Shelby Barnes goes to the mat for her clients, literally. For the past six years, the public relations executive has trained as a boxer.

"Every bit of experience helps in the ring and every bit of experience in the ring helps in the workplace," says Barnes, a vice president for Bellevue-based Intellectual Ventures, the investment company founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold.

Barnes sees boxing as a physical workout and a way to sharpen mental acuity. "Boxing is a metaphor for facing fear," she says. "When I get into the ring, it's just me and a combination of all my training and experience."

Barnes trains an hour or more four times a week, jumping rope, shadow boxing, sparring and drilling with a partner to keep her technique sharp. The biggest benefit of boxing for Barnes has been translating what she learns in the ring to her professional life. "I approach boxing as a strategy. If I want to engage people, then I need to center so that I can do what I want to do, rather than doing what they want me to do."

Barnes recently attended a boxing camp in New York's Catskill Mountains. "Everyone has their own style, and that was apparent at the camp. Four different people told me four different ways to throw a jab. It was liberating to see there are many right ways to do something."

Someone taking up boxing doesn't have to spar or get hit to benefit from the workout, but most high achievers want to test their skills in the ring, Barnes says. "It's important to test yourself in a place where you feel safe, where coaches match you with a boxer of the same skill level or better because they know how to control themselves. I'm more scared if I work with someone who doesn't know what they're doing."