I Strapped on Boxing Gloves and Tried the New Liteboxer: I've Never Had Such Sore Arms!

Liteboxer full-body interactive boxing platform makes your workout like a video game. When I first tried it, it reminded me fondly of that Whack-a-Mole carnival game I played as a kid on the Jersey boardwalk.

Attached to the Liteboxer's platform is a punching pad (that can be raised based on your height) that has six targets (circles), with 200-plus LED lights and force sensors to detect your punches, and you have to hit the targets when they light up. It's so fun and addictive, and didn't feel at all like a workout.

Note that the Liteboxer's footprint is 37.5 inches by 55 inches, so you'll need about as much floor space as you would for an exercise bike.

After I downloaded the Liteboxer app, I strapped my iPad to the holder below the punching pad. This is an example of what the screen looks like on my iPad. While Liteboxer offers trainer-led boxing workouts from professional boxers, baseball players, and dancers, there is also strength training, yoga, and meditation (100+ classes). There are also workouts with resistance bands, which are sold on their website. I mostly did boxing, but did like the few strength training workouts I tried.

There's a section called "Quickplay" which offers Punch Tracks (which were my fave — more about that later) and Freestyle, where you can just punch as you please (which was also fun).

When you tap "Punch Tracks," this is the screen that shows up:

You can choose from over 80 popular songs, and these were great because they were only a couple minutes long. I loved that I could do one song, if I wanted to have a quick pick-me-up while my lunch was reheating, or I could string a few songs together for a longer workout.

You basically just punch to the beat, and turning the lights off in my room and wearing bluetooth headphones was key here, to make this a fully sensory experience. With the music blasting and the lights blinking, I felt fully immersed — it was intense, but in a good way!
Another fun aspect to using Liteboxer was seeing my score at the end. It inspired me to want to do the same song over and over again, to get a perfect score. Talk about workout motivation!

Here's a short video to show you what it looks like when I was doing the Punch Track to "Champion" by Bishop Briggs. My son was videotaping, so that's why it's a little wobbly. Also, I've never boxed before, so no need to comment on my form. The important thing here is that I was having a blast, sweating tons, and my upper body was super sore! It felt great!

It definitely takes practice figuring out when to punch the light-up circle so it counts as a hit (it turns green, not red), and punching fast enough to the beat was also a fun challenge. There are levels (easy, medium, and hard) so, I mostly stuck to easy.

I know people say meditation is great for stress, but this was way more effective for me. I couldn't let my mind wander like when I'm on a run or using a cardio machine. I had to pay full attention in order to not miss punching those lights, so by the end, I felt like it was a real break for my brain from work and life. I always felt better, even if it was only a few minutes.

The Liteboxer Bundle ($1,495) is pricey, but comparable to other gym equipment like bikes or treadmills. Liteboxer does offer a 30-day risk-free trial and zero percent financing is available. With this price, you get the Liteboxer which includes the punching pad and the platform it's attached to, a pair of boxing gloves, a pair of hand wraps, and a three-month premium membership to the workouts on the app. After that, the membership costs $29 a month.

If you've always wanted to try boxing, or you're in a workout slump and want to try something new and entertaining, the Liteboxer might be just the thing! My entire family had fun trying it out, because it felt like a game. There's also free delivery, and it'll come with one week.