Here at Trifecta, we push fitness pretty hard. And as you might already know, conditioning and boxing can make you sore or tight quickly. Balancing out your workouts with a little stretching and yoga can help with that immensely. So if you ever doubt whether or not yoga is worth adding to your fitness routine, here are some great reasons for why you should be doing it.
First, yoga helps you improve on flexibility and balance.
Muscle flexibility and stability can help prevent injuries, but it can also help you improve range of motion, which comes in handy in boxing. After all, boxing is a full-body workout–you shouldn’t only be using your arms when punching, you should be using your feet/legs and moving your hips with it. Don’t ever feel discouraged if you feel like you’re “not flexible enough” for yoga. There are modifications for every level. The point of it is to become more flexible. You don’t have to be flexible to do it!
A lot of yoga poses also require balance. If you’ve ever boxed, you’ll know that most beginners struggle with maintaining balance or a strong base while moving their upper body. And then there’s the additional challenge of moving your lower body as you throw punches while moving around without crossing your feet or losing stability. Things can get a bit wobbly. Also an important point worth noting: a lot of sports require solid core strength, and boxing is no exception. Having a strong core is key in helping with balance and coordination. Yoga can absolutely help you with that.
Breath.
I’m not sure this is something most people notice; at least I didn’t, but yoga’s emphasis on “the breath” can be brought over to boxing. Focusing on the act of taking deep, long breaths during yoga helps you practice controlling your breath while moving your body. I’ve often had to remind people to breathe while they’re boxing. Whether it’s in the ring or just hitting a bag. So it can be more of a conscious effort than you’d think.
For rest days, yoga can be a nice exercise to do. It doesn’t require any equipment; just a little bit of your time. If you box regularly, I’d encourage practicing yoga regularly as well. It’s a nice complement to a sport that can cause a lot of tension and tightness in your body. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our Trifecta Strong YouTube channel! We have some yoga days that are easy and relaxing to do.
