How To Keep Up Your Boxing Training Without Equipment

It’s Week 3 of the Circuit Breaker and many of us are itching to get back into the gym and worrying about how to train without our usual gym equipment or coaching advice from our instructors. If you have made it a goal to keep training in order to maintain your fitness and strength, your usual workout regime will need to be adjusted. The good news is that many useful boxing techniques can be adapted from your usual boxing workouts in the gym and transferred to your living room.

Read below for our advice on where to start even if you have no equipment at home during this time.

Shadowboxing

Whilst you may not have your usual bags, pads or sparring partner, we recommend keeping up that technique by shadowboxing. 

Shadowboxing will challenge your speed and power without the resistance of the bag. Focus on high reps, throw those punches with a variety of different combinations and move around the room to keep your feet nimble and to get your heart rate up. You can even increase the intensity by holding weights in each hand.

Skipping without a skipping rope

A skipping rope is a staple part of many boxing workouts and your training. It is the perfect way to incorporate a cardio workout into your home training, requires very little space, and again helps to loosen up your feet. 

If you don’t have a skipping rope at home or if you don’t have the ceiling height to be able to skip, you can imitate the movements of skipping by moving your hands at the wrist as if you were jumping over a rope. 

Other alternatives, if you don’t have a jump rope, are jumping jacks, mountain climbers or high knees.

Interval Training

Interval training and working with your bodyweight are a great way to raise your heart rate, helping you to maintain your cardio progress. Download an Interval Timer on your phone and schedule three minutes of work followed by one minute of rest.

If you want more of a challenge, you can up the time you’re working for and reduce your rest periods.

Incorporate a variety of bodyweight exercises such as boxer burpees, push-ups, planks and squat jumps to really make you sweat.

Get Creative With Household Equipment

No weights? No problem! You might not have your usual weights and gym equipment but you can still get in a great workout using some of your handy household items. Substitute your usual hand weights by using water bottles or substitute a kettlebell by filling up a duffel bag or by using a full bottle of detergent.

We encourage you to get creative and transform your living room into the best home gym it can be. Check out some common household items that can double up as home workout equipment!

IGTV Home Workout Videos

If you’re missing the social aspect of training and working with your trainers and sparring partners, or just need a bit of extra motivation to get you going, a virtual workout is the answer! Head over to our Instagram page @thering_sg and take part in our IGTV Boxing Home Workout Videos. It’s the next best thing to being in The Ring with your favourite coaches and you’ll learn new tips and techniques along the way!

5 Ways To Stay Productive While Working From Home

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of us will be required to work from home. For many of us, we will have to begin to adjust to this new way of working without the discipline which comes from working in an office. 

Being in your personal space and not your professional environment can bring many distractions, from household chores to watching that Netflix series everyone is talking about. 

Here are our 5 tips for staying productive while working from home:

1. Formulate a Morning Routine

Use the first hours of the day wisely! Your usual commute to work is often a valuable way for people to transition from home life to work life. Create your own commute and set some time at the beginning of the day to help you get into work mode.

This time could be used to get in some morning movement, to mediate or have breakfast. Wake your body up and wake your mind up by having a routine before you sit at your desk and start work.

2. Get Dressed

Although it is tempting to stay in your pyjamas for the whole day, make a concerted effort to change into normal clothes. Wear something which will make you feel more professional and this will help you to get yourself into the mindset that you have a day of work ahead of you.

Getting dressed will help to turn on that productivity switch which we need to get going when working from home.

3. Designated Workspace

One of the keys to being productive at home is to create an environment free from distractions where you can focus on your to-do list.  Do not work on the sofa or in your bed and instead find a comfortable space that you can associate with your job, by doing so you can create a clear boundary between work and home life. 

Make your space a quiet zone where you can concentrate and keep that space free of clutter and distractions. For example, try not to have the TV or music on in the background and consider putting your phone on airplane mode when working on your laptop.

4. Scheduling Your Time

Working from home can be filled with distractions. In the morning, don’t just roll out of bed without a plan, make a schedule the night before. Set the hours you are going to work for the day and build your schedule into these hours. 

Also schedule in your exercise, your morning routine and when you’re going to switch off. Household chores can also quickly eat into your workday and make you less productive so be sure to schedule time for these too so you don’t use up too much of your day.

Having a schedule can keep you focused and motivated but remember to be realistic. Don’t set yourself too many tasks in one day as you don’t want to feel guilty when you want to switch off in the evening. 

5. Avoid Cabin Fever

Now that you are spending the majority of your time in the home, try to also spend time going on a walk or visiting a nearby park – remember to maintain social distancing! Spending some time in nature can help you to relax and clear your mind, in turn making you more productive and creative when you sit back at your desk.

5 Ways To Ease Your Anxiety

During this time of uncertainty, it’s understandable that you might be feeling anxiety in relation to the coronavirus crisis. This uncertainty, coupled with instability and a change or loss of our daily routine can be difficult on our mental health.

To help put your mind at ease, here are our tips on how to manage any heightened emotions which you are experiencing at the moment.

CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS

Our daily habits such as going to the gym or catching up with friends is no longer an option for many of us. Some of us have had to cancel special celebrations like weddings and graduations and we are worrying about becoming sick which can cause us to become ill as a result. All this can be stressful and overwhelming. It can be easy for our minds to focus on the negatives. 

In light of this, we can work to control our thoughts and, if you feel panicked, it can be helpful to take a few deep breaths or talk to someone close to you about how you are feeling so that your negative thoughts don’t consume you.

LIMIT CONSUMPTION OF MEDIA

If you are struggling with anxiety, limit your exposure to the news and social media. Try to limit what you watch, read and listen to to just once a day. Whilst it is important to stay up to date on the virus, if you are struggling to cope, take care of your mental health and give yourself a break from your online life for a while.

Instead, take yourself offline by reading a book, taking a walk in nature or spending some time with loved ones whilst still practising social distancing.

FOCUS ON FACTS

When you do turn on the news and read social media updates, try to avoid any speculation and remain focussed on the facts. There can be so much misinformation out there which can add to you feeling overwhelmed.

Rely instead on trusted forms of communication, such as the World Health Organization, and remember to give yourself a break from both the news and social media every once in a while.

STAY CONNECTED 

Whilst social distancing requires us to stay home to help reduce the spread of the virus, we can still stay connected with friends, family and loved ones online.

Human beings need to feel connected to feel happy. Keep in touch via phone calls or through video messaging and talk about other topics which will help to lift your spirits. Whilst you need support, you can also be a support system to those around you

SELF-CARE

During this time it is important to try to stick to healthy behaviours like a good diet and sleep. Make sure you also take time for yourself, whether that involves exercise, meditation or having a long bath. And, try to do things consistently and create a regular routine to help you get into a good headspace as this will help you to feel more in control.

And remember that we will all still have the same time in the day. Whilst we can’t control the situation, we can focus on ways to calm ourselves down and find peace of mind. Use this time to your advantage and do things you wouldn’t have done before. By adapting to your new temporary way of life, you can focus on working to benefit your future with the time which may have been restricted to you before.

Pictures from Pexels.com

5 Ways To Cultivate Healthy Habits

How many of you have given up on your New Year’s Resolutions by now? You’re not alone! In fact, 80% of people gave up their resolutions by the second week of February.

Whilst those resolutions you made in January may now be a distant memory, instead of giving up on your goals completely why not use this month to give them a reboot and reassess what is and isn’t working for you. 

Who said you can only make goals in January?  Below are our five tips on how you can cultivate your healthy habits for the remainder of the year:

1 – IDENTIFY YOUR REAL MOTIVATION

Know Your Why! Whether it’s the desire to fine-tune your techniques so that you can fight in the ring or to be healthy so that you can take care of your children – be clear, be focused, identify it and write it down.

It might be simple, but writing your goals down could be the key to cultivating that healthy habit you are striving for. People who write down their intentions are 42% more likely to achieve them. By including timelines you will make yourself much more accountable and can keep referring back to the list at times when you’re feeling less motivated.

2 – CHANGE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT CHANGE 

Changing your mindset is not an easy task but if you change your thinking to be more optimistic this can propel you to make more positive healthy choices for yourself. Eliminate any excuses you are making and instead create solutions.

For example, if you don’t feel like going to that boxing class. Show up anyway. Going and committing to the task at hand goes a long way. Overtime both your confidence and your mindset will begin to change, helping you to cultivate your healthy habit.

3 – MAKE IT ATTAINABLE

Set a realistic goal, don’t make it so big that you won’t be able to achieve it as this will only put you off from completing it. Small wins are key here and it’s important to be able to weave them into your daily routine. For example, instead of saying you will workout every day this week, why not say you will train two times for 30 minutes for the first week and start to build your training times up from there.

4- ROUTINE

Did you know that it can take up to sixty days for a new habit to stick? Developing a morning and evening routine could be paramount to you accomplishing your goals.

It’s well known that the most successful people get started with their day before the rest of the world has even had breakfast!. Again, take it in small, achievable steps – set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier than normal for the first week and continue to do so until you’re waking up in time for that early morning workout session you’ve always wanted to go to.

5 – STAY ACCOUNTABLE

Whether that means bringing a friend on the journey with you, using an app on your phone to track your progress, or joining a boxing gym, find a way to keep yourself accountable. Holding yourself accountable means that on days when you are feeling less motivated, you will be more likely to pick yourself up and continue to cultivate your healthy habit.

Why not join The Ring and let us and our community help you on your fitness journey!

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