You may have notice many boxers who spit out water rather than drinking it. Is there any logical reason behind it? That’s exactly what I’m going to explain here:
So, Why Do Boxers Spit Out Water?
Boxers prefer to spit water out instead of drinking it to clean the blood and torn lips while keeping their dry mouth moist to a certain extent. Also, swallowing a volume of water during a match decreases their performance and may leads to vomiting and cramping.
In this article, I aim to bring you up the speed on why do boxers avoid drinking water during their match.
Why Do Boxers Spit Water Instead of Drinking it?
Here’s are the 5 reasons why boxers tends to avoid drinking water or any other drink during their match:
1. To Prevent Vomiting and Cramping
Boxers deals with an excessive amount of sweating during an high-intensive matches and their mouth also becomes dry, but a full belly of water is super vulnerable to bodyshots.
Even though cramping is not so specifically linked with the amount of water they drink but having a volume sloshing in the stomach increases the risk of cramp and also makes them little slower.
And in such situation, If their opponent lands a solid attack on their stomach, it causes vomiting and cramping. that’s why they prefer not to drink water or any other drink but swishes the water to keeps their mouth moist.
2. To Stay Active During the Match
During a intense workout sessions, blood starts to flow away from the digestive system, but when a volume of something enters into their stomach, body doesn’t have any choice but to divert the blood flow there instead of their arms and legs.
Lots of studies have proved that when a boxers does physical efforts, the amount of protein (especially MUC5B) in the saliva increases. Such saliva is harder to swallow so instead they spit it out with water.
Also, at that extreme cardiovascular intensity, having a sloshy stomach full of water actually slows down a boxer a lot by utilizing that energy to process the drink.
Generally, most of the boxers hydrate a lot before their match. that’s why during a match, they just wets their dry mouth when they don’t really need drink though.
3. To Clean Their Mouth
In a professional boxing, it’s common to get their tooth breaks or lips get torn due to opponent’s attacks. It cause bleeding in their mouth, which is definitely not a good thing for a them.
Rinsing a mouth is a great shortcut to cheat a brain in terms of dehydration. It reduces their muscle’s fatigue while provides them a nice cooling and refreshment.
Also, swallowing this blood can make them sick, that’s why they prefer to spit the water out instead of drinking it. Not to mention, It also allows boxers to remove phlegm, vaseline, and other unwanted substances from their mouth.
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4. To Avoid Bloating
As I already mentioned above, high-intense workout sessions slows down your digestions. And In such cases, drinking a energy drink or plenty of water may leads to bloating.
If boxer drinks the water instead of spitting it in the buckets, no doubt, it will recover the boxer from his thirsty feeling but it also dilute the gastric juice that results into a puffy tummy, which distract them from the match.
5. To Get Boost in the Performance
According to the study performed by New York Times, Athletes and martial artists can benefit from a boost in performance by rinsing out their mouths during high-intense workout sessions.
When boxer drink carbohydrate solution like water, receptors in the mouth send signals to the brain. It helps the muscles to temporarily avoid fatigue because this signals are associated with delight and pleasure.
Why Do Boxers Have A Spit Bucket?
Boxers prefer to use a spit bucket because it is more sterilized. A spit bucket is a more hygienic way to throw out blood, phlegm, vaseline and other unwanted substances rather than spitting it on the floor.
Although having a separate spit bucket was option before 2019, but after the Covid-19 pandemic, new rules are regulated by authority bodies.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t not means, boxers do not drink water at all. During the fight break and in between the rounds, they need to take a few sips of water to maintain their body temperature.
Drinking even a little sips of water provide a nice refreshment to their brains and makes them ready to stay energetic for the next round. Thus, the right amount of water intake is important for not only boxers but all the athletes.
