(BlackDoctor.org) — At 55, the Oscar-winning star of such films as Malcolm X and Training Day follows a workout routine that would tire out most men half his age. Washington does 10 rounds of boxing five days a week — a good exercise that combines strength training and aerobic exercise, helping to build muscles and burn fat at the same time.
If you’d like to try a boxing workout, a boxing gym is a good place to start, but please be aware that boxing is not for the faint of heart. You work almost every muscle in the body and can burn between 400-1,000 calories.
The reason that so many celebrities use boxing as a way to lose weight is because boxing is interval training. This form of fitness can supercharge your fitness, boost your metabolism, and burn off that extra fat in no time. To help you hone your skills, here are 3 workouts to improve your staying power:
The Workouts
1. UFC Power Punches
Whether you’re facing Wanderlei Silva in a cage match or a 75-pound bag in your basement, the same rules apply: Once you’re warmed up, you should be throwing each punch at full blast. Here is a demanding six-round routine to build mental and physical tenacity.
Grow your intensity: Clock each round at 3 minutes, resting 1 minute between rounds. With each round, you’ll add one punch to your sequence.
Punches per round:
1. Warmup. Strike the bag at 50 percent with a variety of punches
2. Up your power to full strength and launch jabs
3. Jab, throw a cross, and repeat
4. Jab, cross, hook, repeat
5. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, repeat
6. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, body punch, repeat
2. LAPD Precision Punch
The perfect pop is built on posture and bone alignment, not fist strength. Use this routine to refine your form.
Set the stance: Leading with your nondominant leg, position your feet shoulder-width apart, with the toe of your dominant foot in line with the heel of your nondominant foot. Your head extends over your shoulders, and your shoulders over your hips. Your knees are slightly bent.
Throw the blow: Step forward with your lead foot and extend your nondominant arm so that your shoulder, elbow, wrist, and front two knuckles are in alignment. Your punch and your foot should land at the same time. Follow up with a cross, regaining with your rear foot the distance you took in your first step. Then come back to your original stance.
Connect the punches: Repeat the sequence, shadowboxing for 3 minutes. Then do another 3-minute round of the same sequence, this time on a heavy bag. That’s 1 set. Complete 3 sets, building speed each time. When you master the strike, it should feel like you’re snapping your target with a wet towel. Rest 1 minute between each exercise.
3. Middleweight Lightning Hands
Shadowboxing allows you to rack up high reps without the resistance of a bag to slow your punches. You’ll tone your shoulders, back, and core, which will help you throw faster punches.
Hit on beat: Play five songs that have strong rhythms and last 3 to 4 minutes each. On every fourth beat (count out loud to keep yourself on track), unleash one of the punch combinations below, and then bring your hands back to your starting stance before the next beat. The shifting tempo of some tracks may require you to punch continuously until the song slows.
Combos for each song:
1. Left jab, left jab, right cross
2. Right cross, left jab, right uppercut
3. Left body punch, right body punch, left uppercut
4. Right uppercut, right cross, left hook
5. Right cross, left hook, right hook
