Tired of bobbing and weaving from life’s recent haymakers? Deliver the perfect counterpunch to recent workout dilemmas by creating your own home boxing gym.
COVID-19 hasn’t changed the way we throw a jab, it’s only relocated where that punch lands. For many Americans, the sweet spot for practicing the sweet science has shifted from the gym to the living room. Since the coronavirus pandemic forced many fitness centers to close, gym product sales soared, reaching more than $2 billion last year.
With home gyms here to stay, everyone discovered there’s more than one way to Rumble, including its co-founder Noah Neiman. The celebrity fitness instructor’s original pugilism premise—punch things to a hip-hop beat with a group of “dope” people—needed a social-distancing alternative, after coronavirus temporarily made it “fight over” for its 13 nationwide locations.
In came Rumble TV, the at-home alternative to Neiman’s groundbreaking chain of boxing boutique clubs. From your phone or laptop you can both hit and HIIT like you did prepandemic—just without the sweaty, after-class high-fives.
“Now with Rumble TV, we box, lift weights, do conditioning work, get our cardio in, listen to insanely fresh curated playlists, and do it all with a wide variety of incredible people across the country that make Rumble what it is,” Neiman says. “RumbleTV is for the people, because we wouldn’t be here without them!”
Boxing has always been the ultimate full-body workout, whether you adhere to John L Sullivan’s 19th century style of bare-knuckle basics or require Megan Thee Stallion beats to unleash your inner Tyson. Each jab, hook, and uppercut helps builds arm strength, as well as gets the heart pumping for a great aerobic workout. That 1-2 combo helps lowers risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, even diabetes. It even adds in improving hand-eye coordination.
Did we mention you get to hit things?
So whether you’re a morning person who wake up early to get their workout in or need to quickly go from the home office to the home gym for a quick hit, Neiman offers a few suggestions to get started. In addition to RumbleTV (you can get a seven-day free trial, including a punch tutorial from Neiman), we added some ideas to help you land the perfect knockout blow to your boxing workouts at home. The rest is up to you.
“Boxing is a SKILL, and like any other skill, what’s watered will grow,” Neiman says. “You can commit as little, or as much as you want into developing the skill. It’s one of the hardest skills I’ve ever trained; and with that comes a sense of accomplishment and humility after a great boxing workout. Who couldn’t use more of those two things!”
Shadow boxing has been the most basic of fight staples, helping develop technique, foot speed, and hand coordination through repetition. Lots and lots of repetition. “As Bruce Lee said: ‘I fear not the man that practices 10,000 kicks one time, but the man who practices one kick 10,000 times,’” Neiman says. It’s also an underrated cardio workout, burning up to 400 calories an hour.
Not only can you check your six-pack after you finish practicing your uppercut while looking at its 70×26-inch mirror, you can also add one of Forme Life’s boxing classes or cool down with some yoga or Pilates or a number of other workouts with lengthy library of resistance and recovery programs.
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Courtesy of ragefitness.com
You’ll Need: Jump Rope
Whether you’re on a budget or building the ultimate home fitness center, a jump rope is arguably the most simplistic and effective cardio machine you’ll actually need. Paired it with shadow boxing, not only will your Mayweather-like foot moves be enhanced, but jumping rope can also burn up to 20 calories per minute, making what Neiman says is the perfect conditioning one-two.
Rage Fitness bills the R1 as the world’s fastest speed jump rope, and for under $10, would you be upset if it actually ranked second? Not only will your double- and triple-unders look smoother and quicker, but the R1’s adjustable 11-foot speed cable will work equally as well whether you’re a 6’6” heavyweight like Anthony Joshua or a 5’6’’ legend like Manny Pacquiao.
Since our bodies are made up of 60% water, Aqua Bags offer the nearest simulation of hitting another human without anyone actually wincing in pain. Aqua Bags are respected by most fight practitioners in their ability to absorb punches more effectively, which can help in reducing injuries. and making the a safer target, a reason why each Rumble studio is equipped with Aqua Bags, which also double as an effective uppercut bag. By adding its recently developed sensor to Aqua Bags, you can now measure everything from strikes per minute to power of each strike, even calories burned, making it the world’s first smart bag.
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Courtesy of sanabulsports.com
You’ll Need: Gloves
You can’t feel like a true boxer without putting on a pair of gloves. Otherwise, you’re just a mangy street fighter. Plus, without adequate hand protection, breaking your knuckles becomes inevitable, and that’s strongly discouraged.
Channel the power of the Jedi to match your inner-Canelo counterpunch strength with these R2-D2 Classic Boxing Gloves. They may look like they’re from a galaxy far far away, but matched with a set of hand wraps, these gloves are ready to show off your punching power in any arena on earth as well as your own home gym.
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Courtesy of modestvintageplayer.com
You’ll need: Speed bag
It helped Rocky, and crushing a speed bag is essential if you want to improve hand speed, hand-eye coordination, even shoulder strength and explosiveness.
While creating your home boxing studio is so 2021, adding this vintage throwback to your gym reeks of classic leather elegance. Attach it to a platform and this Modest Vintage Player bag will provide a soft feel for your mitts and a smooth rebound with each and every hit.
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Courtesy of Ringtocage.com
You’ll need: Boxing Round Timer
If you’ve come this far in creating the perfect home boxing gym, do you really want to rely on your phone for an inauthentic ring sound? No gym can be complete without a wall or desk mount timer that has a buzzer loud enough to end each round in any stadium or studio. “To me, hearing the buzz of a ring timer is just special,” Neiman says.
This model from Ring to Cage comes with all the bells and whistles, literally. You can adjust round times from as short as 30 seconds to up nine minutes. If you’re hunched over your waste basket after the first round, the timer can allow for up to five minutes of rest time in between rounds. Ding Ding!
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Courtesy of NordicTrack.com
You’ll need: Dumbbells
Classes such as Rumble TV’s strength-based circuits focus on both weight training and boxing conditioning. Having a set of dumbbells that take up minimal space but can mimic an entire rackful of weights and can be used for any type of workout is every gym owner’s dream.
Punching isn’t the only requirement for being boxing fit—you’ll also need to press and pull (and squat) in order to build strength as well as skill. With NordicTrack’s latest muscle-building must-have, you’ll be able to add everything from shoulder presses, curls, and renegade rows to any HIIT circuit. Plus, with its easy-to-adjust weight-changing mechanism—which goes from 10 to 55 pounds in 2.5-pound increments—you can easily turn your boxing gym into a weight room and perform a solid weight-training workout. That means no skipping leg day.
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Courtesy of hyperice.com
You’ll need: A Recovery Tool
If the workout was a little too rough or your muscles are in need of a little extra self-care before you begin, Neiman suggests adding type of percussion tool to your gym.
The latest from Hyperice, the Hypervolt GO weighs less than two pounds, but is as powerful as its big brother model. Its three speeds maxes out at 3,200 percussions per minute, making it the perfect accessory for home prehab/recovery or even taking to the gym or on your next flight (TSA carry-on approved). Your muscles will thank you.
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skullcandy.com
You’ll need: A Portable Sound System
The sounds of silence cannot be an option when your unleashing a fury of blows to your bag. “Imagine the Rocky mantra without the “Eye of the Tiger!’” Neiman says. “Music is everything! We love hip-hop at Rumble, but we rock out to custom remixed tracks of all genres.”
Crank up everything from Meek Mill to Metallica while you’re cranking haymakers on the bag with this compact 4-inch speaker. If Balkan gypsy music is your thing, but not your significant other’s, you and your speaker can head to the garage and unleash your Tyson Fury.
You’ve put this much effort into building a home, why stop with your feet? Show off your jump-rope skills and fighting footwork in the same style that fighters from Logan and Jake Paul to Paige Vanzant have begun sporting. These high-quality Italian leather shoes come with reinforced ankle and heel support to help prevent injuries when you’re floating like a butterfly in training, and also have extra-cushioned soles that allow you to comfortably strut into the club (or just your kitchen) for any post-fight victory celebration.
