Best Equipment Used In Boxing

Are you looking to take the first step in your fitness journey? Or do you want to try your hand at something different? Whatever your reason, boxing is a highly accessible, healthy and fun activity that provides physical and mental benefits for anyone who participates, at any level.

At Sporteq, we are happy to be a prominent provider of boxing equipment. That is why in this article, we will be telling you about the best equipment used in boxing.

What kind of equipment do you need for boxing, and why?

Boxing – What is it?

Boxing is a contact sport in which athletes fight each other through punching. They aim to score points that are then tallied by judges at the end of the allocated rounds, or they can win via KO (knockout).

Even though the nature of boxing is technique driven, physically demanding and dangerous (if there are no professionals there to coordinate) you don’t need to have an opponent if you want to practice your technique or get on the path to start improving your general health through boxing.

Boxing can be considered an aerobic sport, meaning you need to have an aerobic capacity (or develop one) to be able to be proficient or see the benefits of it. Boxing has many benefits, this includes:

• Improves balance and coordination:
• Improves concentration:
• Stress relief:
• Weight loss:

Boxing, as with any physical activity, can boost your confidence the more you do it. This is because your consistency will be rewarded through physical results, whether it’s better technique, weight loss, or even feeling your improvement compared to when you first started.

With mental and physical benefits, it is no surprise that boxing is such a popular sport. We at Sporteq can help facilitate the beginning of your boxing/fitness journey.

Boxing equipment, what is it and why do we need it?

With Boxing being a contact sport, every precaution taken, in the interest of health and safety, is justified and paramount. Not using equipment, or a lack of guidance can lead to serious injury. This is why boxing equipment is necessary.

Aside from offering protection from injury, some boxing equipment can help to improve your skill, coordination and speed. It also provides you with the option of saving money on gym memberships by setting up your own home gym.

If you are a beginner, we always recommend you seek lessons through a professional coach or boxing class. We say this because regardless of equipment, poor technique can still end up hurting you.

As we continue, we will be sharing our boxing equipment with you, they will be separated by “technique refinement” and “safety equipment”.

Safety equipment

Boxing gloves / Hand wraps:

The trademark symbol of boxing. Boxing gloves and hand wraps provide stability and safety for your hands, knuckles and wrist.

A hand wrap’s effectiveness is due to what it does for the joints and bones in the hand, knuckle and wrist. The wrapping secures them together so they can’t move on impact. This has the effect of evenly distributing force across your knuckles whilst minimizing the possibility of pain.

Boxing gloves serve as a cushion for the impact on your knuckles, and as a cushion for receiving punches. They serve a vital role in helping to keep boxing as safe as possible. Available in a variety of weights, we recommend beginners start with lightweight and move up when as they progress.

What happens when you don’t use these staple pieces of equipment? Not wearing hand wraps or boxing gloves can result in injuries such as a “Boxers fracture”. You could also end up seriously injuring your opponent.

Head Guard

As professional boxers are at risk for CTE, head guards are one of the most crucial pieces of protective boxing gear. The head guard allows athletes and casual boxers alike to participate in the sport of boxing effectively whilst drastically reducing the risk of injury.

Head guards come in different shapes, some covering the jaw, crown and forehead, whilst others also have a mouth grill.

Not using head guards can lead to concussions, cuts and much more injuries. We always recommend using a head guard when sparring or practising with another person.

Technique refinement

The Punchbag

A common sight in almost every gym globally, the punchbag is a simple yet effective piece of equipment which holds a host of unique benefits for its user. These include:

• Conditioning – repeated punching on its surface (with your gloves and wraps on) will make your knuckles tougher over time. This is because, like with your muscles, your bones also experience micro-tears which repair making the bones stronger.
• Movement – as you punch the bag, the momentum will make it swing towards and away from you, this provides an opportunity to work on your movement, dodging the bag, circling it, and shuffling away and towards it.
• Creativity – The movement of the punchbag can help you hit from angles you wouldn’t conventionally throw punches from.
• Safe practice – You can punch as hard as you like, for as long as you want, as long as your technique is fine, and nobody is at risk when using a punchbag.

Although there are many impressive benefits of having a punchbag, there are also dangers if you are a beginner, or not using the previously mentioned safety equipment.

• Friction burns – If you do not wear safety equipment whilst using a punchbag, the friction from your punches against the surface of the bag, creates friction burns which can stop you from boxing entirely until it’s healed.
• Inner pain – Hitting the bag with poor technique, or hitting it hard with no safety equipment, could result in you jarring your bones, straining your joints or even fractures on your knuckles or wrists.
• Infection – A punchbag can accumulate dust, sweat and saliva over time, if you don’t regularly clean the punchbag, and hit it bare-handed over a cut, that cut may become infected.

BOB Punching bag

As opposed to the traditional hanging down punching bag, a BOB punching bag offers adjustable height, true to human specifications in its design and the ability for its user to have a better striking placement, through being able to visually focus on target areas, such as the neck, chest or face, instead of imagining it as you do on a traditional punch bag.

For an in-depth understanding of the BOB punching bag, we have an extensive blog covering the benefits of this popular training accessory.

Strike pads

Strike pads are one of the quintessential pieces of training equipment. They can come as flat padded thick circular shaped mittens or as rectangular shield-like pads. This particular piece of equipment can only be used with a partner.

Having a professional coach guiding you with pads can lead to the following benefits:

• Improved hand-eye coordination – as you are focusing to hit a small target coming at different angles, over time you develop the ability to pick your punches accurately.
• Combo development – a normal technique with strike pads is the call and response. The holder will say a combination of punches, and the puncher does them. This exercise helps the puncher learn and remember alternative ways to throw punches.
• Dodging ability/defence – the pad holder can catch the puncher off guard by tapping them with the pads. In turn, this makes the puncher aware of their weaknesses in dodging ability / general defence.
• Increase punching power – due to the padding and wide surface area of the pads, the puncher can hit hard without worrying too much about the pad holder – unless their aim is bad!

Get your boxing equipment today

Boxing can not be done on any level if safety was disregarded, and it wouldn’t be as popular as it was now if there was no equipment to help people get better. From professionals to beginners, boxing equipment is vital to be able to box properly, get better and be safe.

In this blog, we hope to have shown you the best equipment for boxing, whilst also sharing valuable tips to help you flourish on your boxing/fitness journey. The team at Sporteq is always here to help. If you would like to contact us via email, click the link here.

You can call us at 0161 354 2579

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