How to do a seven-minute shadowboxing workout at home

I like short workouts because they remove the ceremony around exercise. There is no need to decide whether today is a “proper” training day. Seven minutes is enough to put the phone down, move well and finish with one thing to improve next time.

Set up the room before the clock starts

Clear a small rectangle of floor. Keep enough distance to extend your arms without touching a wall or furniture. Put your phone at roughly chest or eye height if you want to use the camera, and make sure the floor is not slippery.

Use four simple blocks

Start with a minute of light movement. Then spend two minutes on jab and cross, two minutes adding one angle after the combination, one minute changing the rhythm and one minute cooling down. The point is not to cram in every punch. It is to repeat a small pattern cleanly.

What to pay attention to

Keep your hands returning to guard, let the rear heel turn when it needs to and avoid chasing speed before the feet are balanced. If your shoulders rise or your breathing becomes frantic, make the movement smaller.

Make the next session easier

Write down one observation rather than a score: “I stepped too wide after the cross” is more useful than “bad workout.” On the next session, practise that one detail first.