At Title Boxing Club, you won’t be able to see through the fisticuffs forest of punching bags hanging from the ceiling. The Lemmon Avenue studio, right above Buffalo Wild Wings, has plenty of exercise equipment and a small boxing ring. But most of the space is taken up by 60 evenly spaced punching bags, like a well-planned orchard.
I came for a 60-minute class. Glove rentals and hand wraps will put you back $20. I picked out a blue pair of wraps, which were longer than I am tall, and the receptionist showed me how to put them on. While she wrapped my hands, she asked if I had taken boxing before. She wanted to know if I needed an explanation of all the terms and moves. I had boxed before, and so she just broke down the structure of the class and told me that I can, and should, make modifications as needed.
After that, I found a spot in the punching bag woods and waited for class to begin.
We started with a 10-ish-minute round of high-energy, cardio-heavy warmups. We did high knees, squats, jumping jacks, all kinds of lunges, various hops, butt kicks, pushups, and the worst, burpees. The instructor repeated exercises. I thought I was done with pushups or lunges, but then a minute or two later, we did them again. I wanted to groan. I didn’t pace myself well, so by the time we got to burpees—which I can’t even do—I didn’t even have enough power to attempt them. So, I modified and did toe touches. While this wasn’t frowned upon, it certainly felt awkward.
Sufficiently warmed up, it was time to put on our gloves and get to work. We did eight rounds of boxing. The instructor showed us the combination a couple of times—there was an assumption everyone knew the lingo—and then we were off on our own. None of the combinations were particularly complicated. Jab-cross-hook, and so forth. In later in the rounds, he’d call out where on the bag to hit. But you really had to pay attention to him; there aren’t any signs or screens telling us the combo we were on.
While we punched, he walked around adjusting form and giving encouragement. The instructor pushed us to bounce around and circle around the bag as we punched instead of staying stationary. He also extolled high-energy movement. The last 30-seconds or so of each round was like a mini power hour, and we’d do non-stop uppercuts, for example, until the buzzer rang.
Between each round, we had a minute of “active resting” to keep our heart rates up. We did squats one round, jumping jacks another, high knees, and, you guessed it, burpees again. It was just as cardio intensive as the boxing. I often had to pause to breathe. Glancing around, others were doing the same.
The last 10 minutes of class was dedicated to abs. We did so many crunches, which, like burpees, I cannot do. (But I can at least pretend to do them, so I faked my way through.) There were lots of leg lifts, scissor kicking, and bicycling. The class ended with a full-minute-long plank and balancing in a crunch.
Overall, I liked the class. The music, which included TikTok hits, rap, naughties jams, Avril Lavigne, and the queen, Rihanna, was the right amount of energy I needed. And I liked that I could just focus on my own workout and not feel bad about making modifications (we could just do what we were able to do). However, the constant cardio was exhausting. It was hard to see my peers through all the bags, but from what I could see, everyone struggled with the pace. I’d go back, but maybe not for an evening session.
Final Thoughts
Aesthetics
The studio is deceptively big—the 60 hanging punching bags take up a good deal of real estate. But the studio has a straight-business feel, with the bags, a boxing ring, exercise equipment and machines, and an annex space, which tells you that you’re going to get a serious workout in. Plus, the studio ran through a well-rounded playlist that’s sure to appeal to anyone walking in.
Difficulty
The class itself is not that hard. None of the boxing combinations are too complicated. The biggest hurdle in this class, though, is endurance. You are moving and grooving in this high cardio class for the full hour, and doing burpees during an “active rest” minute isn’t going to help you catch your breath.
Accessibility
This is a place where you must take charge of your workout and do what you can do based on your abilities. The instructor didn’t really call out modifications, but he would often announce “make modifications if you need.” Looking around the class, I noticed pretty much everyone was making a modification at one point another, whether it was based on ability or energy levels. While it would have been nice if modifications came from the instructor, any change on our end was accepted without question.
The Cost of It All
A single class costs $30. While that’s not totally out of the norm of gyms like this, I had to pay an additional $20 to buy hand wraps and rent gloves. This put my all-in total at $50, which is a lot for someone just trying out boxing. Title does offer some free community classes—keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested. Also, in addition to single classes, the studio offers class packs beginning at $130 and monthly memberships starting at $104.
Would I Go Back?
I wouldn’t say no, but I’d invest in a pair of gloves first.
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