Why is Recovery Important After a Boxing Class?

Why is Recovery Important After a Boxing Class?

You might think that the boxing class itself is the extent of the workout, but there's more to it. To get the most out of your boxing class, you need to take the right steps afterwards, to take care of your body, to improve recovery, encourage muscle repair and limit physical injury.

There are a few things you can do to help support your body after you exercise, which will help you recover:

1. Eat Good Food - To grow muscle and recover from the damage of a workout, you need to ensure that you eat protein, which is the building blocks of the body. Carbohydrates are also essential to help your muscles restock  glycogen (the carbs that are stored in the body). This helps support your muscles as they repair and rebuild using protein.
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2. Drink Lots of Water - Drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your body, especially after a workout. You lose a lot of water when you workout and if you become dehydrated, it’s a lot more challenging on your body. You can also use other kinds of liquids to help you replenish electrolytes, like coconut water.
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3. Stretching - Stretching is essential for helping your muscles to cool off after a challenging class. The benefits include increased range of motion, flexibility, blood circulation and recovery. It can help prevent injury and help harmonise you mind. For more a more detailed breakdown on stretching head to our blog dedicated to it.
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4. Sleep - Sleep is essential for any kind of physical recovery and makes a huge difference to how quickly you feel good and how well you heal as a huge amount of your body’s recovery is done while you sleep. It can also support mental performance, so that your brain is also able to perform effectively. Mental strength is as important as physical strength for a great workout.
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5. Hot and Cold Therapy - Boxing creates micro-tears in the muscles and that is normal but a cold compress or an ice bath, alternated with hot compresses can help you recover from your class or 1-2-1 session.
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6. Have Rest Days - When you get into boxing, it’s normal to feel enthusiastic and want to train every day. We encourage regular training, but the body needs downtime so implementing rest days is an important part of your training routine and helps recovery and avoid injury. Listen to your body, when it feels like a day off, it’s probably because it needs one!
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7. Foam Rolling - Foam rolling can be a great way to help body recover after a workout. It breaks down scar tissues that can build up and can help you hit hard to reach areas like the back, which are used a lot in boxing.
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8. Get a Massage - A foam roller is great but if you can schedule in a massage, that can really help target those strong back and shoulder muscles that get focused on during your boxing classes. A massage can help stop you getting injured and help with performance.

If you’re not spending time on a good recovery after a workout, it could mean that the workout isn’t as effective as it could be. If you’re ready to commit to both a great workout and recovery, we would love to see you! Contact us now or have a look at our schedule.