I Tried It: Boxing Fusion

There’s no greater stress reliever than beating your fists against a heavy bag.

Printed IssueSubscribe and get 1 year for $18

I couldn’t wait to punch away my tension at the Boxing Fusion class at Grantville’s Xplicit Fitness, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. Boxing… fused with what, exactly?

The owner, Chad Yarvitz, is a former Golden Gloves champion. He started the class with a 30-minute warm-up. Be warned: This “warm-up” is intense.

While Yarvitz shouted out health facts, we alternated between jumping lunges, Swiss-ball push-ups, dumbbell rows, sprints, and—my favorite—flinging heavy battle ropes.

PARTNER CONTENT

A Midweek Murrieta Escape with a Luxe Spa Bonus 

Vi at La Jolla Village Brings Good Living to Life

Then trainer Mike Douglas joined Yarvitz and explained our next challenge: three minutes (the length of a boxing round) at each of six stations. We worked our way through chest-presses and rows on TRX straps, shuttle sprints, plank hammer curls, time on a rower, and plenty of punching: on a heavy bag, a double-ended bag, and even trainer-held focus mitts for people with boxing experience.

The hour finished up with “the Grid,” a 10-minute all-out sprint to fit in as many reps as possible of 60 v-ups (jackknife sit-ups), 20 bear crawls, and five shuttle runs.

This mash-up of boxing and functional fitness is a tough workout, but also easily customized to every fitness level. I was never bored, and at the end of the hour I was sweat-soaked and panting—and completely stress-free.

I Tried It: Boxing Fusion

Photo by Corey Jenkins