Best Shadowboxing Workout Tips: A Beginner’s Guide

Mayweather, Klitschko, Tyson, Ali, Pacquiao, Khan – these are few names of the most renowned person in boxing. Along with their workouts, they included shadowboxing as good training to win their fights. Every boxing enthusiast surely wouldn’t miss out this workout. Shadowboxing does not require fancy gears or equipment, yet it can burn enough fat to give yourself a world-championship physique.

Learning to shadowbox is a great workout that will fortify your muscles and get you ready for any physical activity set for the day. Are you a newbie in boxing? This article will give you a thorough yet clear workout tips in shadowboxing.

What is shadowboxing?

Boxers have built shadowboxing into their training regime since ancient times. Shadowboxing is one of the purest and versatile exercises for improving various aspects of fighting ability. It is one of the useful modalities in training arsenal. For beginners, shadowboxing can be a bit strange to execute; a lot of head movements, hissing breaths, and half-punches.

Shadowboxing is a killer cardio workout. It can burn about 400 calories per hour, speeds up footwork, hand coordination, and technique. The best part, you can do it anywhere, anytime whether for a quick or heart-pumping fight session. Workouts designed in shadowboxing is like shredding your body. Every punch is like a pulley system, working your hips, your core, and even your shoulders.

Before doing this workout, it is important to condition your mind, especially before a fight or match. It is important to have the right goals in mind to improve not only strength, power, endurance or footwork, but also rhythm, offense-defense, and overall fighting abilities.

Shadowboxing enables your imagination and allows the creation of any possible scenarios.  In fact, the strength and effectiveness of shadowboxing come upon the absence of a physical opponent.

Can anyone do shadowboxing?

 A boxer or fighter moves around by himself and throwing punches at the air in shadowboxing. It is a popular technique to hone not only boxers, boxing enthusiast, or fighters. Even an ordinary person who likes to do this workout can do shadowboxing.

Shadowboxing is the act of punching into the air, most of the time without an opponent, as exercise. It comes from the practice of standing close to a wall and pretending to punch the shadow you project. Learning the basic steps will help you develop a fun and effective shadowboxing workout.

Getting Ready Beforehand: Brief Shadowboxing Tips

• It is way better to find a private space to shadowbox.
• Set up a mirror or an overhead light (optional).
• Get dressed in a shadowbox.
• Keep moving; Don’t idle yourself.
• Continue your breathing as you go through the exercise.
• Build a strong and unique defense
• Visualize an opponent and place a target. You may watch other boxers perform.
• Focus on various technique

Learning the Basic Moves 

1. Forward/Backward Shuffle

Stand with your feet and shoulder width apart. Place your dominant foot forward a little. Then, bend your knees, to move your feet if you needed to and hold your hands up near the top of your chest. Next, push through with your lead foot while gripping the ground with your back foot. Continue forward for two to five steps, depending on how much space you have, then reverse and step backward for two to five steps. Repeat as needed.

2. Jab/Cross

A jab is a swift punch aimed straight at your shadow’s head. You may do a right and left jab. You can do this with either hand, but it’s best to practice both right and left jabs. Perform a combination of a left jab and a right jab, while keeping your body tight and steady.

Turn your body slightly inward while extending your lead arm straight in front of you. Pull your lead arm back to your chin while simultaneously extending your back arm out in front of you. As your back arm extends, hinge your back foot and hip to help you reach full extension.

 

3. Hooks

Visualize a “hook” shape with your lead arm. You may use the left and right hook. Your knuckles are in line with your wrist, and your elbow bends slightly to form the hook. A left or right hook should start with your fist near your chin. It should go in the opposite direction.  A right hook should go slightly to the right, before turning back in a leftward motion on your shadow’s chin.

Hinge your foot and hip as you swing your hooked arm across the front of your body, twisting your torso inward at the same time. Reverse with the other side while returning your lead arm back under your chin.

4. Uppercuts

The uppercut is a little more complex. You need to bend your knees enough to drop down about 6 inches (15.2 cm), and then swift and strong punch upwards toward the shadow’s chin. You should use your dominant hand for this punch. Bring your fist upwards from waist to chest level. Extend your knees while your fist comes up in front of your body.

 

5. Slips

Bend your knees a little that is almost in a half squat. Keep your back straight, hands up, and shoulder blades pinched back. Shift your weight from right to left, almost as if you were ducking under a rope. The lower your squat, the more you’ll work your glutes, hamstrings, and quads.

6. Knee Strikes

Bend your knees slightly and aim punches to the left and right sides of your shadow’s body. Begin with your fighter’s stance and shoot your rear leg forward, bending at the knee. As your thigh nears parallel to the floor, lean back slightly, hinging at the hips.

Keep your abs tight, and shoulder blades pinched back, chest expanded. Return your leg to the starting position and repeat with your other leg. Begin by walking in place after each knee strike to regain your balance. As you progress, work on minimizing the number of steps taken between each knee strike.

  

What are the benefits of shadowboxing?

Shadowboxing is incredibly useful because of its nature and simplicity. You can practice anything you want without any distraction. All you need is an imagination, and you can practice virtually any movement you want.

Boxers know the basics of punching, but with shadowboxing, you can identify your movements and make them much faster and more accurate. It can be hard to get motivated to “pretend” to punch when the gym is full of bags (and people…) just begging to be hit, but don’t sleep on shadowboxing! It gives you a number of benefits that you just can’t get anywhere else:

• Having a partner is not a must, and you don’t need any equipment either. It’s just you against yourself.
• Shadowboxing is a great way to get your muscles warmed up and increase your heart rate before starting a more physical exercise routine. Also, it is a good way to come down after a tireless workout
• Practicing techniques and other strategies on your own is a natural part of any fighting or martial art. It helps you understand your own body without having to worry about anyone else.
• Moving your feet properly is one of the hardest things to do while throwing good combos. Removing all distractions lets you focus purely on the rhythm of your punches.
• Because you are not getting resistance from pads or punching bags, you are not putting a lot of strain on your body. The only resistance is the air around you.
• It will help you understand better how to throw effective punches and how to move your feet during a combo, especially when you are trying to work on your defenses.

Related: Shadowboxing Benefits: Burn Calories, Reduce Fat, and Gain Lean Muscle 

How to Shadowbox

1. You need a goal

What pushed you to do shadowboxing? Are you motivated to get a solid and firm physique? Do you want to work on your left jab, right jab or overhand? Before you throw the first punch, you should have a specific purpose in every session in mind. You need to set a goal.

The goal is not to show off for everyone else in the gym or somebody throwing as many punches as you can, jerking your head back and forth. That’s a terrible goal. Establish your goals before starting the training.

2. You need to execute. Choose a Workout.

A general shadowboxing workout would be about 15 minutes. You do it straight through, no rest. Keep your body moving and your muscles warm. If you’re getting tired too easily, simply slow it down. You should never have any excuse for sitting down and doing nothing at the gym. You can shadowbox, even as you’re watching a sparring match, or waiting in line for the bag, or talking to a friend. Shadowboxing can be your default “rest workout.”

Get into the correct stance and punch slowly for 1 minute. You can use any punch you like for this warm-up. Flex your arm muscles and make the movements as slow and deliberate as possible. When you are confident that you are ready to speed up, then you can begin to move faster.

• Footwork Drill – Set up your cones and work on keeping your feet spread while throwing short combos. While the timer is running, incorporate lunges, squatting, or hopping between feet. Footwork and hopping increase the intensity of this cardiovascular workout.
• Cardio Drill – Stamina is the key to a fight. Getting gassed before the end of the first round is a good way to get knocked out. So if you want to improve your cardio, ready to speed up, then you can begin to move faster.
• Defensive Drills – Boxing is not just about throwing punches. You can incorporate dodging and ducking into shadowboxing using different equipment. It’ll help you keep your head moving.
• Punch Technique – Maybe your left hook is a little weak, or you are not putting enough of your torso into a punch. Create a drill that works for each type of punch you want to throw.
• Weights – Using weights as a newbie is not recommended. They can injure your wrists if your technique is wrong, and if you don’t have the stamina, you will add a lot of stress to your arms in general.

Shadowboxing is about working on form and technique. Use lifting and bag punching to work on power, instead. Add weights to create a better aerobic and strength-training workout. Punch while using small barbells (between 1 pound (0.45 kg) 3 pounds (1.4 kg)), secure wrist weights, or weighted boxing gloves. These can all be purchased at most sporting goods supply stores.

3. Use Feedback

If you are working with a coach or a partner, ask for feedback. If you are alone, this is where a mirror comes into play, but feel free to record yourself and critique your form and movements. You may consider taking video and see if you are improving or need to practice more. Maybe you are wasting energy on your punches by throwing too much from the shoulder. Good feedback will help you eradicate issues and bad habits in a shadowboxing workout.

4. You need to think actively

The active mind should be a rule that you apply to every minute of your training. Don’t ever let the brain go dead. Think. Be alert. See if you can notice your own weaknesses before your opponents do.

Related: How to Shadowbox 

 

Common Mistakes that Beginners Must Avoid 

 

Too much mirror work

Watching yourself shadowbox in the mirror is a great idea when you want to see how you perform. But too much mirror work causes bad habits. Rather than locking your eyes at the level of your imaginary opponent’s body, your eyes end up wandering around scanning for mistakes. You never get comfortable with the “first person view” of fighting, and your technique suffers for it.

 

Lacks bodily movements

Moving and punching a lot is more tiring, but it’s the best thing to harness your performance. It might look impressive to root your feet in place and throw over 500 punches per round, but it does not do much in improving your skills.

No Game Plan

Every second you spend in shadowboxing should be focused on improving specific techniques or implementing certain strategies. Go into every round with something to work on and stay focused. Never go for shadowboxing without any goal, much more with a plan.

How many times have you seen someone chatting with a training partner while they stick mindless punches out in front of them? It’s the boxing equivalent of reading the words on a page while your mind wanders. Remember, this is about mental endurance too.

Punching too hard, too far

Shadowboxing definitely used as an anaerobic conditioning tool, but that’s not its only purpose. Even when you’re trying to get your heart racing, throwing punches with full extension is not a great idea for your joint health. If you want to go hard with your shadowboxing, move around more.

Rapid footwork and head movement will burn you out in no time. Another option is, you can focus on torso rotation over arm extension on your punches. You get all the power benefit without any of the joint stress with this technique.

 

Final Thoughts on Shadowboxing

 

Shadowboxing is a timeless, invaluable training tool since the sport started. Though it doesn’t have the same appeal as hammering the heavy bag, shadowboxing has unique benefits that can’t be accessed with any other training style.

Your imagination in shadowboxing lets you get out what you put into it. May this beginner’s guide open your mind up as a training tool. Shadowboxing is a full body routine that lets you work on your foot movement, punching technique, and head movement while not sparring against another person. That’s a big deal.