One is boredom. A routined exercise program has its benefits, such as not having to think each time you do a session. But it can also mean sometimes you are just going through the motions and are not always challenging yourself.

Spring is the perfect time to change up your program by heading outdoors for a session or incorporating something a bit more challenging - for the mind and body - such as boxing.

Workouts that pack a punch, so to speak, are great for the whole body. Boxing works the legs, arms, core and even your brain.

It can improve strength, general fitness, endurance, speed, co-ordination, agility and balance. And there is plenty of scope for variation.

You can do sets using different punch combinations, or a circuit that intersperses strength exercises with bouts of boxing.

You can buddy up with a friend at the park - you just need a set of gloves and focus pads - or set up a bag for some at-home workouts.

There are boxing guidelines to follow to minimise the risk of injury, so it is a good idea to do a class under a trained professional before going to town with your own gloves and pads.

Andrew Slee, owner and trainer at 12RD Fitness The Junction, Lambton and Charlestown, says the 12RD franchise uses boxing because it is challenging but also accessible.

12RD Fitness is High Intensity Interval Training, known as HIIT. It combines functional strength training with boxing across 12 three-minute rounds with 30-second rests.

"It's easy to learn the basics," Mr Slee said.

"It's easy for me to teach someone who's never boxed before how to do it for their first couple of sessions. But it's got a really long learning curve. So you could be doing it for 20 years and still making improvements and having fun.

"Boxing develops agility, balance, power, which is speed and strength combined, hand-eye co-ordination and increases your bone density.

"Boxing combines your mind and your muscles really well too. You can scale it, which means you can make it super athletic or really basic."

The full-body nature of boxing means you know you've had a workout after.

"A punch starts in the foot, and you push or pivot off the ground," Mr Slee said. "The energy travels like a coil up through your legs and your hips and your core, which is where you really start to generate that power, and, like a whip, the hand or the shoulder really only finishes the movement."

Mixing up some simple punching combinations with running intervals or strength exercises could break up the monotony for you this spring.

(30 minutes)

Intersperse boxing sets with squats, lunges, ab crunches and sprints. This could be 5 sets x [1min each exercise followed by 1min rest]

Renee Valentine is a journalist, qualified personal trainer and mother of three.

r.valentine@austcommunitymedia.com.au