GREENFIELD — The timer on the wall bleeps, signaling for the group of athletes to change stations for the next round.
A man works a speed bag in the corner, honing his hand-eye coordination as he moves to the rhythmic beat the bag makes with each strike. Across the room, another brawler practices his combinations on a heavy bag, repeating jabs, crosses and hooks till his arms grow sore. Beside him, a woman repeatedly slams uppercuts into a higher-sitting heavy bag to perfect her power shots.
When the timer sounds off again, the floor is drenched with sweat as the fighters rotate positions. Working out with Family Fun and Fitness’ boxing club is exhausting work, but it beats spending hours on the treadmill, said member Ryan Lukens.
None of the participants in the gym’s boxing class plan on stepping into the ring anytime soon, they said. But cross-training in the sweet science can be of great benefit to any athlete willing to step outside their comfort zone, said instructor Mike Bellinger.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Lukens, who competes in Spartan Obstacle Course races, said that the boxing club is used by numerous athletes for cross-training purposes, he said. Learning basic combinations and principles is a must for pugilist athletes in boxing, kickboxing or MMA, but it can also be a fun and useful tool for just about anybody willing to put gloves on.
Family Fun and Fitness’ boxing class offers the same cardiovascular benefits as a spin class, but with much more variety, Lukens said.
“Running on a treadmill, who wants to do the same thing over and over again?” he said. “You get a whole different attitude, a whole different flavor with this.”
One couple, Harland and Beth Howard, joined the boxing club after getting exposed to combat sports through their son, who is an amateur MMA fighter. They learned to enjoy the aesthetics of the striking arts, so they started dabbling in boxing themselves, they said.
Beth Howard said the focus mitt work has helped her coordination, and the low-rest periods keep her fit. She’s completely drained by the end of a session, but it’s the good kind of exhausted, she said.
Harland Howard said that the club’s focus on interval training has helped him develop stamina and muscular endurance, which has made the process of achieving his current weight loss goals a lot more fun.
Beating up a heavy bag provides him with a constructive way to handle the frustrations of day to day life, he said with a chuckle.
“It’s so fun, and you can get angry,” Harland Howard said. “You can relieve some of that stress you build up on long work days.”
“If you get in here, you will leave drenched and worn out,” he added. “Three minutes seems like an eternity.”
Lisa Hooper, a competitive bodybuilder, has been cross-training in boxing for about a year and half, she said. It’s an interval workout that still builds aerobic and anaerobic endurance, which helps burn fat while still keeping her off the stair climber, she said.
Each class, the trainer has them do a little bit of everything, Hooper said. From core movements to heavy bag intervals to a few rounds in simulated sparring, each participant is guaranteed to get a full-body workout, she said.
“It’s just part of it,” Hooper said. “Every day I’ve got to train a little bit of something, and I love this.”
