30-Minute At-Home Boxing Workout For Beginners
A 30 minute workout is a great way to quickly break a sweat and fit exercise into your busy day. By combining strength and cardio training, you can have a well-rounded at-home boxing workout that targets the largest muscles in your body.
The following will be a four-stage workout:
- Warm-up (5 minutes)
- 3 rounds of boxing drills (12 minutes)
- HIIT conditioning (8 minutes)
- Cool down (5 minutes)
The exercises and movements described in the workouts are all suggestions, so feel free to add or substitute any exercises that you enjoy! Let’s dive right in:
Warm-Up (5 minutes)
A staple of any effective workout is getting the blood pumping and your muscles ready to work. This short five-minute warm-up will do exactly that.
Light Jog (1 minute)
- If you have space, feel free to run in a small circle or around the perimeter of the room you are in
Moving Lunges (1 minute)
This exercise is a dynamic stretch that prepares your legs to work out.
- From a standing position, step forward with one leg and bend until your back knee almost touches the ground
- Make sure that your front knee doesn’t extend past your toes
- Stand up on your front leg and step forward into a lunge with your other leg
- Continue for one minute
Arm Circles (1 minute)
- Slowly rotate your arms in wide circles
- After 30 seconds, switch directions
Hip Twists (1 minute)
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and twist your body from your waist to one side, pivoting on your opposite foot
- Next twist in the other direction and pivot on the other foot
- Repeat for one minute
Jumping Jacks (30 seconds)
Side Shuffles (30 seconds)
- Spread your feet about shoulder-width apart
- Drop down into a boxing stance with your knees slightly bent
- Shuffle to your left, sliding your right leg towards your left and, right before your feet meet, shoot your left leg out
- Repeat this shuffling motion to the left for several steps, then shuffle to your right for the same number of steps
- Continue shuffling back and forth, side to side, for 30 seconds
Drills and HIIT Conditioning (20 minutes)
Let’s get right into this punching bag workout for beginners. As a note, no equipment is absolutely necessary for these boxing exercises. However, a 30 minute heavy bag workout may feel more effective on your arms and body overall, so eventually investing in a bag is a great idea to consider.
Boxing Drills (12 minutes)
This part of the workout consists of 3 3-minute rounds of boxing drills. Rest for 1 minute between each of the rounds.
Round 1 (3 minutes)
Punch Combo: Jab - Cross - Lead Hook (1 minute 30 seconds)
- Drop into a fighting stance and throw a quick jab, followed by a power cross and lead hook
Punch Combo: Jab - Jab - Cross (1 minute 30 seconds)
- From your fighting stance, throw two speed jabs, followed by a power cross
Rest for 1 minute.
Round 2 (3 minutes)
Punch Combo: Jab - Rear Uppercut - Rear Hook (1 minute 30 seconds)
- From your fighting stance, throw a quick jab followed by a rear uppercut
- Immediately follow up with a rear hook
Punch Combo: Jab - Cross (Freestyle) (1 minute 30 seconds)
- For the next minute and a half, throw a jab and a cross at random intervals
- Practice moving around your bag, or moving in a circle, and throwing this combination at different times and speeds
Rest for 1 minute.
Round 3 (3 minutes)
Speed Uppercuts (30 seconds)
- Throw consecutive uppercuts with both arms for 30 seconds
Speed Body Shots (30 seconds)
- Do the same consecutive movement with body shots for 30 seconds
Speed Hooks (30 seconds)
- Throw speed hooks for 30 seconds
Freestyle (1 minute 30 seconds)
- Freestyle on the bag or in the air for the final minute and a half, being sure to pace yourself
Rest for 1 minute.
HIIT Conditioning (8 minutes)
Perform each of these exercises for 1 minute, followed by 1 minute of rest.
Exercise #1: Plyo Push-Ups
- Drop into a push-up position and lower down towards the ground
- On the push up, instead of lifting yourself normally, use your arms and momentum to push off the floor and lift your hands as high off the ground as you can
- Land back in a push-up position and repeat for 1 minute
Exercise #2: Russian Twists
- Sit on the floor with your heels touching the floor (For an added challenge, lift your heels off of the ground)
- Bring your hands to your chest and twist side to side, tilting your body slightly back towards the floor to engage the core
- Continue for 1 minute
Exercise #3: Squat Thrusts
- From a standing position, squat down and plant your hands on the floor
- Kick your feet back so that you’re in a plank position
- Hop your feet back to center and stand
- Repeat for 1 minute
Exercise #4: Mountain Climbers
- Drop into a standard plank position with your shoulders over your wrists
- Drive each knee towards your chest one at a time as if you were running
- Continue for 1 minute
Cool Down (5 minutes)
With the core part of the workout down, it’s important to take some time to cool down. This 30 minute workout focused on both cardio and strength, so your muscles should be burning and your heart rate should be up.
Perform each of the following cool down stretches for 1 minute:
Stretch #1: Biceps Stretch (1 minute)
- Stand up straight and interlock your hands behind your back
- Slowly bend at the waist until your arms are reaching towards the sky behind you
- Hold for 30 seconds
- Release and stand back up
- Repeat for another 30 seconds
Stretch #2: Runner’s Lunge (1 minute)
- Drop down into a lunge position
- Lower yourself to the floor and plant your hands on the ground, with both of your arms on the inner side of your lead leg
- Your knee should be at about a 90-degree angle
- Hold for 30 seconds and switch legs
Stretch #3: Butterfly (1 minute)
- Sit on the floor and bring your legs together so that the bottoms of your feet are touching
- Use your arms to push your knees towards the floor and focus on relaxing your shoulders
- Bend at your waist and try to bring your head as close to the ground as possible
- Hold for 30 seconds and slowly rise up
- Repeat
Stretch #4: Head to Knee (1 minute)
- Sit down on the ground so that your legs are extended out straight in front of you
- Take one leg and bend your knee, placing the bottom of your foot on the inner thigh of your other leg
- Reach out and try to grab the foot of your extended leg
- Switch legs after 30 seconds
Stretch #5: Cross-Body Arm Stretch (1 minute)
- Pull one arm across your chest at shoulder height and use your other arm to hold it tightly in place
- Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with your other arm
You’ve just crushed this 30 minute beginner workout. In a short span of time, you managed to get in an effective warmup, intense workout, and relaxing cool down. We often get a few commonly asked questions regarding the effectiveness of short, 30-minute workouts.
What Is The Best 30 Minute Workout?
In our opinion, boxing workouts are one of the best ways to squeeze in a 30 minute workout. A 30 minute boxing workout combines strength training and cardio to give you a full-body workout in a short amount of time. Plus, even if you don’t have a personal gym, you can still do a boxing workout at home without any equipment.
Can a 30 Minute Workout Be Effective?
Yes! The effectiveness of a workout isn’t solely gauged on time, but rather how hard you work during that time. A 30 minute full-body workout at home can certainly be effective and cause you to break a sweat, so long as you are willing to put in the work.
Is a 30 Minute Workout Enough To Build Muscle?
Yes--time isn’t everything when it comes to seeing results from a workout. A 30 minute workout with weights is more than enough to build muscle and even bodyweight training without weights can be just as effective. It all depends on the exercises you perform and the effort you put in.
Make sure you stay hydrated and check out more of our at-home workouts when you’re ready to get going again!
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