Before we get started, my usual warning (although given the paucity of activity in this week’s post I’m not sure it’s entirely necessary!) If you are intending to undertake a fitness program (any fitness program including boxing training), it is vitally important that you visit a Doctor/Physician and get a full check. I have been around boxing for over 30 years and as such am in the position to undertake such activities from a higher level of effort. If I were coaching someone totally new to fitness, then we would start at a much more steady and sedate level than this! Go to a Doctor, get checked out and then think about undertaking any fitness regime once you have all the facts. This post describes what I am doing, I am not specifying what you should do! OK, that’s the formal bit over.
If you have not have not checked out my first post of this series, click on this link to look at Boxing Training for Fitness to go back to the very start and get the background. Alternatively, check out Boxing Training for Fitness – Week 4 to catch up with last week’s entry.
Boxing Training for Fitness – Week 5 Not In The Gym, But Out on the Road!
As mentioned last week, I am still recovering from a bit of a chest condition. This being said, I did manage to get out on a 5K run, albeit a run at a very steady pace (“It’s not a race”, as my teacher used to say.) As the weeks progress, I’m going to incorporate a weekly run into my regime. Any competing boxer quite simply cannot afford not to run. Long runs, short runs, sprints,interval runs, they are all vital to overall fitness. When watching an amateur boxing match, it’s always very easy to spot the boxer who has been foregoing their roadwork! Fighting fitness requires running (although I know a few Muay Thai guys who just don’t run; does this mean that a boxer’s fitness levels/recovery rates are superior to our ‘kicking friends?’
On the conclusion of my run, I also managed to put in a fairly respectable ‘abs’ session, involving leg raises and various crunches (amounting to about 180 individual exercises which will build up over time); I’ll detail these exercises in a later post.
This week means back to the gym :-)! Out of interest, I’ll post a recovery rate check next week so make sure you check back.
Cheers
Fran
by 
I wish you best the best of luck on your new routine. My problem for the past while has been finding balance between bag work, road work and strength training with body weight and barbell, including pull ups, push ups, planks, hyperextensions, as well as the use of plates and bar bells.
I’d like to know what your views are on working strength with weights. I find the problem with this is the possibility of over training. I’ve heard that some great boxers like Muhammad Ali never used weights. I guess they used body weight exercises instead?
Thank you Nick, I appreciate it. Weights are often a dilemma in boxing. Hagler famously never used them, and many others don’t. It has to be said that in the modern game there is more of an expectation to use weights as part of your strength training. We can contribute to our strength through groundwork (ton ups etc) and/or weights. I tend to lean more toward ground work. But, why not use weights? Just make sure that you are not aiming to build muscle mass. Lighter weights, increased reps.
Thanks Nick. Hope this helps.
still expect a continuation of fitness training,after three weeks I wanted to may contain the same line and at some point I may pass at a more advanced:even if you have not continued to train I would ask you to post such as shown training
with much consideration, a diligent student
Yeah, I don’t think the warning was necessary this week! I have some kind of chest/head affliction going on myself. I need to do something though, my fitness efforts have tapered off (er, ceased completely) since I started grad school. Figured I’d stop by the site and hope for something motivating me to get out and do some abwork or something….Instead I found commiseration!
Yeah, a lot of Muay Thai guys are lazy and won’t put in the road work! In Thailand its a 10k before the morning session and a 5k before the evening.
Hope the commiseration helped! Slow, steady roadwork usually helps me to get back into things. Good point on the Thai boxers as it does ring true. I watched (a few years back) a few Thais who swapped codes; The Galaxy Twins (Khaokor and Koahsai?), Samart Pyakarun and Sot Chitilada (sic?) Anyway, super-fit and brilliant to watch both counterpunching boxing skills and toughness! Thanks for the comment and hope the studies are going well.