Repeat after me: “Boxing is not just for blokes.”

Nope, boxing is great for men and women alike and is hard to beat as an all over workout.

It conditions your entire body, and increases agility, speed, coordination, endurance and strength. It’s also fantastic for self-confidence.

I discovered boxing for fitness over five years ago and loved it from the get-go. Not only can it absolutely kick your butt in terms of intensity, but it makes you feel strong and (to use a probably-overused-verging-on–the-wanky) term, empowered.

Over the last couple of years, the only boxing-type workouts I’ve done are Group Kick and Body Combat (same kind of thing, just different fitness systems) and they use the moves of boxing and martial arts without any actual contact.

But there’s something quite satisfying about actually punching into a mitt – hearing the smack of leather on leather and knowing how hard you’re pounding. Fantastic for frustration!

My Boxing Roadtest came courtesy of the lovely Heidi from Learn2Move Fitness and Training. She has a totally mobile service, and came laden with boxing equipment, step, BOSU ball, skipping rope and a portable whiteboard (upon which was written a rather scary looking program!)

We set up in the garage and, after a quick warm-up jog around the block, got into it. As an aside, I loved the fact Heidi could come to me…it just provides such flexibility! If you’re a mum, the kids can play in the backyard while you workout, meaning exercise doesn’t need to be scheduled for only childfree times. And, if you’re sans children, you have the benefit of being able to exercise whenever suits you best and in a comfortable environment.

But to the workout…

Heidi took me through a series of boxing drills using pad work and the basic punch styles: jab, cross, upper and hook. Heidi wore big pads on her hands and I would basically punch them as hard as I could as fast as I could.

Because I’ve done a fair bit of boxing in the past, Heidi didn’t need to do too much in the way of instruction on style and technique…but if you’re new to boxing, you’ll spend some quality time getting your punches and body alignment right first.

The punching sets were interspersed with whole body exercises like squat jumps or half burpees (they’re not nearly as horrible as the full ones!) and, by the end of half a dozen sets, I was ready for a drink and a breather.

We then moved on to some combos, mixing up the different punches so it felt much more like ‘real’ boxing. I love these, because they work your brain as well as your body, making you really focus on the pattern of your punches.

Boxing is a high intensity workout that’s great for both your cardiovascular and endurance systems; as well as training upper body, lower body and core strength. It’s absolutely brilliant for calorie and fat burning.

In terms of body shaping, the biggest visible result that I get from boxing is shoulder and arm definition…I haven’t found any other exercise that comes close in terms of toning.

If you’re just embarking on your fitness journey, don’t be scared off by boxing and think it’s only for the super fit. It’s a workout that can accommodate for all levels of strength and fitness and can be enjoyed by beginner to advanced participants. Drills can easily be modified to increase or decrease intensity and complexity of the workout.

As far as instructor style goes, Heidi was about as far from The Commando as you could get…which is good for me, because when people yell at me it doesn’t serve as motivation, it just pisses me off.

She had a very supportive style and impressed me not only with her knowledge of technique, but also with her communication skills…she really took the time to explain not only the what, but the how and why.

If you love variety in your exercise and are searching for an effective stress reliever, it’s hard to go past boxing.