Boxing training is spreading fast and becoming more and more popular among regular people.
A lot of them had nothing to do with any contact sports and are becoming interested in boxing.
That’s because they deal with a lot of stress like all of us do at least sometimes in life.
Boxing training offers many physical and mental health benefits and it can be really fun after you get passed the first steps.
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Newcomers the most frequently asked questions:
The most frequently asked question among newcomers is what type of boxing gloves should they buy.
As a trainer, when people contact me for boxing lessons, first I ask them a few questions.
Their answers are elementary for me before I start the training process.
✔Do you have, or did you ever have any health problems?
✔Did you ever practice any kind of contact sport before this moment in your life?
✔If you do cardio training, how do you usually do it, for how long, and with what frequency?
✔Do you have a pair of boxing gloves and hand wraps?
From here we start the quest for training gloves suitable to their weight, height, and gender.
Almost every boxer has a pair of gloves that they use for all training purposes.
You will see many different kinds of boxing gloves on the market.
The only ones you really need are TRAINING GLOVES and SPARRING GLOVES.
Training gloves can be used for all types of boxing training.
Hitting the heavy bag, double end bag, mitts workout, paddle training, and sparring.
But I suggest you have a pair of sparring gloves.
Their padding needs to be in good shape so that you won’t hurt your sparring partner or your hands.💡
General guidelines for body-weight and size in boxing gloves
Below are general guidelines for body weight and size of boxing training gloves recommended generally:
✔ 120lbs & down ( 10oz, 12oz or 14oz)
✔ 120lbs – 150lbs (14oz – 16oz)
✔ 150lbs – 180lbs (16oz – 20oz)
✔ 180lbs & up (18oz & up)🏋️♀️
These sizes are used for training, the gloves used in a fight can weigh 8oz or 10oz and 10oz XL.
✔The 8oz size is used more in women’s boxing and flyweights.
✔The 10oz are used in welterweight and middleweight.
✔The 10oz XL is usually used by heavyweights, having the cuff a little longer than the regular 10oz ones and that makes them fit higher on the forearm.
Read here about Everlast Powerlock 10 oz XL Fight Gloves, that were used by professional boxers, Canelo Alvarez, Leo Santa Cruz, etc.
As a general rule the bigger the oz number is, the more padding the gloves have, therefore the more protection for your hands.
What is the difference between gloves’ weight? Is it that important?
You can see for yourself that there’s a big difference in size and padding between them.
Just as a personal preference I like to use the 10oz fight gloves to hit the heavy bag because I like to feel my knuckles pushing into the bag at every punch.
I suggest you don’t do that because the fight glove is going to get damaged.
If you’ll want to use them in a fight you’ll hurt yourself and your opponent also.
Do it only if you have a spare pair of fight gloves to use only for their purpose.
I don’t recommend using gloves much bigger just for the extra padding, because what you’ll win on padding you’ll lose on safety.
Your hands should fit snugly inside the glove.
The looser the glove is, the more unsafe it becomes.💡
Another negative aspect about using oversized gloves is the fact that you are going to get tired much faster because they are heavier.
So, I recommend that you stick to your weight class when you are buying a pair of gloves for the first time.
You really need to be careful when you buy your first pair of boxing gloves that the gloves fit your hands with hand wraps on.
So, if the gloves fit very snugly without hand wraps I recommend not to buy them.
Or ask the seller for a pair of hand wraps to test the gloves with them on.
You have to be able to close your fist and open your palm.
Of course, most gloves are not going to make it easy for you to do that at first.
The more you use them, the better they’re going to fit.
With time your gloves should and will become one with your fist.
Why are hand wraps so important?
Well, hand wraps are very important because they have some unique benefits:
✔Protect your hands from getting injured.
✔Protect your gloves from sweat by absorbing a large part of them.
✔Make the gloves stay in place when you punch because they don’t allow them to become slippery from your sweat.
✔Unlike your boxing gloves they can be washed, and it is recommended that you wash them after every training.
✔They extend the lifetime of your boxing gloves because the more sweat that is absorbed inside the gloves padding the faster they’re gonna break.
Hand wraps come in many forms our days and you have a large variety where to choose from.
The prices aren’t very high for a pair of decent hand wraps.
Check out one of my favorite brands of hand wraps that I use Boxraw Hand Wraps
You can use my discount link if you choose to buy more stuff from them.
Buy ones that are at least 4 meters long if they’re elasticated and at least 4,5 meters if they are a regular cotton blend.💡
As a closing fact, when you’re a carrier boxer you can’t only have one pair of boxing gloves.
Because if you use your sparring gloves on the heavy bag all the time the foam is going to break faster.
And you can do real damage to your sparring partner and maybe to your hands.
If you just train like a boxer because it’s a hell of a fun way to do cardio, you can have a single pair of boxing gloves.
PS: Don’t forget to use your hand wraps, they’ll save your hands and extend the lifetime of your training gloves! 💡
