Katie Holmes has always kept her fitness routine varied, but there’s one workout she keeps coming back to: boxing.
‘I’ve been doing a lot of boxing, which I had never done before. It’s thrilling,’ she previously told Women’s Health US.
Speaking to Shape via Hello! shortly after taking up the sport, she added: ‘I got into boxing a couple of years ago, and now I take classes at Rumble.’
The Dawson’s Creek star says she loves the energy of the classes – and the fact they force her to work muscles she’d otherwise neglect.
‘They play great music, and it’s so fun. It targets your upper body, which is good because I can forget to do that,’ she said.
For Holmes, though, the mental benefits are just as important as the physical ones.
‘You can get out the stress of the day. I just go in there and think of all the mundane things that bother me, [like] traffic,’ she said. ‘I put off all my phone calls till after boxing, because it puts me in a much calmer place.’
She echoed that sentiment in an interview with Us Weekly.
‘I think it always makes me feel better because even if I do five minutes, it’s better than sitting on the couch. If I’m stressed about something it clears my mind and I can look at it from a different point of view.’
@jasonbardyarmosky and @katieholmes//Instagram
How exercise changed Katie Holmes’ confidence
Holmes admits she’s happier exercising indoors these days than pounding the pavements in winter.
‘I grew up in Ohio, and I did have to run outside. It’s too cold. If I can go to a 45-minute class instead, yes please,’ she told Elle.
That said, one of her proudest fitness achievements came outdoors: completing the New York Marathon in 2007.
‘It was really, obviously, intense training. It really taught me that I can achieve things that seem like there’s no way,’ she said.
‘When you’re putting your body through something like that, you really learn to appreciate your body, and what it does… Now I’ll run. I’ll box, bike, yoga.’
4 evidence-backed benefits of boxing1. It boosts cardiovascular fitness
Research found boxing raised participants’ heart rates to 85-93% of their maximum during two-minute rounds, classifying it as vigorous-intensity exercise. Participants also reached around 68-73% of their VO2 max — a measure of how efficiently the body uses oxygen during exercise.
2. It improves muscular endurance
Boxing has also been shown to improve muscular endurance, or your muscles’ ability to perform repeated contractions over time.
One study found that beginners who completed hour-long boxing classes three times a week for three months improved endurance in both their arms and abdominal muscles.
3. It develops coordination
Every punch in boxing relies on your upper and lower body working together.
A study published last year found amateur boxers outperformed non-athletes in tests of hand-eye coordination, visual-motor skills, peripheral awareness and reaction speed. Meanwhile, separate research describes boxing as requiring ‘optimal synchronisation’ of the lower body, core and upper body.
4. It supports mental wellbeing
Like many forms of exercise, boxing appears to benefit mental health too.
A 2023 review analysing 16 studies found boxing reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, relieved stress and anger, and improved mood, self-esteem and confidence.
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