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Photograph courtesy of TITLE Boxing Club
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Wanna feel like a bad ass and lose weight? Try Boxing.
Over the last few weeks I tried two St. Louis boxing clubs. The first was the Rock Hill branch of the Kansas City–based chain TITLE Boxing Club, which has five locations in St. Louis. The other was the locally owned The Boxing Gym in West County. There's also a branch in the Central West End.
They both offer instructor-led group classes that are centered around bag work (in some classes you can try sparring, but bag work is more common). Every boxing class includes loud music, lots of sweating, and “rounds” where you hit the bag for a minute or two then break and do other exercises like push-ups, lunges, jump squats, etc. Then it’s back to the bag. (See how to incoproate some boxing training into your next workout by clicking here.)
There, the similarities end. TITLE Boxing Club offers high-intensity boxing and kickboxing workouts. The instructor will show you how to throw a punch but you don't actually learn how to box. (The club does offer private lessons and special seminars in self defense and other subjects.)
At The Boxing Gym they do teach boxing technique. Members can even join an amateur boxing team. (At the Central West End, joining the team is $99). The gym also offers cross fitness, cardio kickboxing, yoga, youth boxing and body sculpting classes (classes vary by location).
A word to the wise: Buy your own gloves and wraps. David Ingamells, owner of The Boxing Gym, compared sharing boxing gloves to sharing underwear. He's right, but I’m cheap, so I held my nose and slipped my hands into communal gloves that left my hands smelling like old gym socks and death. Don’t do that to yourself.