Boxing Classes: Jab, Uppercut and Feint Your Way to Stress Relief

For some, spring semester is a time to relax. Twelve credits and evenings spent on McKeldin Mall, kicking back with some music, a blanket and a few friends, can feel completely deserved.

For others, though, the winds of spring only bring pollen, bugs and humidity to this campus. Classes will eventually ramp up, and warm nights will be blown out by the library’s air conditioning. Few things, even spring break, will feel like a worthy rest.

Not this year, though.

Beginning this spring, the University of Maryland’s Recreation and Wellness department will offer boxing classes. These classes will make use of the Eppley Recreation Center’s new Training Studio, a matted room featuring several heavy bags, ropes, pull-up bars and medicine balls.

Sarah Grace, RecWell’s fitness program coordinator, said it will be a welcome addition to other classes already offered by the department.

“Boxing is a huge trend right now in the fitness industry,” Grace wrote in an email, “and it is a very empowering, fun workout.”

Classes will be rolled out this semester during a testing phase extending into the winter term. They will be offered twice a week over break, Grace wrote, until being opened up to a full schedule in the spring. Then, she expects to host classes five to six times per week.

Twelve student coaches and Grace herself are certified to teach. Two coaches will handle each class. The first 15 minutes of each meeting will include instruction on technique, form and hand wrapping, and then 45 minutes of exercise, she wrote.

Time will be split between actually hitting the heavy bags, Grace said, and using the room’s other pieces of equipment. Four circuits will consist of two rounds each and last for about seven minutes: three minutes on the bag, three minutes of conditioning and one minute of rest. Conditioning might include bodyweight exercises, like burpees and squats, or time spent swinging the battle ropes.

Caroline Guterres, a sophomore biology major, doesn’t have any experience in boxing, but said she would look into the new classes offered at Eppley.

“That’s definitely something I’d try out,” said Guterres. “I’m always down to try a new fitness class.”

Grace said these classes will follow a format developed by UrbanKick, a kickboxing workout program developed by fitness guru Shane Barnard in California. RecWell’s instructors were certified to teach its new course, called UBOX, in October.

The department will provide reusable hand wraps to participants, Grace wrote, but will encourage students to bring their own equipment if possible. For sanitary purposes, boxing gloves won’t be provided, but discounted wraps and gloves will be offered at Eppley’s equipment desk.

“We did not want to create a barrier to this class,” Grace wrote, “which is why we are providing wraps that we can wash and re-use.”

For Angie Faieq, a sophomore international relations and Spanish major, that won’t be an issue. She has her own boxing gloves and pads, she said, and has trained with this university’s boxing club in the past. New classes, like next semester’s boxing program, are always on Faieq’s radar.

“I’ve attended a few classes through RecWell, like the yoga and BodyPump classes, and I had such a fun time,” she said. “I went with friends and it was nice to get out of my usual fitness comfort zone.”

Faieq mentioned she tries to include boxing in her regular workouts. It’s intense, she said, and that’s what draws her to it.

So, whether you’re looking forward to an easy or hard spring semester, these classes might be worth checking out. Who knows? You might be be glad you traded in your quiet night on McKeldin for some boxing gloves.