Boxing is a fast-paced, exciting sport, which offers amazing benefits for your physical fitness, mental wellbeing, and overall agility. It is no secret, however, that athletes need to work hard, and this can often include running the same drills and practices over and over again, in order to increase your skill level and keep you at the top of your game.
Over time, it is easy to become disillusioned with the same old training sessions, and it is common for apathy and boredom to set in – this is even the case at the very top levels of the sport. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques you can employ which can help you to tackle boredom, stay on track, and continue to achieve your very best results. Feeling a little fed up with the day-to-day of your sport? Then read on to discover how you can motivate yourself and refresh your mindset.
- Set Your Goals
It may sound like a cliche or a trope reserved for corporate boardrooms, but setting goals and targets can be one of the most effective methods for alleviating boredom. Goal setting will help you to obtain a crystal clear view of just what you are trying to achieve, and the steps that need to be taken in order for you to succeed. Where do you want to be? What do you want to achieve? How are you going to get there? This breaks the process down into a series of small, manageable steps – in some cases, boredom can actually be the result of fear. It is easy to look at the top boxers, those performing at elite levels, and simply assume that we will never reach those dizzying heights.
While it is true that you are highly unlikely to enter the Hall of Fame overnight, there are small, manageable steps you can take to build your way towards this goal. Start with an aspiration or target – is there a fight you really want to win, a tournament you want to dominate, or a move you want to master? Take some time to really think about what you want, and use this as your long-term goal. Then, work backward from this point. How can you reach that? Do you need more fitness training or more intense work on your technique? Is there something holding you back from achieving that goal psychologically, or do you have a mental block against a particular opponent? Unpick the potential obstacles in your way, and then think of ways to overcome them.
- Don’t Underestimate Psychology
Not only does this activity help to clear the path in front of you in terms of physical obstacles, but it forces you to sit back and assess your motivations for training and boxing in the first place. When we get into the day-to-day work, monotony can set in, and it is easy to forget why you started your journey. When you take the time to think about what you really want, you are actually exploring why you want it, and this can offer an incredible psychological boost.
Setting goals and targets is also excellent in terms of building resilience and discipline – when you have a path clearly laid out, you realize that you cannot achieve everything you want overnight. Instead, you must practice delayed gratification, working on the small stuff in order to allow you to achieve your overall goals in the long run. This is excellent in helping to alleviate boredom: rather than an endless list of “to-do” items, your everyday training becomes another step towards your overall goal – you know where you are going, and you know how to achieve it,
- Track Progress
Another important element in eliminating boredom is to make sure that your progress is trackable and measurable – this is far more likely to keep you on your desired path. Rather than set an arbitrary goal, such as “I want to get better at right hooks”, you should try to break this down more specifically – “I want to increase the speed of my footwork”, or “I want to boost my accuracy”. Make sure that you have some way to track your progress in a visual way, and place this somewhere that you can see while training – this is a great visual reminder of your promise to yourself, and can be very motivating when you feel like giving up.
- Remember Your “Why”
Another important aspect of eliminating boredom is to remember why you are there in the first place. Why did you start boxing? What drew you into the sport? Was there a particular star or athlete who inspired you? If so, then you can try watching some of their key fights and victory moments – perhaps you can even find the fight that got you into boxing in the first place. By taking some time to go right back to the beginning, you will rediscover your love and passion for the sport, and this will make it easier to go through the motions of training – remember, at one point, each of these moves and techniques would have been your ultimate dream. Try to recapture that feeling of wonder.
- Enlist A Training Partner
Enlisting a training partner can be a very useful way to stave off boredom, as well as helping you to stay accountable. The right workout or training partner can challenge and push you, and you can set rival goals and targets to add an element of competition to the experience. In addition, having a partner there will force you to train and work, even when you are not in the mood – it is harder to flake out if doing so will mean that you let someone else down. You will be forced to remain accountable for your progress and effort, have someone there to boost and motivate you, and will have the chance to grow and develop from the experience of training alongside another fighter, who is bound to do things a little differently to you. Embrace this novelty, and try to use it to improve your own technique and game – remember, in boxing, there is always something new to learn.
- Create Visual Inspiration
Just as you should have your goals and targets clearly visible during training, you can also create a visual representation of everything that motivates or inspires you. This could be on a large piece of paper or a board, or in a small notebook which you can take with you wherever you go. In this, include everything you can think of that motivates or inspires you. Include quotes and statements from fighters you admire, images of your idols and role models, stories, news clippings and photographs of your success, and the success of others you admire. When you are feeling fed up, or are tempted to quit, take a few moments to meditate on these images – this will also help you to remember why you are doing what you are doing.
- Make A Choice
Ultimately, when you feel bored, there is a choice you can make: you are in charge of your mindset. You can either choose to continue to focus on the feeling of boredom and discontentment, or you can push through it, keep working, and feel grateful for the chance to work, train and improve your technique. To do this, you need to be in the habit of practicing mindfulness, and capture your thoughts before they have a chance to run away with you. Get into the habit of regular meditation – even just a few minutes a day will provide you with the tools to take more care and control over your thoughts, and improve your ability to recognize that you are starting to move towards boredom. As soon as you anticipate this, you can then switch your mindset to one of gratitude, and get on with your practice. This can take time to develop, but it is well worth putting in the effort to achieve the skill.
- Have A Backup Plan
Unfortunately, you will need to accept that at some point, your training will get boring – that is simply a fact of life. Rather than give in to the boredom, however, you can improve your chances of overcoming this by having a contingency plan in place. A good option is to create “If/Then” statements – “If I start to get bored, Then I will…” By having a toolkit on hand, you do not have to put in the mental effort to think about carrying on – with practice, you will simply slip into your contingency plan, and be able to carry on training. Part of the issue with boredom is that it increases your mental load, forcing you to think of a solution to get you out of it. Automate these systems for your mind, and you will be able to push through the apathy.
- Emulate Your Competitor
In the moments when you are about to give up, take a moment to consider your greatest rival – what do you think they are doing at that very moment? Are they also on the verge of giving up, or are they pushing themselves to an extra rep, trying to squeeze in an extra round, and doing everything they can to beat you? When it comes to a super close fight, they will be the ones who emerge victorious – unless you make sure that you are working just as hard, if not harder than they ever could.
- Have Fun!
Ultimately, one of the most important things you can do to help alleviate boredom is to try and make your training sessions as fun as you can – try and turn them into games, challenge yourself to beat your previous results and push yourself to a new personal best. By adding a little fun into your practice, and switching up your routine now and then, you can keep things fresh and engaging.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are boxing at an elite level, training for an amateur fight, or simply striving to be the best you can be, it is inevitable that at some point, you will become bored with your training. By implementing one of our simple techniques above, you can push through the apathy, keep training, and emerge as a better, stronger, and more focused fighter – all attributes that will make a difference in the ring.