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The Ultimate Boxing Workout Plan to Get Lean and Fit

Increase your strength and conditioning and build lean muscle with this boxing workout.

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  • 7 days

  • 22

  • Yes

Man Boxing
Artiga Photo / Getty
Man Boxing
Artiga Photo / Getty

In the real world, boxers are some of the leanest, most well-trained athletes. Champs such as Vladimir Klitschko, Shane Mosley, and Mike Tyson were all human wrecking balls in their prime and had the builds to show for it.

Gyms that are built on the idea of boxing-for-fitness are popping up left and right across the country, most advertising the promise of helping you burn up to 1,000 calories in an hour. Seriously? So, sadist that I am, I decided to glove up and enlist the help of famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach, making his Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood my fitness home for 12 weeks.

By the end of my time with Roach and company, I may not have been ready to swap blows with a pro, but I was faster, leaner, and stronger than I had been since college. Train this way and maybe you can salvage a bit of your youth, one punch at a time.

By the end of my 12 weeks at Wild Card, I’d gone from 178 lbs. post-honeymoon to a trim 161. My bodyfat had dropped from 17% to around 10%, and my abs had made a cameo for the first time since…well, ever. I was executing combinations on the mitts like a seasoned vet, working out twice a day was pretty much common practice, and I was tackling 5-mile runs at the crack of dawn without complaint.

The Training Split

Day Training (Body Parts)
1 Boxing Workout
2 Weights (Back, Legs)
3 Boxing Workout
4 Weights (Chest, Arms)
5 Boxing Workout
6 Rest/Optional Run (work up to 5 miles)
7 Rest

Note: Because of the volume of training you get during boxing workouts, avoid regular weight training for shoulders. If this is a lagging body part, incorporate no more than 6–8 sets of basic presses and raises on Day 6.

Routine

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Days 1, 3, 5

Boxing Workout

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 1 of 22

Jump Rope

Equipment
Jump Rope
Sets
3
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min*
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.
Exercise 2 of 22

Speed Bag

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min*
How to
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.
Exercise 3 of 22

Shadowbox

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min*
How to
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.
Exercise 4 of 22

Heavy Bag

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min*
How to
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.
Exercise 7 of 22

Lateral Leap and Hop

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
4
Reps
20
Rest
<1 min*
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.
Exercise 8 of 22

Plyometric Pushup

Equipment
Sets
6
Reps
to failure
Rest
<1 min
How to
Choose three different versions of plyometric pushups. Complete two sets of each, stopping the set once you begin to lose momentum.
Exercise 9 of 22

Combo Shoulder Raise

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
3
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min
Choose a light set of dumbbells and work on 30–sec cycles within each 3–min set. A typical circuit with Fortune involves 30 secs at a time of straight punching, overhead punching, rear-delt raises, lateral raises, shoulder presses and a 30–sec hold.
Exercise 10 of 22

General Situp

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
3 min
Rest
<1 min*
*Rest no longer than one minute between sets. Between exercises, rest only as long as it takes to get set up on the next activity.

Day 2

Back & Legs

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 14 of 22

Barbell Squat

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
4
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 16 of 22

Lying Leg Curl

Equipment
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
--

Day 4

Chest & Arms

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
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