Hykso Boxing Sensors Review: Wearable Technology And Fitness Collide

We tested the Hykso Punch Tracking Sensors on a handful of people during some varied boxing workouts. None of us are professional fighters, but we all love boxing as part of our workout routines. Boxing workouts are somewhat of a cross between interval and high intensity impact training, or HIIT. When taught properly, boxing not only helps build endurance and burn a ton of calories, but it strengthens virtually every muscle in your body – especially your core, which is where most of your power comes from. Plus, it make you feel like a bad ass.

Boxing classes typically begin with an intense warm up to get your heart pumping, followed by 8 to 12 rounds of boxing, and finally a cool-down period with more core exercises and stretching. The boxing usually consists of a mix of heavy bag and mitt work, and in between rounds there is no break or resting – only more cardio, core, or balance work. Because no one is hitting you back (usually), you’ll throw a lot more punches than the typical punch count of a professional fight, when the instructors keep a lively pace that is.

With the Hykso sensors installed under our wraps, we progressed through a few classes to get a sense of our performance. A boxing class usually starts out with simple combinations, which get progressively longer and more complex as the rounds go on. And in between throwing combinations, instructors will shift gears for 20-30 second burnout sessions, when we’re asked to throw as many punches as we can, as quickly as possible. The goal is to work your arms, shoulders and core as hard as possible.

What immediately struck us during testing was the sheer number of punches we were throwing. In one of last year’s mega-fights between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, the fighters threw a combined total of 864 punches, split roughly down the middle. We were throwing that many punches in two or three rounds. That should give you an idea of the intensity and pace of the workouts. Getting reliable punch counts from the Hykso Sensors is valuable data that we can all use to judge our progress or even for friendly competition.

There are simple “punch counters” available at most boxing clubs that clip onto your gloves and work much like a pedometer, but they are inherently inaccurate because they’ll count almost all arm movements as punches. Those basic counters would count jumping jacks as punches, for example. Hykso’s sensors are actually tracking movement and motion, however, so not only are the total punch counts accurate, but the speed of the punches is tracked and the type of punch as well.

The Hykso app shows all of the counts and some stats in real-time. The counters progress as you’re throwing punches and are listed for each arm. Jabs are counted separately from power punches (basically, everything but a jab), and the speed of the punches is shown as well. At the end of a session, all of the data is compiled and graphed to show the total counts and intensity.

The beta version of the app we tested doesn’t expose all of the features that the final product will, however. There is more coming to the app, which will ultimately allow you to analyze more data, like your striking intensity over time (within rounds), average speed, and pace. You’ll be able to set goals and compare your performance to other people using the devices too, including some of the pro boxers are that are currently working with Hykso.

Even at this early stage, there is plenty of data to digest. For example, in the 12-Round session I completed this past weekend (stats pictured above) you can clearly see how I pushed hard in round 2 and threw over 500 punches, but was obviously burned out and threw roughly half as many punches per round after that point. In rounds 7 and 9 I switched my stance, which also significantly reduced my output, and hence the intensity of the workout. This is all new information to me / us, that we couldn't have easily gathered without Hykso's sensors and app.