Shadowboxing: the new rage

The term 'shadowboxing' comes from a training method that boxers use where they pretend to box their shadow on a wall, although more commonly they use a mirror. Shadowboxing basically has you punching the air and moving around practicing your drills and pretending to defend against an attacker.

Shadowboxing is the most cost effective boxing training method you can use to improve your boxing skills. If you think about it, shadowboxing requires absolutely no equipment, and you can do it anywhere and nearly anytime.  

 You can use shadowboxing a number of different ways to improve your boxing skills.  It is not necessarily just random punching and moving, although it could be.  Here are a few shadowboxing drills for you to incorporate into your workouts:

1.  Movement Shadowboxing.   This is where you develop some agility and light footwork. Your goal here is to concentrate on how you are moving around in your boxing stance.  Move forwards, backwards, side to side, pivot, hop, pendulum step, etc  Once you get comfortable with the movement, add in some punches, but the focus is still on the movement.  Visualize how your feet are turning and moving in relation to the punches you are throwing.

2.  Pivot and T Frame Shadowboxing.  In this round, while you shadowbox, your focus is on maintaining the T Frame, keeping your shoulders above your knees and pivoting correctly while throwing your punches.  You can move around all you want, throw whatever you want, but at all times, your focus is on the pivot and T-Frame.

3.  Shadowboxing Combinations.  For this drill I recommend that you start out doing a round of movement shadowboxing followed by a couple more rounds of specific combinations.  For instance, one entire round, you can do shadowbox jabs alone.  They can be single jabs, double jabs, triple jabs, jabs to body then to head, and so on.  But, the focus is the jab.  The next round, the focus may switch to the 1-2 in which case you will spend the entire round throwing technically correct jabs followed by straight rights (or lefts for the southpaws).    The next round they may do 1-2-3 combinations and so on.  The key is to focus on drilling a specific combination for the entire round.

4.  Shadowboxing for Speed.  This is quite fun and introduces a little bit of competition into the mix.  Shadowboxing for speed means the boxer will throw as many punches as he can in the span of the round.  They should still be throwing technically correct punches, but the real aim is to let their hands fly and count how many punches they can throw in three minutes.  It's best to track this so the boxer can attempt to beat whatever he did last time.  Being able to throw 250-300 punches in three minutes is a good goal to work towards.  One can also introduce constraints into this, for instance, throw as many jabs as you can in three minutes, etc... to mix it up and keep yourself from getting bored.

5.  Shadowboxing an Opponent.  The opponent is yourself and this is where a mirror is really handy.  Having the boxer box himself will show him where his weaknesses are.  He can see when he leaves his head open or if his punches are off target.  He can see if he is bending his knees fully when going down for a body punch or if his slips are crisp, clean, and fast.  It may seem vain to an outsider, but boxing in a mirror will show you what your opponent sees and therefore what you need to fix before getting in the ring.

6.  Shadowboxing Free For Alls.  Anything goes.  Picture an opponent and move, punch, and defend against what he is doing to you.  Takes an imagination, but if you can picture yourself hitting someone and then reacting to whatever they do, you'll engrave it in your head that much quicker.  This is where the real implantation happens from learning a skill to putting it in your arsenal.  When you can visualize a scenario in vivid detail and respond with zero hesitation, you'll have that skill with you in the ring.  It's kind of like learning a second language.  Experts say that once you begin dreaming in that language, you're well on your way to becoming fluent in it.

7.  Slow Motion Shadowboxing.  Do everything deliberately in slow motion concentrating on perfect technique.  This will show you the mechanics behind a certain combination or punch and allow you to correct the little things - foot off center, not enough pivot, weight distributed slightly wrong, etc.

8.  Shadowboxing with Weights.  Start small, holding small dumbells or weights in either hand as you shadowbox.  The added weight will not only aid in simulating a ring situation as you put on 10-16oz gloves, but the increased weight will help strengthen and develop your shoulders and possibly help your speed when you aren't holding the weights.

There are so many ways to enrich your exercise repertoire; don't get stuck in a rut doing stuff that bores you, switch up your workouts from time to time in order to challenge your body and shock it into weight loss.

To schedule a training session with me, send an email to legallymuscledfitness@yahoo.com stating your name, age, sex, location and telephone number.