When I was in 4th grade, my dad took me to his boxing gym for the first time. The scent of sweat and Clorox hung off the gym like a second skin and adults bustled toward their boxing bags, wrapping their hands and chugging water. Upbeat rap music flowed through the speakers as the trainer taught us the combo of the day. A few minutes into the class, I knew I loved it. The way my hands felt when they hit the bag exactly on the beat of the loud music, or the pride I experienced after doing the core exercises. A new hobby of mine was born: boxing training.
When I started boxing training, I was getting body shamed and bullied at elementary school and in my dance classes. My body had begun to feel horrible to me, and I became aware of how skinny the other dancers were compared to me. I noticed the preconceived notion of what women should look like encased in every exercise environment, and if you didn’t resemble it, you felt like you could never succeed.
However, I found boxing training to be the only exception to this seemingly ever-pervasive truth. I found that the people who attend boxing classes are all different body types, ages, genders and fitness levels. At my gym, no one has ever told me that I needed to drop weight or that I do not belong there. It was an immensely liberating experience, and I was hooked on the sense of strength that boxing training gave me. To this day, I feel like Steve Rogers after taking the Super Soldier serum every time I walk out of the gym.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where these judgment-free exercise environments are severely lacking. According to the National Organization for Women (NOW), 53 percent of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. This percentage increases to 78 percent for 17-year-old girls. Likewise, the CDC found that in 2021, 57 percent of high school girls reported suffering from incessant feelings of hopelessness or sadness in the previous year: nearly double the percentage of men who reported having those feelings. Boxing training offers an opportunity for teen girls to focus on exercising without the pressure of having to obtain a certain body type. As head trainer at Title Boxing Evanston Isa Arciniegas puts it, “It’s hard being a woman in the world we live in today, especially a young adolescent. There are so many challenges girls face in their teen years…Studies show that teen girls are more likely than any other demographic to experience mental health issues…That’s why I think girls should box and punch it out!” Arciniegas is not the only one who sees the benefits boxing training can have for teen girls. Cleveland Clinic adds that boxing training can improve people’s mental health in ways such as raising self-esteem and even reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress. Cleveland Clinic refers to boxing drills as “a form of moving meditation”. This meditative aspect of boxing training combined with the catharsis of punching out all your emotions judgment-free makes it a uniquely rewarding sport — not to mention that it makes you very fit. Cleveland Clinic also states that boxing training increases endurance, boosts heart health, helps with balance and allows for full-body strength.
It is also important to note that boxing is a martial art, and in a world where knowing how to defend yourself is a necessity for teenage girls, boxing’s applications in self-defense are an invaluable asset to have.
One last great thing about boxing training is it requires no prior knowledge or experience contrary to what notions might be preconceived. Some teen girls shy away from boxing training because of their unfamiliarity with boxing or other martial arts. But these fears are unfounded because most boxing gyms offer intro classes and have trainers who are more than happy to help newbies learn more about the sport.
The benefits of boxing training for teenage girls are undeniable. As Arciniegas states: “I’ve seen young women completely transform themselves — not only physically, but mentally —through the huge burst of confidence that boxing provided…There is power and a sense of freedom in witnessing your strength on a heavy bag. I hope all young teenage girls can discover that and all the benefits that come with it.” And on that note, from one teenage girl to another, I urge you to consider boxing training and reap its many benefits.
