Breathing is normal and part of what we do every seconds but you have been doing it the wrong way because quickly throughout your boxing sessions, you gas out and panting like a dog! This isn’t at all exciting to learn but if you are trying to have better boxing learning experience then this simple techniques will save you a lot of energy so you can focus on power, speed, slips and combination. This post on how to breathe while boxing.
Other ways you have already been doing is exhale when you throw a punch while making hiss, tsk sound. The sound you make doesn’t matter, as long as you don’t hold on to your breath when you exhale. Oh the problem is, you hold on to your breath and not EXHALE.
- Hands down while you shadow box
- Exhale forcefully
- Breathing When Punching
1. Hand down while Shadow Boxing
This is opposite of what you are told by your coach when you box is to always keep your hands up at all time. Let me explain to you why to keep hand down while you move is. When your hand is up, your shoulder and whole body is tense. This technique is not only effective but it keeps relax while you move around.
If you ever seen any great boxers, they stay relax and compose. Shoulders not in tense even if hand is up. This might take a while to get used to it.
2. Exhale Forcefully
Your biggest problem is not how much you inhale but how much you hold on to your breath and not EXHALE. The sound you make doesn’t matter, as long as you don’t hold on to your breath when you exhale. Try this now, yes even if you are sitting somewhere! (NOT while you are driving)
- Breathe in and exhale
- Exhale the very little bit of air you have in your stomach, chest & close your eyes
- You should feel even your smallest part of your body like your fingers feel relax
3. Breathing During Rounds / Breaks
Keep in mind that when you are between breaks if it’s only one minute, be very aware of your breathing. For any one who is new to working out or boxing. The way I do it is as soon as I heard a “beep” sounds from stopwatch or if live class the coach might say 3, 2, 1 , I don’t wait on breathing in through my nose and make sure the air goes in my tummy.
The common mistake while doing rounds for boxing, depending on what kind of drills you have to do according to class, is rushing to start. I see this mistake made even by myself, I rush back in for next round without controlling my breath. I feel more fatigue before the round is over.
Especially when you are doing the heavy bag, you think explosive punches means holding your breath to power punch the bag. STOP and try this method of catching your breath again!
The best way to learn a skill even breathing is to do it consciously while you are running errands or even walking somewhere, be conscious of the way you breath. So which way will you try to practice this week, let me know in the comment below.
Yeah, I agree, when we rush back in to the ring, we start breathing in a way that quickly stresses us. I initially though that rushing in was a good attitude, showing that we’re all-in. But I see it has this negative effect on our breathing. Controlling our breath would certainly help us end the round less fatigued. Thank you for pointing out this very useful tip.
I used to rush back in thinking everything has to be aggressive but I get fatigued real fast.