Boxing for mental health and stress relief, boxing at Apollos Boxing in Bolton is not all about teaching our students how to compete we also like to teach our boxers how to control the mental side of the sport. We also have a lot of students that come to Apollos Boxing do not want to compete in a boxing match but just want to get fit and to take their mind of either their work life or their private life.
Boxing is used by many people as way to clear their mind and exercise in general has been proven to help people with symptoms of depression, obviously if you are really struggling with depression or any other mental health problem we would advise you to go to see your doctor but physical exercise including boxing training is a great way to help the symptoms.
Below we have highlighted three ways boxing can help to improve your mental health and the release some stress.
Physically hitting a bag produces feel good hormones – Just the act of hitting a punch bag or the boxing pads releases feel good hormones in your body called endorphins and gives you a feel good factor during and after the boxing session.
Puts you in the moment – A lot of people suffer with anxiety and depression and struggle to be in the moment, meaning they are either thinking about past events or worrying about future events. During a boxing session you are fully concentrated in the actual boxing technique and the fitness element of the boxing so it is difficult to not be in the moment and forget about your worries.
You are around people similar to yourself – In each boxing class you are around other people with similar problems to yourself and in each boxing class there will be an element of partner work where you either compete against each other or work as a team and motivate each other, just the fact that you are around other people in the same situation helps you to realize you are not alone.
Mental health including depression is a massive issue and many boxers including the world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former two weight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton have both suffered depression and recovered from it using boxing as a way not only to regain their mental health but also to improve there mental and physical strength which will hopefully help stop it returning.
Boxing is a lot more of a mental game than a physical one and at Apollos Boxing in Bolton we aim to educate our boxers on not just the physical part of the sport but also the mental side of boxing and how to control and use there emotions instead of letting there emotions control them.
If you would like anymore information on this subject or would like some information on training with us down at Apollos Boxing then please feel free to contact us.