swimming for boxers

peopleschamp · March 7th, 2006, 08:13 PM

is swimming good for boxers?

Andydude00 · March 7th, 2006, 08:28 PM

Yes, depending on the style used (butterfly, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke). Also swimming uses many ancillary muscles that are not used in any other sport since you are actually balancing yourself in water as you move through it. Another advantage of swimming is that it is an all body exercise, that can also increase your oxygen absorption percentage which is useful in an endurance sport like boxing.

**mudrock** · March 11th, 2006, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peopleschamp

is swimming good for boxers?

Swimming can be good for any number of sports, as well as lifetime health. There are situations, however, where swimming can be counter-productive to a sport.
Boxing (and wrestling, for that matter) requires the use of compact, fast-twitch muscle fibers, while swimming requires more long, slow-twitch muscle fibers.

Swimming is good for the cardiovascular endurance that a boxer needs, but it may interfere with a boxer's fast-twitch responses.

I have know some boxers who train in the water, but they are not swimming. They stand in shoulder-depth water and pretend that they are working a bag, all while punching under water. I could see this as being beneficial to boxers.

Many baseball players will swing a bat under water for a similar style of training.

**MissytroN** · March 27th, 2006, 10:16 PM

Yes it is! I do Muay Thai and swimming helps upper arm strength, stamina, and all round fitness!

sweetthing03 · March 30th, 2006, 01:44 PM

swimming is good for all types of athletes. not just talking about a few laps though, maybe 20-30 mins of freestyle and backstroke are great for conditioning, you might want to also try treading.

menschmachine · April 10th, 2006, 06:08 AM

Quote:

I have know some boxers who train in the water, but they are not swimming. They stand in shoulder-depth water and pretend that they are working a bag, all while punching under water. I could see this as being beneficial to boxers.

yep...i know severel boxers who said that swimming (20 lanes)slows your punching down, instead follow the example from above.

**MissytroN** · April 10th, 2006, 06:45 PM

hmmm okay cool...this is what Van Damme does in the movie Kickboxer!! haha

**Doughboy** · April 11th, 2006, 06:11 PM

Is it just me or did anyone else read the title of this thread and think he meant boxers as in underwear not boxers as in fighters?

**MissytroN** · April 11th, 2006, 08:14 PM

LOLL Oh you! *bimbo giggles*

Seriously though, I tried what murdock said, punching underwater...pretty cool stuff. But I felt kinda silly doing it in front of people, so I didn't do it for long hah.