Well, the answer could be the mother of all sports: boxing.

And you don’t have to risk a broken nose or a black eye either. Enroll in a boxing club if you want the real atmosphere and that true Rocky feeling, or just try one of the classes in your local fitness studio.

They are normally called things like Pro Boxing, Boxercise or similar. And there is another great thing about boxing classes: They attract a lot of women.

You don’t need any fancy or expensive equipment: What you normally would wear in the gym is fine, and all you need to invest in is a pair of gloves (roughly 40 dollars) and hand wraps (20 dollars max) to protect your knuckles and wrists.

Remember a bottle of water, too.

You will get new skills

If you have never boxed before, you need to get a few things straight from the start.

It’s not just about hitting hard, it’s about learning to avoid getting hit, and to learn how to protect yourself.

To be able to do that, you need to learn the correct posture, get your balance right and never let the guard down.

You will spend a lot of time finding out how all of this should be done – and it’s much harder than you think.

But after 5 hours of practising, you suddenly know how to punch, how to duck and dance away, and how to effortlessly divert the throw at your body into a counterattack.

All of this gives you balance, a lot of training for your back, legs and abdominal muscles. You will be light on your feet like a panther, fast as a reptile and smooth in your way of moving. You will get faster.

You will gain a lot of muscle

Remember Rocky’s training sessions?

Well, its not that hard these days, but classic exercises like skipping the rope, military favourites like jumping jacks and of course lots of push-ups are essential parts of any boxing class.

All trainers have different methods, but they are normally quite simple and usually very effective.

For example: my trainer puts in 15-20 push-ups between different parts of the class, and all of a sudden you realize, that you within an hour have performed 200 push-ups. That is quite a massive amount of training.

Another example: Hitting the sack with your left jab arm with full power for a minute doesn’ t sound hard, does it? Think again!

One minute of this will make your arm, shoulder and back go almost numb from strain. After a few weeks, you will notice that your body looks different, and especially your triceps, back and shoulder muscles will have grown and look more tuned.

You will get that V-shape. Just take a look at any professional boxer – they don’t look bulky, do they?

You will lose weight

An important part of box training is stamina: If you don’t have the ability to fight for 3 minutes in a row, you would lose the round or even get knocked out.

So you need to be in good shape. Your training will include things like interval running, jumping up and touching your breast with your knees, running on the spot for 1 minute as fast as you can – that type of training.

All of this will make you use a lot of energy meaning that you will lose weight. But its not as tedious as running for 10 kilometres or go bicycling for 2 hours.

This training is high-intensive, and the atmosphere and the pumping music will make you forget how hard it really is.

Have you ever watched boxing on TV? These top-tuned athletes train for hours every day, and still, some of them are just completely exhausted and can’t fight anymore after just a few rounds.

That is how hard boxing is on a professional level – and after hitting the sack for just a few minutes you know why, and your sweaty T-shirt will be the evidence! You will drop kilos fast, but you won’t use that much time on the project.

You will clear your mind

As for all intensive training, boxing has a therapeutic effect. You can hardly think of your work, bills or love problems when the biggest issue RIGHT NOW is to make that extra push-up, or avoid getting hit by the trainer if you forget your guard position.

There is also something quite primitive about boxing. It’s up to you, your skills, your stamina – and nothing else. You’re not part of a team, or someone in the back row of an aerobics class.

You’re all alone, and something happens in your brain, trust me. Something I can only describe as releasing your powers and hormones in a positive way, instead of taking it out on the road or in your relationship.

People might notice that you smile more, you seem more confident and relaxed. And for sure you are: You know by know, that you can manage one of the toughest training techniques in the world – so hey, that problem in the office is just a little something, when comparing it to make the last 5 minutes of skipping the rope at maximum speed.

Notice your mental change – it will come guaranteed.

Boxing is sexy

Next time you talk to a woman you just might be interested in, and she asks you what you do in your spare time, what do you think sounds best? “I play golf” or “I box”?

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Photo by Loura.