boxing

Making its Olympics debut in these London games, women's boxing is the sport to watch in 2012. Team USA flyweight boxer Marlen Esparza was only 11 when she first stepped into a boxing gym, and it took her days to convince trainer Rudy Silva to allow her to participate in his group workouts. After watching her throw some sloppy but passionate punches at a bag and seeing what Rudy describes as a "spark," he allowed Marlen, now 23, to join his sessions with advanced boys.

But that spark doesn't mean Rudy welcomed her with open arms. "I tried to push her really, really hard," recalled Rudy during a recent interview at Nike's campus in Oregon. "I would push the groups really hard, mainly because I wanted her to just quit. After a while, some of my guys started quitting. She just kept showing me every day that she was there to stay and this is what she wanted to do." Eleven years later, Rudy is still her trainer and Marlen's tenacity paid off. Not only has she won six national titles, winning her first at age 16, but she was also the first woman to qualify for the US Olympic boxing team.

This honor is not lost on Marlen. In a quick interview in Houston she told us, "To be the first woman to qualify for the Olympics is everything to me. People say to me, 'Boxing is not who you are; it's what you do.' But to me, it's who I am. I've never felt this good in my entire life, ever."

The road to qualifying wasn't straightforward, though. The announcement that women's boxing would be included in the London games also included the news that four weight classes would be combined. Rudy explained, "At the time that they announced the 112 flyweight class, the weight classes that were going to merge into 112 were 106, 110, 114, and 119. Those four weight classes had to compete at 112." Until the International Olympic announcement, Marlen had fought in the 106-pound weight class. "I had to gain weight," Marlen told us. "In 2010 I started competing at the 112 Olympic weight class and figuring out who was going to make it to the games. I was fighting girls down from weighing 119. It was intense. Luckily, I beat them all."

Learn details of how the young boxer eats and trains after the break.

While working out at Crunch gym, I heard a woman hiyahing and turned to find her mightily kicking and punching her (padded) trainer. Her toes were taped, her mouthguard was in, and boy, her sweat glands were working. A rush of adrenaline combined with visions of Million Dollar Baby inspired me to talk to Crunch trainer Casey Mallo about what to expect as a beginner boxer and why you should consider putting on those puffy gloves.

Happy, healthy, and gearing up for a new season of HBO's True Blood, 28-year-old Anna Paquin (aka Sookie Stackhouse) can be found gracing the cover of Health's June 2011 issue. Inside the magazine, the actress talks about her go-to exercises for staying in shape, her thoughts on diets, and some of her favorites, including her workout motivators and fave workout song. Here are the highlights:

• On the areas of her life that are the healthiest, and not so healthy: "Well, I could probably drink less coffee and drink more water. I try to eat well, but sometimes you can be a little too obsessive. It's good to remember it's actually not the be-all and end-all, and if you're absolutely falling down with exhaustion, really, do you need to go to the gym?"
• On whether she owns a scale: "Truthfully, I'm usually happiest when I'm not going anywhere near it. But you know what size your body is. And if you're working out and have a lot of muscle, you're going to weigh more. I feel good when I feel like I'm really strong. And that's not necessarily when I'm at my numerically most gratifying weight."
• On workouts she's loving right now: "My favorite workout by far is boxing . . . I do The Bar Method. Then there's also this place called Hot 8 Yoga, and they do [Yoga Barre]. It's like The Bar Method, but it's, like, 105 degrees. It's psycho, but kind of awesome."

FitSugar reader mandaleebee shared her fitness must haves for the ninth challenge of our Get Fit For 2011 giveaway, and you should, too!

I am a sucker for buying new fitness and beauty products on a whim. One of my impulse buys last year were my Vibram FiveFingers Sprints; I love them. I can't wait for it to get just a tad warmer so I can start running in them again with my pup! I also would like a good fitness watch so I can push myself during my runs (running has never really been my thing, but I am determined to get into it).

My new 2011 fitness obsession is boxing and kickboxing at LABoxing (and I do mean obsession), so I am all about new boxing and kickboxing fitness gear!  Because of all of the cardio circuits and ab workouts during the kickboxing and boxing circuits, shorts are out (I don't want to flash the person at the bag across from me, now do I?) and yoga pants are in. I try to kickbox a minimum of three times a week, so I am in dire need of more capri workout pants. These Lucy Perfect Core Knee Pants would be perfect! They hug your core, reminding you to keep it engaged. The Lucy Propel Knee Pant would also be great, providing breathability during the hard workouts and would also be good for nighttime running because of its reflective piping. Also from Lucy, these Run Power Headbands were a great investment to keep my bangs and sweat out of my face during workouts. I'm also sort of obsessed with collecting different hand wraps — I currently have pink and black, so now I need yellow, red, blue, orange, camo and more!

Be sure to share your fitness must haves in our Get Fit For 2011 group to enter our weekly giveaway of a $100 Nike gift card and a chance to win our grand prize — a four-day fitness boot camp in LA, which includes a nutritional consultation with the C&J Nutrition team!

One person's fear is another's passion, at least when it comes to certain workouts. Whether you're adventurous or not, it's possible that a certain workout could strike fear into your heart. Here's a list of a few "extreme" workouts that people either love or hate:

• Rock climbing Sure, you may be completely safe and supported by ropes during your climb, but a fear of heights is a fear of heights!

• Mountain biking Challenging and intense, mountain biking makes for a great workout, but flying down a hill at full speed over rocky terrain could make a nervous biker feel unsafe.
• Trampoline, trapeze or other aerial arts Flying through the air with the greatest of ease or hurling yourself high into the air is the ultimate fun workout for some daredevils. Aerial workouts may be growing in popularity, but I know plenty of fit ladies who'd rather stay close to the ground.
• Boxing and kickboxing Kicking and punching a heavy object: stress relieving or too confrontational? Though there are plenty of days when working frustrations with this exercise seems mandatory, there are plenty of people who are turned off by its combative nature.

So, tell me: are there any exercises or workouts that scare you? Or any that you refuse to try?

My July/August issue of Fitness has a really cool feature in it that's inspired me to try out boxing. The mag paired four of its readers with celebrity trainers, one of which included Michael Olajide Jr., owner of Aerospace gym and trainer to Eva Mendes. I mean, who wouldn't want Eva's sexy shoulders? Michael's week-long workout included a 60-minute cardio boxing class, a boxing lesson, an entire hour of lunges and squats with a punching bag, and a sparring session. Yowza.

A good friend of mine has been going to a boxing gym for over a year now, and says that she feels stronger, more agile, and confident. I'll be using this weekend to shadow her workouts and hopefully get the same results that she and the Fitness reader got from their experiences. For me, the added leisure time of the weekend makes it a great opportunity to learn something new.

If you want to try out boxing, find a gym in your area, or look for a boxing fitness DVD at your library. The workout will have your heartbeat up, and your lower body feeling stronger by the minute!