Nazar Musa, CEO of Spartans Boxing Clubs tells us why…
As a start let me preface this with the fact that boxing saved my life. As a 123kg man approaching his forties and being diagnosed as a type two diabetic the choice was clear. Lose weight and get healthy, or count the days left. Thankfully a good friend pushed me into a boxing gym and I fell in love with the sport and the adrenalin from day one. There are some clear advantages to engaging in any cardio based training but boxing has other areas in which it not only helped me, but also helps millions of people globally. Here are a handful:
- Boxing Relieves Stress!
What better way to forget your woes in the office or at home than punching a bag or a pair of mitts as hard as you can. When you work out your brain produces endorphins which are key to relieving stress. In boxing the variations of intensity levels means that when you are resting between, say punching a bag to floor work, you’ve fatiguing your body at a rapid rate and are too busy recovering to remember any stress that you may have! When you progress to sparring all your focus is on the opponent in front of you not the day to day struggles we all face. If that focus is lost, you get punched. Which isn’t ideal.
- Fat burning at its best!
Can you recall seeing a fat boxer? This isn’t a co-incidence. As you transition from one exercise to another and from punching to cardio to strength to conditioning the calories you burn predominantly are greater than those you consume. This calorie deficit helps you lose fat. Alongside this as you get fitter, your metabolic rate increases and it gets easier to lose that fat even when the session is complete.
- Boxing helps grow your muscles
Growing muscles isn’t always about lifting the heaviest weights. Most boxing exercise utilizes our own body weight and techniques aimed at strengthening our core and our arm and leg muscles. The reactions and repetition associated with punching increase muscle growth in the arms and the need to ensure a stable base and a strong core means boxing exercises help muscles across the whole body
- Boxing improves your cardiovascular systems
If you don’t think that boxing can help with your cardio work just skip for 5 minutes and then punch a bag continuously for three more. Then do that 10 times. Consistently following a boxing regime builds your stamina, reduces your resting heart rate and generally improves your ability to go the distance. Heart rate and breath management are key aspects of boxing that are also being practiced in many holistic fitness regimes nowadays.
- Boxing gives you confidence
What better way to improve your self-confidence than to train like some of the most intimidating athletes in the world? The history of boxing is littered with stories of skinny kids learning self-defense to stand up to bullies. Although this could be considered a cliché the need for all of us to understand our own abilities and to stand up for what we want is very real. Boxing trains you to focus on yourself. Ultimately it’s only you hitting the bag. It’s only you standing in front of your opponent, and it’s only you who decides to leave the sofa and go and train with other likeminded individuals. The confidence that is gained by knowing you are healthy, have stamina and are in the midst of learning the noble art is unrivalled and will benefit you inside and outside the ring.
About Nazar Musa:
Born in the Sudan and brought up in the UK, Naz’s experience spans the globe. Naz and his family relocated to Dubai in 2005 and he continued his entrepreneurial journey starting and exiting various businesses in the travel and online space. It was in Dubai in 2008 that he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes caused by excessive weight gain. This is where his love of boxing started. As a method to lose weight Naz started boxing and entered a White Collar Boxing event losing close to 40kg in the process.
With the exit of one of his businesses Naz moved to Singapore in 2012 and alongside this business he opened the first Spartans Boxing Club in Joo Chiat, Singapore in 2015. Keen to take the best of all of the gyms Naz had boxed in since 2008, Spartans started as a community boxing gym where everyone needed to feel welcome and included. It continues with that ethos today.
In 2016 Naz moved again, this time to Australia before finally returning to Dubai in late 2018. The Spartans brand and business has continued to grow and now boasts 13 gyms in Singapore and most recently the first international gym in Dubai, UAE.
Naz firmly believes in the ability for the sport of boxing to help people at difficult times in their lives and is committed to continue the Spartans journey across the wider GCC and globally.