What Is Better for Losing Weight: Boxing or Kickboxing?

When selecting a type of exercise to help you lose weight, picking the workout that burns calories the fastest is effective if you have short-term weight-loss goals. If you have a competitive side and want to give such fighting sports as boxing and kickboxing a shot, be prepared for not only a fat-shredding workout, but also a challenging one.

The rate at which you'll burn calories while boxing, or during any type of exercise, depends on how much you weigh. A 125-pound person will burn 270 calories in 30 minutes of sparring, while a 185-pound person will burn 400 calories during the same length of time, notes Harvard Medical School.

Kickboxing burns calories at a slightly faster rate than boxing. Harvard Medical School notes that a 125-pound person will burn 300 calories during a 30-minute kickboxing workout. A 185-pound person, meanwhile, can expect to burn 444 calories during the same workout. The slight edge in calories burned in kickboxing is related to the extra leg activity you'll experience in the sport.

Boxing and kickboxing are about more than competing in the ring. Long before you test your mettle against an opponent, you'll train in either respective sport in a number of ways, all of which burn calories to help you lose weight. Road work is an integral part of conditioning for both activities; these regular runs burn calories quickly. A 125-pound person and 185-pound person will burn 300 and 444 calories, respectively, running at 6 mph for 30 minutes. Other gym exercises, such as jumping rope and hitting the heavy bag or target mitts, are effective ways to continue to burn calories that lead to weight loss.

Losing weight requires you to put your body in a calorie deficit, which means you're consuming fewer calories than you burn. Whether you choose to pursue boxing or kickboxing, each sport can help you achieve this deficit. When you can exercise enough to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories, you'll burn 1 pound of fat. Both sports can lead you to sweat profusely, but don't mistake your sweat loss with legitimate weight loss. Excess sweating will lead to a loss of water weight, but you'll replace this weight soon upon hydrating after your workout.