Aniston recently opened up about her newfound love and the man responsible for it—her trainer, Leyon Azubuike, who founded the boxing studio Gloveworx in Los Angeles. “Last year I discovered boxing, and I love it. I have this trainer named Leyon, who I believe hung the moon,” she tells InStyle. “It’s the longest workout I’ve actually stayed with consistently other than yoga. There’s something about the mental aspect of boxing—the drills, your brain has to work, you’re not just sitting on a bike. It’s amazing.”
“There’s something about the mental aspect of boxing—the drills, your brain has to work, you’re not just sitting on a bike. It’s amazing.” —Jennifer Aniston
While every boxing session with Azubuike is different—it’s important to keep your body guessing!—each lasts an hour and features the similar components that push you to get the most from your workout. Especially the warm-up. “We start with dynamic stretching, short, quick [muscle] activating type exercises. But not for so long that you’ll want to go into cool-down mode. You want to get your body primed and ignited and ready to fire and [also] decrease the chance of injury later on, because what follows is explosive,” Azubuike tells Evening Standard.
After the warm-up comes the cardio “to get even more sweaty” followed by hitting punching pads or a heavy bag. “Boxing is very good for toning and sculpting the arms, but it’s also good for the core and trunk. It serves as a waist-trimming mechanism, as the body is always in rotation,” he explains. Then comes more cardio (often involving a jump rope!), some abdominal work, then the cooldown, which probably feels very familiar to Aniston. With all the static and butterfly stretching, Azubuike says it’s “a little bit yoga-esque.”
So the next time you’re looking to switch up your routine, use Aniston’s obsession as inspo to try a knockout boxing-class sweat sesh.
Jennifer Aniston’s cleaner margarita is exactly what your next happy hour needs. Or use her hack for turning any lipstick into a kiss-proof stain.
