Que up the Rocky theme.

Boxing has always been something of a standout among martial arts. Karate, for instance, is more about pinpoint strikes and kicks, or something like judo is about grappling and throwing. Boxing, though, focuses on one thing, that being punching, and drives its practitioners to take that one thing to its absolute limit. The rest of the body is still trained to its absolute limit, but all toward the goal of dealing and receiving powerful punches. Despite that emphasis, it’s quite the all-encompassing exercise.

Alex Duenas is a fitness performance coach at the BoxFit gym in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the nearly endless summer of Palm Beach, the kind of workout that boxing provides can really take someone to their absolute limit. As Duenas himself explains, “boxing, combined with a high-intensity workout, is the best way to get in shape. It burns fat, gets you toned, and is exciting.” He’s definitely got that right; there’s few other things I can think of that get the blood pumping like a high-intensity boxing match. Except for maybe, I dunno, a robot boxing a mutant kangaroo. And that’s still boxing anyway, so…