The sport of boxing is a real test of tests. When you get hit or knocked down, how do you react?

Boxing teaches people to be strong physically and mentally; how to “take a punch” and not turn and run. Fight or flight? You must fight, it’s your only option. We’ve taught you about boxing for beginners and boxing workouts at home. Now, check out these five benefits of boxing can be useful in improving your life.

Stress Relief

Physical activity is a known stress reducer; runners experience the phenomenon of a “runner’s high” following a session, and boxing is no different. When you box, you reduce stress by hitting your zone and focusing on the technique required to throw a perfect punch. Outside stresses are put to the side when you step inside the ring and in the hours after a tough workout.

When you are doing something you enjoy that’s challenging and fulfilling, you become naturally happier. This is amplified whan participating in an activity like boxing that you can continually improve upon.

Ellen Billet of Nottingham Trent University studied the levels of phenylethylamine, a chemical found in chocolate, in 20 young men before and after exercising on a treadmill at 70 percent maximum heart-rate capacity. The men were asked to rate the exercise level they felt, and then were tested for this chemical. The level had risen around 77 percent. Why is this important? Phenylethylamine has been found to boost moods as quickly as amphetamines, but without side effects or creating a tolerance to the chemical.

Finally, boxing will get you excited about learning something new and having fun each time you go to the gym. Boxing is an intricate sport where there is always something new to learn or refine to perfect your form. This sport offers excitement whether you’re stepping into the ring for the first or hundredth time.

Learn Humility

Boxing can be a very humbling experience. To step into a boxing gym for the first time and not know how to throw a punch takes a lot of guts by itself. To admit that you don’t know how to do something and have the courage to learn shows great humility. You will continue to build this humility as you face more experienced opponents and gain wisdom from seasoned trainers. And this boxing benefit will help you in surprising ways.

Humility is the beginning of knowledge. A poll of 55 company executives by the University of Buffalo and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee showed that bosses who exercised humility in leadership were seen as being more effective in their leadership because they appeared to be more human. According to Bradley Owens, Ph.D., assistant professor of organization and human resources at the University of Buffalo School of Management, employees with humble bosses are more engaged in their work, which in turn, causes less turnover.

Self Assured/Improved Self Image

Your strength as a self-assured man comes from self-esteem. One of the primary benefits of boxing is that it’s one of those sports that really make you feel empowered. The sport allows you to be aware of your positive qualities and abilities, as well as recognizing your faults, mistakes and shortcomings. You will understand the need to change things and maneuver through difficult fighting situations without becoming defensive. This carries into your everyday life, your relationships and career. Self-assured means confident, not cocky. Your presence is how you are initially perceived and perception becomes reality.

Mental Fortitude

Strength comes from overcoming resistance and adversity. In boxing, you will find resistance in your learning process, your fitness level and, of course, your opponent. It is one of the toughest sports to learn, according to an ESPN study, and you must be mentally strong to continue learning when it seems like you will never “get it.” The fitness level of a boxer is unsurpassed by most athletes and to push yourself in that manner takes strength. Once you gain enough skill to be in the ring with an opponent, that is where the real strength comes into play. Boxing teaches you how to be calm and focused on your goal in the midst of chaos. Life is chaotic and boxing will help you look it straight in the eye and say, “bring it on.”

Become a Better Athlete

The physical benefits of boxing will soon to come to light when you’re competing in other sports. Whether you play on a recreational level team or are a professional athlete, boxing will make you more explosive with your movements and build endurance. Boxing requires your core to work constantly. You will become faster with your hands and on your feet, and you can take those newly honed skills to every other sport you play.

Basketball player Carmelo Anthony developed an interest in boxing and uses the skills he’s developed to enhance his basketball skills. Carmelo says that boxing helps his focus, hand-eye coordination and stamina. He also says that boxing is one of the best workouts you can possibly have. Coming from one of the best basketball players in the world, you might want to take note. Boxing is the sport that can make you a better athlete in any sport.

We all want to live our lives to the fullest and boxing can help you do that. Being a happier person, reducing stress, creating great relationships, excelling at your career and becoming better at your recreational activity can all be derived from the beautiful sport we call boxing. Now hit the gym and reap the rewards of these boxing benefits.

This spring kicks off with three of the most extreme marathons out there: the Antarctica Marathon, the Dead Sea Ultra Marathon and the Marathon des Sables, which unfolds in the Moroccan Sahara. Entrants in these races are not necessarily expected to finish – just placing is an accomplishment. In fact, with the insane weather conditions, simply showing up to run on the sand or ice is a feat.

Wondering what it would take you to get to a marathon starting line – or up on a mountain bike, surfboard or skydiving plane, for that matter?

Here are three sports mental training secrets that help Adrenalists do more when it counts.

Photo Credit: Oh-Barcelona.com / Flickr.com

Delayed Gratification

There was once a prevailing belief that success stems from high self-esteem, but today the consensus is that success originates from self-discipline. Why do psychologists believe that this trait cuts it? Largely because of the classic “marshmallow test,” which was conducted by the American psychologists in the late 60. The study explored delayed gratification: the ability to pass up an instant reward in favor of a delayed but more desirable one. The subjects, 4-year-old children, were told they could eat a marshmallow they were presented, but if they waited for 15 minutes without succumbing to the temptation, they would be rewarded with a second marshmallow. A third of the group remained iron-willed enough to delay and claim the greater prize. Aim to emulate those successful kids and demonstrate patience, persistence and restraint in your extreme sports ventures. Success does not come immediately, so harden yourself to wait for it as you perfect your Adrenaline-fueled craft.

Photo Credit: Quiltsalad / Flickr.com

Constant Practice

We learn through repetition, the more you practice the better you get, as the Greek philosopher Aristotle knew. How many hours should you practice? The answer is 10,000, according to Malcolm Gladwell, which pans out as about 10 years of deliberate training. The more hours the better, because that way you become supremely efficient – a goal machine.

How do you maintain your stamina for hours upon hours of practice? The trick is to visualize the end result – and help mentally train your muscle memory for success.

Photo Credit: Hakonthingstad / Flickr.com

Perseverance

You have probably heard a thousand times that you should never, ever give up. Cliche, but true. You cannot achieve meaningful success without intense tenacity. However dire a predicament may seem, with a little luck, will to win beats skill to win. However, science does warn that we have limited reserves of willpower, which is dependent on glucose – the main kind of sugar in the blood, which is a finite energy resource, which means that discipline is fatiguing – your resolve runs out like the gas in your car. So beware of trying to be superman or superwoman in everything you do. Focus on the goals that matter to you – whether you want to execute a ”tailwhip” on your bike, carve a monster 100-ft wave or just somehow get your beat body over the finish line at the end of a marathon.

At some stage, almost every gung-ho Adrenalist dreams about joining a Special Forces cadre. Although fighting is extremely dirty work, Special Forces organizations retain a sheen of glamour and honor. It helps that Special Forces members must be some of the most highly trained men in any field – the ultra-effective elite of the elite.

Do you think you could cut it as a Special Forces agent? Here is some intel on five extreme military tests and workouts.

Navy SEALS

To qualify as navy SEAL, you must be an active-duty member of the Navy and have staggering powers of endurance for several reasons. For starters you need to be able to swim 457.2 meters in 12 minutes or less. Ready for endurance running? SEALS must belt out at least 4 miles in 28 minutes in boots. Other challenges include a lung-mangling 50-meter underwater swim and the particularly sadistic sounding swimming pool “drown-proofing test.” And let’s not forget the underwater knot tying and cold water conditioning also called “surf torture.” Tough stuff but just wait until you get to Hell Week, which is every bit as agonizing as it sounds. Hell Week means five and a half days of non-stop training that pushes half of trainees to go home. In one Hell Week trial – or “evolution” to use SEAL lingo – “log PT” – makeshift boat crews heft shoulder-shredding logs weighing 150 lbs. Not just a military workout, but sheer hell unless you’re seriously hard.

SAS

The Brits invented the concept of Special Forces in the shape of the Special Air Service or SAS – an army regiment founded in 1950. The selection test for the SAS is said to be one of the world’s most grueling. The pass rate? It’s less than 10%. Would-be SAS soldiers must prove they have mammoth strength, endurance, and plenty of grit as they march across Wales and the jungle of Brunei. Candidates complete in 6 months if they are gutsy and savvy enough. Candidates get just two cracks at selection – little leeway in light of the hurdles they must vanquish. Think extreme orienteering involving a 40 mile march across Wales Brecon Beacons, in under 20 hours, carrying over fifty five pounds and water, food and rifle. Then there is the weapon handling, vehicle handling, demolitions, jungle survival, and Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract training among other tests. Intensely punishing, but as the SAS say: “Who dares wins.”

Green Berets

If you want to become part of the legendary Green Berets, you need to be able to do more than just rack out scores of push-ups - a feat that itself is way beyond the scope of most fitness fanatics. From the get-go, you must meet some key physical fitness benchmarks, scoring a minimum of 260 on the Army physical fitness test for the 17-to-21 age group. Then the real fun begins as you apply yourself to passing the three-week Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course (SFAS). If you want to shine during the SFAS, you need to do the 2-mile run in about 12 minutes, pump out 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes and – perhaps toughest of all – complete 100 push-ups in 2 minutes. Murder, but wait there’s more, much more to SFAS. During it, you also undergo land navigation courses conducted day and night carrying hefty equipment, in volatile weather across rugged, sloping terrain. Worse, you get no help from instructors and must stay within a time limit. If you pass, you then must face the marathon Q Course, which further tests your ability to withstand acute sustained stress.

Rangers

The Ranger selection test may not be quite as notoriously hard as others in this list, but perhaps it should be. Would-be Rangers go through hell designed to “smoke” candidates through persistent punishment inflicted by relentless military workouts and training. The training is split into various furious phases: Benning, Mountain and Florida. If you think the Florida phase sounds cushy, it’s not. Florida forces trainees to learn the skills needed to survive and thrive in a jungle or swamp rather than a sandy beach. The Mountain phase is equally mean. It obliges grunts to try to cope with rough terrain, starvation and sleep deprivation, all of which adds up to immense stress. The beginning phase, Benning, is all about brutal physical exercise. Think push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, endurance running and hiking. Then there’s the short, sharp and incredibly tiring trial swim. Besides, trainees must tackle obstacle courses and shine at nitty gritty tasks including airborne operations and – get this – close quarters combat.

French Foreign Legion

No fighting force in this list has more mystique than the French Foreign Legion. But there is nothing romantic about French Foreign Legion training, with its emphasis on training heavily laden amid blazing North African desert heat. Early on in the selection process, candidates from all walks of life undergo “Gestapo” interviews where their history and personality are assessed. Mental training is a priority, Leggionaires must be hardened to the core. Then, the thrust of physical training is running, running, running. During the “luc leger” shuttle run, you hare back and forth between two markers set 20 m apart. Like the famous beep test, the pace ratchets up until you feel like your head will pop. Besides all the running, inevitably, there are countless pull-ups and sit-ups and, in a twist, a touch of rope climbing. Despite expending masses of calories, candidates are given scant food and water. Injuries are common. Think broken bones, concussions, exhaustion, stroke and more, but the drill instructors do not care. Orders are barked out in French, making the mental element especially hard for foreign applicants attempting this fierce military test.

Have you been through hell and back and completed any of these military tests? Any other military tests that deserve to be on this list? We want to hear it, so let us know in the comments below or @DegreeMen on Twitter.

Cover Photo Credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery / Flickr.com

The Tribeca Film Festival? Yeah, there’s no denying it’s cool, whether you’re in the movie business or not.

Bummed because you think there’s no similarly cutting-edge event celebrating extreme outdoor adventure films? Well, cheer up… because there is. It’s called the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

There may not be any A-list celebrities or Hollywood film moguls in attendance, but there will be footage of vicious whitewater kayaking. It will be a bit short on artsy films about the struggles of emerging adulthood, but, as is showcased in this intro reel, strong on insane shots of Adrenalists skiing, scuba diving, biking, slacklining and mountain climbing.

You know what the best part is? There are no stunt doubles. No CGI. No stock footage. Everything you see is as real as it gets; man mastering the elements with precision, passion and grit.

If you’ve forgotten about People Doing Amazing Things, it’s time to remember.

Pro mountain biker Paul Basagoitia tries time and time again to land a double backflip. We sit, biting our nails, becoming more and more concerned with each attempt. After the first try, we’re all saying, “it’s cool, Paul. Keep going man. You got it.” After the second try, we’re more like, “oh man, Paul. You okay man?” The third time? We’re saying, “dude, doing a double backflip would be cool and all, but maybe you should take a break.” By the fourth try, we’re yelling, “dammit, Paul. Think about your mother!”

Then, suddenly, at 1:19, after what looked like some deep soul searching, Paul lands the unthinkable. The double backflip is landed, and the achievement is Paul’s and Paul’s alone.

Kudos to you, Paul Basagoitia, for taking some serious lumps on the road to greatness. You set your mind to something and went through with it, like a real Adrenalist. You had us worried there for a moment, but you delivered.

People are amazing, but so is life. 

Not to sound too philosophical here, but so many of the feats accomplished by people and so much of what we deem to be extreme is made possible by our surroundings (both natural and manmade).

Without environments, we’re not adrenalists. We’re just a bunch of dudes with BMX bikes, and snowboards, and wingsuits…all with no place to go.

Let’s celebrate people and the world that makes possible the amazing things we do.

If you’ve ever been wronged–cut off, yelled at, lied to, flipped off, or broken up with–you know that it’s easy to get down on people. It’s natural. We all do it.

What we don’t always do (unless we live on a commune) is talk or think about how incredible the human race is. Everyone has annoying idiosyncrasies and everyone’s rude sometimes.

For the most part, though, people are worthwhile because everyone, whether star X Games athlete or ditch digger, has the capacity to do something incredible. Don’t believe us? Take a look.

Imagine working out in sauna heat amid a bevy of perfectly toned, scantily clad classmates. That is the formula for “hot yoga” – or Bikram yoga as the discipline is also called in a nod to the founder of the extreme movement with a tropical twist.

Counter to the assumption that yoga should be laid-back, hot yoga is done at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Centigrade). That is seriously hot – the kind of temperature that bothers even Australians.

Based around strength and inner-core, Bikram consists of a set series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. 

You need a towel because you will sweat. Profusely. During classes, you can actually hear beads of sweat thudding against yoga
mats. 

At the end of each 90-minute class, every student is drenched. You may experience the curious feeling of being sleepy and invigorated simultaneously, if you are lucky. 

Some new students feel sick. So you need an industrial-sized bottle of water at the ready.

Apparently, after completing a class the key is to go back straight away. Then, cheerleaders say, you will be hooked. Apparent benefits range from reduction in blood pressure and body fat to – less credibly – “detoxification”. All that sweating releases toxins trapped in your body, proponents say.

Irrespective of whether that claim makes sense, hot yoga is a great way of getting fit. Some regular class-goers say that the workouts shave decades off them, and rejoice in increased energy that makes them more efficient in their daily lives. Oddly, the muscle-melting intensity fuels stamina.

As countless journalists have said, hot yoga also makes you look hot. The typical girl looks like a model. The typical guy, as one drooling admirer put it, resembles a “ballet dancer mixed with a soccer player with a swimmer’s torso”.

If only, as other yoga forms purport to, Bikram could bring its practitioners enlightenment – something not high on the syllabus, but you can’t have everything. 

This form of yoga owes its existence to Bikram Choudhury: a multi-millionaire Indian yoga guru born in 1946 in Calcutta. A story in himself, Choudhury teaches hot yoga wearing just a Speedo and a Rolex.

Secretive about the money that his global yoga empire yields, Bikram apparently keeps a fleet of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars in his Los Angeles garage. The yoga style he developed has been followed by stars including tennis ace Andy Murray, basketball champion Kobe Bryant, and pop
princess Madonna.  

Choudhury even claims he taught hot yoga to ex-president Richard Nixon, who would have looked quite a sight in a pair of Speedos. 

Choudhury began learning Hatha Yoga poses at three. At five, he began studying under yoga guru Bishnu Ghosh and, during his teens, won the National India Yoga Championship four years in a row.

Steered by his guru, Choudhury devised the 26 posture series which he would later aggressively copyright. At 20, Choudhury was crippled in a weightlifting accident. Doctors said he would never walk again.

But, with Ghosh’s help, Choudhury apparently made a lightning 6-month recovery. Emboldened, Choudhury opened yoga around the globe. Athletes, showbiz celebrities and politicians flocked. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito had a crack. So too did legendary Indian ruler Indira Gandhi, tennis prodigy John McEnroe and, perhaps inevitably, Michael Jackson.

In the 1990s Choudhury started offering costly nine-week teacher certification courses. Graduate instructors now apparently number in the thousands. Bikram studios are dotted all over the world, from San Diego to Sydney. The main school is near Hollywood, California.

Critics are suspicious of the glitz and claims that hot yoga can cure, well, pretty much any illness. Doctors warn of the oft-reported dizziness, even blackouts.

Still, nobody would deny that Bikram gives you an excellent workout. The heat helps you torch belly fat and become strong and brimming with energy. Meantime, you are calmer – and you sleep like a baby.

 More info: www.bikramyoganyc.com.

The Copter Kids are back. And it looks like they’ve learned some new tricks since we last met the talented pair of young engineer-filmmakers. 

In 2011, they piloted their battery-powered chopper-cams across music video and feature film sets, snowy terrain parks and some of the sickest surf across the globe. What you see above is a compilation of some of the year’s best work. 

Book these kids for your wedding before they grow up. You won’t be able to afford them then.

You probably can’t afford them now.

Official Video of the Los Angeles Chessboxing Club from Andrew McGregor on Vimeo.

If you thought boxing was hard, think just how tough it must be to shine at “chessboxing”.
 
The name of this ultra-demanding adrenaline sport may suggest fusion fighting atop a giant chessboard. But chessboxing splits the two activities that its name implies. Participants perform them separately, using brain and brawn heavily in a case of “You throw a hook, I take your rook.”
 
“The basic idea in chessboxing,” says the World Chessboxing Organization “is to combine the #1 thinking sport and the #1 fighting sport into a hybrid that demands the most of its competitors – both mentally and physically.”
 
In a chessboxing bout two opponents play alternating rounds of boxing and chess – or rather “speed chess”. In the board game’s quick-fire four-minute form, snap decisions and instinct dominate.

 
A chessboxing match starts with a chess session, followed by a boxing round, then more chess. And so on. Ding, ding, ding!
 
The mood is one of organised, high-octane chaos. Repeatedly, the fighters shake hands then hunch over their knights, rooks and queens. Sweat slides from the fighters’ battered craniums right on to the board.
 
Between rounds, during a one-minute pause, contestants change clothes. Victory comes down to a knockout or checkmate among other scenarios. May the best move or punch win.
 
Because a match can be won through either activity, players must be highly versatile – borderline superhuman.
 
After all, few sports demand harder training than boxing, which is all about hard runs in the early morning and push-ups.
 
Likewise, few games put more pressure on the mental muscle between your ears than chess, which is all about nous and building the near psychic ability to think many moves ahead.