Shadowboxing at home: your first week
No gloves, no bag, two metres of floor. Three short sessions to go from never to a clean one-two.
Shadowboxing is boxing without anything to hit: you, your stance and your punches, thrown into the air. It’s how every boxer learns, and it’s enough on its own to get fit and move well. Here’s a first week.
Before you start
- Clear two metres of floor, away from furniture, people and pets.
- Warm up for two or three minutes: arm circles, a little bouncing on your toes, slow punches.
- Breathe out on every punch. Stop if anything hurts.
Session one: stance, guard, jab
Stand side-on, feet a little wider than your shoulders, lead foot forward. Hands up by your cheeks, chin down, elbows in. Now the jab: snap the lead hand straight out from the chin and straight back on the same line. Three rounds of two minutes: move around in your stance and jab, with a minute’s rest between.
Session two: the cross and the one-two
The cross is the rear hand, and the power comes from turning your rear heel and hip through. Practise it alone, then put it after the jab: one-two. Keep the other hand home at your chin every time.
Session three: put it together
Mix singles and one-twos, and move between them: a step forward, a step back, a turn. Say the numbers in your head. By the end of the week, the one-two should come back to your chin on its own.
What’s next
Hooks, then uppercuts, a week at a time: that’s the Fundamentals program. The coach calls each session for you, out loud, and tells you how it went.
