By Larry Goldberg
It’s one of the simplest forms of workouts that can be done by anyone in nearly any sport. While boxers tend to receive the publicity for this type of training, athletes in sports such as martial arts, kick boxing and even football utilize shadow boxing to improve their quickness and reaction time. Its main function is to prepare an athlete’s muscle fibers before a tougher, more physical battle, often mimicking the actions expected in competition.
The exercise looks silly from an outsider’s perspective because it looks as if the athlete is fighting no one in particular, and it’s true. An athlete shadow boxing is punching the air, not a person, but it is for a reason.
Shadow boxing is a preparation tool, a warm up exercise, a cool down exercise and a technique critic. It works for preparation before a big fight because fighter’s often want to envision themselves against their future opponents. It works as a warm up/ cool down exercise because it gets the joints and muscles of an athlete ready without the resistance of gloves or other equipment, and it works as a technique critic because when shadow boxing there is no getting away from the way you look. Your technique cannot be blamed on an opponent nor can it be blamed on heavier gloves.
When a boxer or martial arts athlete shadow boxes they are not only getting the full benefit of working the core muscles most important to them, they are working on technique and style as well.
by: Cheap Boxing
