Why You Should Use Boxing to Relieve Stress

Stress is the body’s response to emergencies. It occurs naturally when we’re exposed to danger. But prolonged stress in everyday life has negative impacts on health. Stress can manifest as worry, irritability, restlessness, insomnia, anger, dread, and many more mental symptoms.

Physically, stress can cause muscle tension, fidgetiness, headaches, back pain, dry mouth, clammy skin, indigestion, frequent urination, rapid pulse, and breathing problems. With such a long list, it’s no wonder we need active ways to relieve stress!

Physical activity can help alleviate stress and the havoc it wreaks on your body and mind. Boxing, in particular, has numerous mental and physical health benefits. Indeed, taking up boxing is a great way to relieve stress.

Physical exercise is known to reduce both the causes and symptoms of stress. According to the Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 53 percent of adults say they feel good about themselves after exercising. Forty-three percent of adults say they use exercise to manage stress. Of that group, 62 percent say the technique is very effective for them.

While physical activity is linked to lowering stress, boxing is especially beneficial. The release of endorphins, the relief of depression and anxiety symptoms, acting as a source of distraction, and a sense of achievement are all reasons for starting a boxing class.

Boxing has obvious physical benefits; you can train to lose weight, get stronger, or do both. But boxing has significant mental and emotional benefits as well. In addition to relieving stress, boxing improves your concentration, helps you manage anger, provides social benefits, and boosts your self-esteem.

Exercise releases endorphins, the neurotransmitters that elevate your mood. Physical activity also reduces stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. When you do aerobic exercise like boxing, it helps bring your stress down, on a neurochemical level.

On a physical level, punching can help relieve muscle tension that collects in your arms, back, and shoulders as a result of stress. Similar to the “runners’ high” that runners and endurance athletes experience, boxing can help clear your mind and reduce stress.

Boxing also impacts your concentration. When you’re boxing, it’s easy to forget everything else that’s on your mind and just focus on punching. Boxing requires all of your attention and moves at a quick pace.

When you’re boxing, you can shut out the stressors in your life, allowing you time to better deal with your problems or gain a new perspective on them.

Boxing can also help you improve your focus overall, as well as teach you discipline when it comes to achieving your goals. Boxers need a training strategy and will eventually develop their own boxing style. Remembering your combinations in their sequence takes precision and concentration.

With boxing, you can teach yourself how to set goals and work hard to reach them.

Another mental health benefit of boxing is the potential for anger management. By hitting punching a bag, you can express your negative emotions in a healthy way.

Boxing allows you to release tension and aggression physically, without hurting yourself or others. Physicality is a great way to overcome negative feelings that cause anger.

Apart from the physical release boxing affords, the complete mental immersion can give your mind the space it needs to think through your problems. This physical expression of anger is only beneficial if you combine it with mental exercise as well.

Boxing is a social sport, requiring interaction and training with others. In a class, in sparring, or just having someone to do sit-ups with, you’ll always be around other people. Exercising with a group is a great way to motivate yourself. Without social accountability, it’s easy to skip your workout for the day or to not push yourself as hard.

Making friends, combating isolation, and having people to talk about boxing with can be big boosts to your mental health as well.

Boxing can instil a stronger sense of self-esteem. If you like boxing and keep up your training, you’ll have something to look forward to that builds your confidence. The more comfortable you become with your boxing, the more self-assured you’ll become.

Boxing doesn’t just empower you physically, either. As your body gets leaner and stronger, you’ll develop mental fortitude as well. Boxing gives you a sense of achievement that you can apply to all areas of life, like understanding opponents and defining your fighting style.

Physical activity is good for your physical and mental wellbeing. Boxing is particularly beneficial for reducing stress. You can improve your concentration, get a hold on your anger, make friends, and boost your self-confidence with boxing.

With all these benefits, why not give it a try?

This article was researched and created by an experienced fighter and boxing enthusiast, Lorenzo from Extremestrikers.com