Postural performance while boxing with an opponent versus practice with a boxing bag

Background. Boxing with an opponent may have a more important effects on postural control than hitting a punchbag. It might be vital for a boxer to know what happens to their body control after a slugfest. Problem and aim. We predicted that postural sway would be increased by fatigue after bouts under Bout and Bag conditions. Our other hypothesis was that sway in boxers after a bout would be higher after actual bouts than after a punchbag routine. Methods. Eleven active male boxers (age = 22.73 ± 4.15 years) volunteered to participate in the study. We measured the subjects’ heart rate, blood lactate, and postural sway. We evaluated postural sway using the Biodex Balance System (BBS) on the dominant foot. Using a within-subjects design, each subject participated in two experimental conditions: Boxing with an opponent (Bout) and boxing with a punchbag (Bag). In each condition, we collected data six times: before boxing, after each round, and 10 and 20 minutes after boxing. Results. At Round 2, OSI scores were higher in the Bout condition than the Bag condition (t = 2.153; p = 0.044). For the Bout condition, the OSI scores in Round 1 and Round 2 were higher than in Pre-boxing (For Round 1, p = 0.031; for Round 2, p = 0.024) and in Recovery 20 (For Round 1, p = 0.044; for Round 2, p = 0.006). In the Bag condition, Recovery 20 had lower OSI score than Round 1 (p = 0.027). Conclusions. Our results suggest that competitive bouts impose greater challenges on postural control than working a punchbag, and that these differences are independent of general boxing-related fatigue.