Welcome back Warriors! Do you have a passion for boxing, but find a boxing membership to be out of your budget? Maybe there aren’t any boxing gyms nearby?
Well, there’s good news for you. You can learn how to be a boxer without having to leave your house. It can be done! You just need to get geared up and ready to learn. And maybe have fun while doing it.
But before you start, ask yourself…
IS THIS RIGHT FOR ME?
WHAT GEAR DO I NEED TO GET STARTED?
HOW IS BOXING DONE RIGHT?
You’ll need the right boxing gear to some of the exercises and drills at home. On top of that, you’ll also need to learn the basic fundamentals and know how to execute them correctly to avoid injury.
Here’s what you’ll need to take note of if you’re going to be using your home as your boxing training area.
Boxing Gear
Before you jump into learning how to be a boxer, you need to have the right gear. Whether you just want to get in better shape, or if you’re serious about stepping into the ring and hitting it hard with an opponent.
You will need:
- Boxing gloves (bag gloves and training gloves are what I would recommend)
- Boxing hand wraps (if you’re going to be punching on a bag, you need hand wraps for protection)
- Punching bag (they can be expensive, so I would say this is optional)
- Fluids to keep you hydrated
- Towel
- Comfortable clothing to work out in
Boxing Gloves
This should come as no surprise, but if you’re going to learn boxing, you need boxing gloves. There are 4 different kinds of boxing gloves, you can find them in a previous post I wrote, here. I would recommend starting out with bag gloves or training gloves. They’re usually the cheapest and are designed specifically for training on a bag and with punch mitts.
The boxing gloves that I use are the Elite Pro Style Training gloves by Everlast. I got them at my local Academy in my area earlier this year. They are not visible on the Academy website at the moment, but Academy is the place where I got them. The gloves are the kind of boxing gloves with a Velcro strap, unlike the kinds of gloves with laces. You can also find them on Amazon. They were about $45.
I would also recommend the Classic Leather Elastic Training gloves by Title Boxing. I’ve seen some good reviews on them and I have seen people at my local Title Boxing Club wearing them. Like the Everlast gloves that I have, they too have a Velcro strap and they come with around 2 inches of padding inside for protection. They are around $50.
Hand Wraps
If you plan on using punching bags for your training at home, you’re going to need to protect your hands under your gloves with hand wraps. They will provide protection for your entire hand, especially your wrists and your knuckles. I wrote a post on how you can wrap your hands for boxing, you can find it here, How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing.
As for which hand wraps I would recommend, I would recommend the Mexican Style 180 degree wraps by Title Boxing. They are only about $7. Once you properly wrap them around your hands and they’re nice and snug, they’re very comfortable.
Remember: Wrapping the wraps around your hands takes practice. Here is the tutorial that I used as a guide on how to wrap my hands. How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing – Title Boxing Club
So if I can learn it, you can too!
Punching Bags
Because punching bags can be expensive, this is optional if you are looking to start boxing on a small budget. But if you have a bigger budget and can afford one, this section is for you!
While traditional punching bags that hang on a chain and stand on a base are good, I have some product recommendations that might catch your interest.
One punching bag I would recommend is a wall-mounted heavy bag. The Everlast Wall Mounted Heavy Bag and the TITLE Boxing Wall Mount Menace Training Bag caught my eye first. A punching bag of this type can be mounted into a wall, as its name suggests. Based on the product images and this video, TITLE Boxing Wall Mount Menace Training Bag of the bag in action, you want to position it to where your head is about level with the mid-section of the bag.
The Title branded bag is about $150, while the Everlast branded bag is about $250. They both are designed with circular padding on all sides so that you can practice different kinds of punches and combinations on them from all angles. They are also positioned so that your punches will be more accurate and precise.
Another punching bag I would recommend is the Boxing starter package by Quiet Punch. I’ve been starting to see ads for this product appear a lot more frequently now and I think it looks like a very convenient boxing product to have in your arsenal if you are unable to make it to a boxing gym.
The item is just under $250 and it is designed to fit inside an open doorway. By the looks of its design, it appears that it can only be used to practice throwing straight punches, like jabs and crosses. After taking a look at the reviews for this product, I might consider getting one myself.
Out of the 3 punching bags I recommended, I think the wall mounted bag by Title Boxing might be the best product in my opinion. I say that because you get to practice all the different punches on it, from all angles, and you get to save a little bit and not spend so much extra money. I think all 3 will give you bang for your buck, but I think you might get the most out of your boxing workouts with the wall mounted bag by Title Boxing.
Fluids to Keep You Hydrated
You must always have something to keep you hydrated with you while you’re training. I would highly recommend water. Training as a boxer is very high intensity, so you need to stay hydrated. I never forget to drink water when I go to my local Title Boxing Club, as it is the most intense training I have ever done before. So drink as much water as you can.
Other options include Gatorade, Powerade, or any other kind of sports drink.
Towel
If you’re going to be training at such high intensity with boxing, you might want to have a towel with you. You’re going to sweat. There’s no question about it. I know I did after each training session at Title Boxing. I sweat so much I felt like a melting popsicle. Have a towel handy or you will be completely drenched.
I would highly recommend you use a new clean towel for each boxing workout, you don’t want to keep reusing the same sweaty unwashed towel every time, right?
Comfortable Clothing
This one is a given, but you always want to wear comfortable clothing when you train or do any kind of workout. I would recommend products made out of breathable performance material, like polyester.
Like with having a clean towel, make sure you’re wearing clean workout attire so that you’re not the smelly guy in the gym.
You can find Boxing attire at places like Title Boxing, Everlast, Fight Camp, and Hayabusa Fight. They are some of my personal favorite Boxing brands.
Basic Boxing Fundamentals
I would recommend you also check out some boxing training videos on YouTube, especially Beginner Boxing 101: Complete Lesson | New Boxers Welcome by the Precision Striking channel, Boxing for Beginners | Training techniques Episode 1 by Mike Rashid, and also How to Box 101 | Complete Boxing Tutorial for Beginners by Tony Jeffries.
They were the first videos on boxing training I ever watched, before I started taking sessions at Title Boxing. The videos taught me so much about boxing that I never knew about before, like hand and foot position, movement, different punches, just about everything you need to know if you’re a beginner boxer like me.
Closing Words
Now you have a much clearer understanding on the essential materials you need to start training as a boxer at home, you are now ready to take the first step to getting gloved and hitting it hard! If you have any recommendations on boxing gear, boxing videos, anything related to boxing at home, drop them in the comments below! I’m always open to learning new things about what I’m passionate about!
Happy training!
SFW