What kind of stretching should I do before starting my boxing practice?

Question

I started boxing few days ago. I watched a lot of tutorials on youtube. I learned the technique for jab, straight punch, hook, uppercut. I practice solo (no teacher) on a heavy bag.

I want to know what kind of stretching should I do before and after my boxing practice to prevent injuries.

Answer 1

At our club we typically don't stretch prior to training. Instead we do about 10 minutes of either skipping rope or shadow boxing to warm up.

After training we will stretch in the following order:

• Back. Grab a pole with both hands. Keeping your feet together and against the pole, lean forward so that your hips are forced away from the pole. You should feel the stretch from your shoulders to your hips.
• Side. With the pole to your right, grab the pole with your right hand at waist level and with your left hand above your head. Lean towards the pole so that your hips are forced to your left. You should feel the stretch along your left side. Reverse directions and repeat for your other side.
• Chest/Shoulders. With the pole to your right, grad the pole with your right hand at shoulder level. Your arm should be straight. Twist your upper body to your left. You should feel the strech across the right side of your chest into your arm. Reverse directions and repeat for your other side.
• Lower Legs. Facing the pole, touch the pole with the balls of your right foot where your toes join the main part of your foot. With your heel on the floor lean into the pole so that your lower leg is straight up and down. Hold this for a few seconds, then straighten out your leg and lean backwards, pushing your chest over top of your knee. Hold this for a few seconds, then move your right foot backwards and lunge forward, keeping the right foot flat on the ground. Repeat these three stretches for your left leg.
• Upper Legs. While standing, grab your right ankle and pull towards your bum. Hold this for a few seconds, then cross your right ankle over your left knee and sit down while holding the pole for support. Repeat these two stretches for your left leg.

Answer 2

Whether I'm doing a Muay Thai, BJJ, or boxing class at my gym (I do MMA) we almost never actually stretch before training. Like Doug said above there is a warmup process, usually involving Frankenstein walks, inch worms, jumping jacks, and then a bit of shadow boxing. Every once in a while we'll get something called a trigger point roller and use that instead of the warmup (Trigger Point) to get rid of any knots and tension, then move right into shadow boxing or bag work. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

as part of the warm up, joint rotations followed by dynamic stretching is fine Such as leg swings, arm swings etc.

Leave any static stretching to the end of your workout.