Does Boxing Hurt – How Do Boxers Deal with Pain While Fighting & Training

Does boxing hurt? Brave yourself for a quite obvious answer – Yes, it hurts a lot. Don’t fret and give up on boxing just yet, guys! Although the pain is what a newcomer to boxing will likely experience many times, learning how to react and deal with the pain appropriately plays a crucial role in the training effectiveness and your future career as a professional boxer.

Without further ado, let’s dive deeper into the nature of boxing to answer the question “How do boxers deal with the pain during fighting and training?” and keep yourself ahead of the game.

Does Boxing Hurt, and Where Does It Hurt?

This is a warning: You might not like this part, like, a lot because it will be full of brutal truths about boxing that makes you want to make a run for it! 

However, you don’t think you will emerge victorious without getting hit at all during a fight, do you? That’s why you need to experience the hardest part first, and the latter ones will be much easier to handle. 

Top 5 Common Pains During Boxing Training

Boxing Footwork

It sounds simple and rather comfortable, not painful at all, doesn’t it? But several boxing footwork will make you feel regret you have been born and known about this violent sport at all! 

Ring slides, an indispensable lesson in any boxing training, will inflict a great deal of pain than you imagine. A boxer will rarely walk during a fight as that’s not going to generate any strength to perform skillful moves. Rather, they will “slide” gracefully and swiftly in their strikes.

Here’s how a footwork session will go during a boxing training: 5 boxers form a circle inside the boxing ring, facing one another. After the boxer trainer says “Go” and the stopwatch starts counting, you need to put all your mind into gliding sideways with others. 

The first one or two minutes will fool you into the state, “No problem, I can do this all day!”. Three minutes pass, and your feet start to feel the painful burning sensation! After several 3-minute sessions like that, you wish you had vanished from the earth. The next day is all about throbbing and swelling blisters all over the bottom of your feet!

Climb-the-mountain Workout 

Mountain climber might not be a strange name to avid gymmers, but performing this session in boxing training is a whole new level. Begin in the plank position, bring your knee towards your chest, butt down, and repeat the action like a million times. You will hardly feel anything afterward.

Neck Snaps

Another torturing lesson the boxer trainer will force you to go through without mercy. What you do is lay down on your back, complete ten snaps to the left and right in 15 seconds each. 

Then do 10 snaps in front while trying to lift your head as high as possible. When the torture finishes, you will feel dizzy and blurry. Did we say it’s over yet? Lucky you, another set is about to start!

Duck Walking

It’s all about squatting down until your butt and knees feel nothing. The next part is even more terrifying – you carry a giant 12-pound ball behind your back, haul it up straight, then return to the duck-walking position. The session, as you can visualize yourself, happens at lightning speed with several laps.

Upper Body Workout – Arm Circles

Don’t be foolish to choose lighter weights than 5 pounds as you, and likely your group will receive punishments later. Put your two hands in front of you and start forming small circles. The counting is 25 times in the front, 25 straight up, 25 with two arms opening up to two sides, and the last 25 behind your back. 

The agony will soon come right after the first section if you are only a beginner to boxing. Remember that how aching and painful you endure, don’t lower your arms as your teammates will suffer. 

These 5 are the most common exercises causing different types of pains during boxing training. There are more to come, but you’ve got the idea and what to expect!

How do Boxers Deal with the Pain During Fighting and Training

So does boxing hurt? The correct answer is “Yes”, it does hurt after the training or fight. Professional boxers revealed that you would hardly feel any physical pains during the fight because the high adrenalin has taken over, leaving you numb with pains even getting hit in the head. 

However, what’s great and exciting about this sport is that you receive training to be good enough to avoid as many hits as possible during a fight. As such, this part will be dedicated to tips, tricks, and proper guidance to cope with the pains.

Pains During Training

The physical pains you undergo during training are likely to result from muscle tension or over-exercising. To alleviate the pain by releasing endorphins in the brain, you can try to take slow and deep breaths.

If the pain is too much to handle, it’s advisable to take short rests during training to gain back your strength. Nevertheless, according to famous boxing trainers, the best way to deal with the pain is to keep exercising regularly, thus increasing your level of endurance over time. 

>Read: Boxing Wrist Pain-How To Get Instant Relief From The Pain?

Soreness and Aches

There are several effective ways to reduce the soreness and aches after getting hit during a fight. 

Firstly, give the sore parts a gentle massage to get the blood flowing. Then take a warm bath to soothe both your mind and body from the pains. Next, perform some stretches and warm-ups carefully to test your body reactions and healing level. And lastly, don’t rush into training right away unless you want to turn simple soreness into something severe. It’s best to take proper rest for a couple of days to come back stronger! 

Small Injuries

For small injuries such as black eyes or bruises, ice packs are an all-time-favorite solution to apply on those wounded areas immediately. After preventing the injuries from spreading to other parts or getting worse, you should put on something warm, like a warm towel or a zip-log bag filled with water. 

Don’t forget to use anti-inflammatory drugs along with the tips above to increase the healing effects. 

Serious Injuries

Severe, even deadly, accidents can always happen when you decide to go into the boxing ring and start the fight. You will never know one minute you are staying on your feet and right after laying face down because of a head punch! 

If you are unlucky enough to experience serious injuries such as a broken arm or leg, the first thing to do is seek help from the first-aid crew, who always stays outside the ring throughout the fight. Then you will be transferred to the nearest medical facility, diagnosed, and receive suitable treatment to achieve the fastest healing effect and go back to training. 

One small note here is never underestimate headgear and other protective equipment as they can really save you from many life-and-death situations during a heated boxing fight.

Other Tips and Tricks for Coping with Pains

  • Stop being a tough guy if you can’t handle

In case you are only a beginner in boxing with limited skills and endurance, don’t try to show off and spar with someone with a higher level than you. Chances are you will end up getting hit a lot and give up boxing right after a few tries. Thus, it’s ok to step back and pair with a boxer at the same level as you can polish up your skills from there.

  • Protect your liver and nose

Well, we all know the excruciating pain when getting punches in the nose or liver! As these two parts will likely receive the most hits from your opponent as they are exposed without any protective gear, remember to lower your right elbow to your body and cover your chin. 

Also read: How To Recover From A Liver Punch – Things You Should Know

  • Give yourself a good rest after undergoing an injury.

Forcing yourself to start training while the injuries are still fresh only lengthens your recovery time, directly affecting your career opportunities. Thus, give yourself a proper time to regain your strength and health. You can start with some light therapeutic exercises to gradually test your body’s reactions and healing capabilities.

Final Words

After going through the top 5 most popular boxing workouts that cause pains and how to deal with them, we hope you have now found your answer to the question, “Does boxing hurt?”. 

Of course, it will hurt quite a lot if you only begin your training for a short time. However, with time and proper guidance, the pains and injuries will be reduced to a minimum.

Categories Training Guide

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