7 Essential Pieces of Boxing Equipment for Success
Introduction
So, why are you here? Coaches, professionals, and novices alike need to know what training gear is essential to optimal training and performance. While boxing-specific equipment can be expensive, these 7 essentials will help you excel in your training.
We mention success in the title of this post, because it's important to have this at the forefront of your journey: any journey! Success in the sport of boxing can mean a number of things whilst fighters work towards their own unique objectives. In this blog, to avoid being too philosophical, we’re relating to the two most common definitions of success in boxing: you’re either fighting to compete or you’re fighting to stay fit and healthy.
The types of training boxers undertake on their journey to success is hugely varied: we’ve kept this in mind to ensure that you’re ready for anything once you step inside that gym.
Boxing Gloves: Let Your Hands Do The Talking
This one's probably a no-brainer. If you're hitting anything in the gym, whether it be boxing pads, boxing bags or a consenting head: you'll need some boxing gloves. Though the styles vary for different activities, boxing gloves are designed to simply protect you and your opponent.
It's completely up to you the type of glove you choose, and picking the right one will depend on a variety of personal factors; but as a rule of thumb, if you're hitting people, use heavier boxing gloves, if you're working on speed and technique, use lighter boxing gloves!
Whatever your interest and preferred price level, we’ve got some great options in our store for you to browse here. For beginners, we’d recommend the PU 12oz boxing glove. If you’re ready to start taking your training seriously, take a look at our genuine handmade leather boxing glove range!
Track Your Workout Like A Pro, With Boxing Trackers
The ultimate boxing companion, this is a real essential if you're wanting to up your game and get that edge on an opponent. Corner boxing trackers help you keep track of your progress, monitoring your speed, power and top combinations. You'll be able to see how your boxing ability is improving week by week, which is both motivating and allows you to train smarter.
The best boxing trackers have a built in round timer, a crucial tool for any training session. Round timing helps you instil intensity and discipline into your workouts, pushing towards better endurance and giving fighters a greater grasp of how real fight scenarios feel.
Luckily for you, we’ve left a link to the most advanced boxing performance tracker on the market here. Use the code BLOG10 for a 10% discount, as a gift for being so studious!
Run The Show With The Right Boxing Boots
Running, jumping, being light on your toes: boxing is all about movement.
When it comes to choosing the right footwear, you've got to consider the sort of boxing training you'll be doing. You may be attending a traditional boxing class; heavy bags, hardwood floors and all. You might also be taking part in the widely popular and modern approaches to the sport: BoxFit and Boxing Circuit classes. We'd encourage a traditional fitness trainer if the class is a mix of fitness and boxing. For more traditional boxing classes, your footwork and movement will benefit from a proper boxing boot.
Gum Shield: Hold Onto Those Pearly Whites.
A gumshield is essential for sparring to keep your mouth area protected. Even if you aren't sparring, it's good practice to do any boxing training with one in: given the nature of the sport.
You need to ensure that your gumshield is properly moulded and fits properly. The gumshield should feel comfortable during training and should not impede a fighter's breathing in any way.
That’s A Wrap!
In contact scenarios, it's important to preserve your hands. Boxing wraps act as a support, keeping your hands nice and compact when you're pushing power through them and onto an opponent or bag.
Being a freeform piece of gear, fighters can wrap their hands in any way they like, to allow flexibility or extra support in areas where they need it. It’ll take time and practice to perfect wrapping your hands, and there’s a lot of different techniques a fighter can adopt to suit them. Ask your coach in the gym to show you how to wrap your hands, failing that, there’s a vast archive of videos on the internet that’ll show you how it's done!
For those looking for the additional safety of boxing wraps, but would like more convenience: quick wraps are a great option.
Keep Your Head In The Game With A Headguard
These last two are of course primarily relevant to sparring, or any activity that emulates a combat scenario: if you aren’t taking part in any activity that includes head-to-hand contact, you can rule this one out.
Studies [Is boxing With Headgear Safer - Should I Wear One For Sparring - Boxing Addicts] have shown that wearing a headguard during sparring helps maintain some great health benefits whilst training, and can lend itself to increased reflexes, cognitive function and confidence in the ring. A decent quality, well-fitting head guard will alleviate any head damage so that you can continue to focus on boxing.
Low Blows? You’ll Need A Groin guard
Coming in many different shapes and fittings, a groin guard provides padded protection to the groin area. Being one of the most sensitive areas of the human body, and the centre of reproduction for men and women, it's important to protect this area. Similar to the headguard, wearing a groin guard means you can move around freely in combat scenarios: comfortably and healthily.
If you're sparring or fighting professionally, these are a must-have.
Summary
So, now you’re just about ready to take on the sport of boxing: your journey may not be easy, but you are stepping into a world rife with physical, mental and social benefits! Whilst there are a lot more pieces of equipment that you can add to your arsenal, we tried to keep the list concise and affordable. Stay tuned for an extended list for you die-hard fighters.
So. you’ve got the gear, now you’re ready to hit the gym: check out our blog post on finding the Best Boxing Club For You here: Corner | The World's Most Advanced Boxing & MMA Technology.
Corner HQ
Located in the center of Manchester is Corner HQ. No ordinary Boxing Gym, Corner HQ is the heartbeat of Corner’s operations and technological innovations. Welcoming amateur boxers, professional fighters, fitness fanatics, and everything in between, we host a range of boxing classes to suit every level of ability with our expert boxing coaches and technology.
Join us for sparring sessions, boxing training, boxing fitness boot camps and boxercise-style classes.
Find out about our sessions here.
Corner Wearables
Corner Wearables are designed to enhance combat sports athlete performance with real-time analysis. Whether you are training for boxing or MMA (mixed martial arts), Corner punch trackers help your progress with intelligent analysis and session insight. Learn how to punch harder and punch faster with our market-leading technology and app.
Join fighters worldwide and take part in on-demand sessions through the Corner App, available on iOS and Android.
With Corner you can take boxing training anywhere anytime.
