5 Reasons You Need to Get in the Ring With Jennifer Lopez’s Hot New Workout
Jennifer Lopez gave the 1-2 punch like a pro with her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez, during a recent personal tour of his new UFC gym in Miami.
The pop star tested out some of the gym equipment, including dumbbells and weight machines, before jumping into the ring to spar alongside her beau. The former baseball pro posted a video to his Instagram feed of the couple getting their hands taped before they went head-to-head with their boxing instructors. And, from the look of things, JLo can sure pack a punch!
The star said that she picked up the sport to prepare for her TV series, “Shades of Blue.”
“I always liked it,” Lopez told People Magazine. “It’s always been a tough workout.”
Lopez isn’t the only celeb who’s turning to boxing to amp up her sweat session at the gym. Models Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima also credit boxing with getting their taut figures into fighting form.
Interested in maximizing your workout for knockout results? Here’s why boxing might just be your new favorite way to stay in shape.
1. It’s a Super Cardiovascular Exercise
Need to get your cardio in? Skip the treadmill and try boxing instead. Boxing is one of the most intense cardiovascular activities for athletes of many different fitness levels by providing high-intensity, calorie-burning routines that promote optimal physical fitness. You’ll quickly learn why three-minute rounds demand so much endurance from a fighter.
2. It Will Improve Your Upper Body Strength
If you are desiring sculpted arms, then you might consider going a few rounds with a punching bag. During a boxing workout, you may punch a bag hundreds of times, requiring your upper body, lower body, and core to engage as you make contact with the bag. Plus, many gyms incorporate additional body-weight training, including push-ups, which will strengthen your guns (not to mention your abs) in no time.
3. It Works the Whole Body
From top to bottom, you’ll definitely be feeling your whole body work during a boxing session. When you’re punching, you are using your hips to pivot, and your core and legs to throw. By combining muscle-building strength training moves and calorie-torching bouts of cardio, there is not a single body part you’re not using.
4. It Busts Stress
Think about it: throwing mean punches at a bag has to relieve some sort of tension and stress, right? In fact, several studies back up the theory. Boxing has proven to give participants a sense of tranquility, while decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression.
5. It Helps to Do It With a Friend
If you want to take a page from JLo and A-Rod’s workout book, and invite along a sparring partner, you would be doing both your bodies — and relationship — a favor. Working out with a friend, or partner, is both motivating and fun, and can incite a healthy dose of competition, which can only help as you go for a few rounds in the ring.
Probably the best part about boxing is that not only does it require almost zero equipment (except for a pair of gloves), but also that anyone can start it — from the beginner to the gym goer. Once you learn the basic punches, you are ready to swing your way into a new fitness routine.
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