gym clothes, boxing gloves, hand wraps, gum shields, boxing shoes and head guards.
There is no such thing as a “boxing age”, or gender. As we told you, children can learn how to box as early as ten years old and boxing for seniors is a great option for both men and women alike, or are you still not convinced? (Nah, we are sure you are). Tell us what you think in the comments below!
