Reboot: Training Log

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Been struggling to get back into it after the holiday season and after being inspired by @donnydarkoirl’s log I thought it would the perfect way to create some accountability and consistency.

I’ve been taking my training and nutrition seriously for about 2 1/2 years, beginning by losing around 28lbs/12.5kg followed by the meticulous process of regaining the weight in the form of muscle. I currently stand around 170lbs/77kg at 5"10 and 12%bf.

I am looking to have my first amateur boxing bout in 2017 after shifting the focus of my training from bodybuilding/weightlifting to boxing. I would appreciate any criticism and advice particuarly in relation to boxing specific strength and conditioning exercises.

Will begin as of tomorrow, thankyou in advance T Nation combat forum members.

2

9/1/17
Have college (English college, not American college) at awkward times on a Monday so I do a strength training session around 4pm for 45-60mins then rest until my boxing session at 5:30pm.

Strength Training Session

Clean (from floor)
3x3 light warm up sets
4x3 working sets: 50kg, 50kg, 55kg, 55kg.
Always end up bruising my collar bone catching the bar any tips would be appreciated.

Shrugs immediately followed by farmers walk x3
10reps on shrugs: 30kg dumbbells
Not sure on distance for farmers walk, was struggling to finish though.

Lat Pulldown
1x8: 40kg
3x6: 42.5kg, 42.5kg, 45kg.

Hyperextensions
3x12

Boxing Session

Laps of gym to warm-up including duck walks, broad jumps, small jumps on balls of feet ass to grass (not sure on name).

4x2 flash pads alternated rounds so did 2 rounds boxing, 2 rounds on pads.
4x2 bagwork: high intensity work today

3 seconds straight shots fast as possible while partner held bag then swap over, after both had done 3 seconds work it was 3 seconds of a combination of choice fast and sharp as possible while partner held bag then swap over.
This began with 3 seconds then moved up to 5 seconds then to 7 seconds then to 10 seconds.

In partners again, one would throw a fast 1-2 on the bag 5 times then do a burpee continuously for 30 seconds while the other did sit ups followed by 10 seconds rest. Swapped over after each round for a total of 6 rounds (3 on bag, 3 doing sit ups.)

Class formed a circle with one person in the middle who did 15 sit ups while the others in the circle did an exercise (press up variations, plyos etc.) until the one in the middle finished their 15 sit ups. Around 10/12 people in class. Followed by the obligatory stretch off/cool down.

Felt good and fit in the boxing session not so much in the lifting session, still enjoyed both though.

3

Best of luck man. My only advice is that if you want to fight - shadowbox, shadowbox, shadowbox … then shadowbox some more. It’s the best way to learn rhythm, balance, and how to put your punches together.

Also, tape a couple rounds once every two weeks, and watch them afterwards. In my experience, this is the only way to error-correct on your own.

4

Thanks for the advice, will add extra rounds into my own training. Have never thought to tape myself will try that as well.

Hope your training is going well.

5

I’ve read that if someone wants to focus on learning new skills, they should be learned before the lifting. If they have great skills but worry about running out of gas at the end of the fight, they can do it the other way around.

6

10/1/17
Morning Hill Sprints - 6:35am

My morning runs involve getting out of bed and out of the house in about 5 minutes so they are always fasted. This has never been an issue however today I really felt it. It was only my second time doing hill sprints so this may have also been a factor.

Static and dynamic stretches + 1 mile jog to loosen up
150m x4 85% effort
Walk back down hill as rest period inbetween sprints.

Strength and Boxing Session - 3:45pm

Strength
Bench Press
4 light warm up sets
4x3: 65kg, 70kg, 72.5kg, 72.5kg (felt I could have gone heavier but no spotter so didn’t want to risk it)

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press/Neutral Grip Pullups (Superset)
3x5: 25kg each, 50kg total
3x5: Pullups (progressed a lot but still a weakpoint for me)

Boxing
2x2 jump rope
3x2 shadowboxing in mirror
2x2 bagwork
1x2 30 seconds jump rope, 30 seconds shadow
(30 seconds rest between all rounds, normally 60 seconds but trying to increase training intensity)

Hill sprints really took it out of me today definitely felt them in my legs when I moved onto the boxing. Trying to focus on footwork in shadow+on the bags, moving in and out, pivots and creating angles.

7

I would agree with you if you were coming new to both sports as boxing and lifting are both very technical and take time to get comfortable with.

Personally I have been lifting for a few years now so I am fairly confident (always room for improvement) with this type of training. My main focus for improvement is boxing with lifting being a supplementary activity.

Appreciate the contribution a lot paules, hope your training is going well.

1 Like
8

Take it for what it’s worth but I’m inclined to agree with paules. Once you’re a good boxer, maybe you can fuck around with lifting beforehand (I never do, but then I am not a good boxer).

But while you’re learning the basics - and don’t kid yourself, for the first three years or so, you’re learning the basics - you probably shouldn’t be lifting before you box. Muscles already tired from lifting won’t function as they should in this most explosive of sports, and you might even invent bad habits to compensate. Shoulders tired from pressing lead to drooping hands after a few rounds of sparring, and legs sore from deadlifts lead to flat feet and poor movement.

Also, sore muscles are weak muscles, ripe for injury. Being as boxing can put you in some odd positions, you might not want to risk pulling a lat in the clinch or tearing a bicep on a hook because you lifted earlier. I lift and box on separate days because of this.

Again, your mileage may vary. But if boxing’s your priority, make it so. Run and shadowbox in the morning, box in the evening. Lifting is an utter and distant second.

My two cents.

1 Like
9

Ahh I was thinking bigger picture and misunderstood the statement, I took it as don’t try and learn to lift before you learn to box.

That makes more sense… In that case I would most certainly agree with both of you, I have to try an avoid any shoulder or leg work before boxing otherwise I struggle to make it through the session. However due to awkward timings with college this is realistically the only time for me to do my strength work. It is not necessary at all but I just love it.

I have a 2 hour time period between finishing college and boxing on a Monday where it would be pointless to go home so I end up in the gym filling my time with weights. I am very open to suggestion about how I spend this time in the gym, one of the reasons for starting this log was to gain training advice from the knowledgeable combat forum members as most of my knowledge is in regards to bodybuilding/hypertrophy/strength training not boxing.

Really excited to see how active the forum is, I greatly appreciate any contributions.

10

11/1/17

Boxing Session - 5:30pm

Warm up was alternating between jump rope and shadow boxing+some dynamic stretches.

Bulk of session was spent on light tech sparring.
6x2: working on jab-layback-followup i.e jab or backhand
2x2: pads

Back onto the ropes.
1x5: interspersed with 10 second sprints on rope, squats+press ups and fast non-stop straight shots.

Basically just a tech session, felt fresh walking out of the gym but the tech sparring gave me a lot to think about.

11

What can I say, I seem to lose fat and gain muscle at about the same rate, so my scale and mirror usually disagree about my progress. :smiley:

12

12/1/17

Strength and Conditioning Session - 1:20pm

Superset: Front Squats+Box Jumps
4x8: 40kg, 40kg, 42.5kg, 42.5kg. (Light weight as I pulled a muscle in lower back doing cleans the other day so was by no means going to subject it to heavy loads)
4x10: Bodyweight

Mentioned pull ups being a weak point an no sooner do I come across this article: Tip: Do the Russian Fighter Pull-Up Program
Thought I’d try it out, it didn’t mention rest times so I rested for 30 seconds and supersetted that bitch.

Superset: Press Ups+Kb Swings+Neutral Grip Pull Ups
Press Ups: 25/20/15/10/5
Kb Swings: 25/20/15/10/5 (12kg, light weight because of back)
Pull Ups: 5/4/3/2/1

Abs
Russian Twist: 6kg medicine ball, 100 reps
Crunches: 75 reps
Lying Leg Raise: 20 reps (these are a killer finisher, really burn, gonna feel it tomorrow)

13

13/1/17

Boxing Session - 9:45am

Static and dynamic stretches plus a round of jump rope to warm up.

3x2 Shadowboxing: really concentrating on using footwork to bring in a second phase of attack and speeding up my hands.
4x2 Bags: pretty much only using the jab, focusing on preventing elbow flare, telegraphing and turning the shot over.
3x2 Floor to ceiling bags: same as above but added in the right hand, working on increasing handspeed for those straight shots.
1x2 Heavybag: let the shots go, high intensity, tried to break the bag off the chains.
3x2 Shadowboxing: Brought all the technical work together for these rounds, trying to perfect the straight shots while adding in a second phase of attack using my footwork.
1x2 Jumprope: added in 10+20 second sprints on the rope to finish off.

Good little session know where I need to improve technically so working on it then some hard work at the end. Kept rest time 30 seconds between each round to maintain
high intensity.

14

Was going to go for a run yesterday in the morning but it was pissing down so I went in the afternoon and it’s the first time I can remember I haven’t run fasted. I felt great and full of energy. I did 2 miles in around 18:50 which obviously needs work but normally I’d have to kill myself for a time like that yesterday it felt easy.

…anyway today
14/1/17

Boxing Session - 10:00am

Ropes interspersed with dynamic stretches and 10 second sprints on the ropes to warm up.

3x2 Shadowboxing: first round was just getting loose, last two we had to put our hands behind our back, on our head, by our sides etc and work on footwork so we were always in a position to throw a shot wherever our hands were.
3x2 Bags: on a bag with a partner stood facing each other through the bag then both threw right hook then left hook etc so they counterbalanced the bag
4x2 Flash Pads: (boxed two rounds each) start by stepping out then step back in to throw combo, then added feints in for second round so boxer was in control of when to throw the combo not padman
1x2 Body Bag: coach had the body bag and big pillow gloves and so we just went for the body while he tried to hit us back (really need to work on bringing hands back high only bringing them back to chin leaving top half of head exposed)
1x2 Pads: just pads with a coach

Pyramid - 3 seconds fast as possible short rest 3 seconds hard as possible then short rest and so on. Went 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 9, 7, 5, 3. Kept intensity high coach made rest times shorter and shorter felt fit on this.
Then some footwork drills to cool off/warm down.

Pretty sure there was some other stuff we did on the bags in there but I was concentrating on keeping breathing. Hard session but I felt more than capable really starting to see the extra training paying off.

15

16/1/17

Did a strength training session before my boxing session as usual today and as it happened I was training legs and shoulders which I had previously avoided so as not to impact my boxing training however I felt good today.

Strength Training - 3:50pm

Back Squats (never felt comfortable with these today lower back still uncomfortable and my left hip area felt a little bit painful so I did not get anywhere near 100% on these)
4 light warm up sets
2x3: 60kg, 60kg
2x5: 60kg, 60kg (squats are my weakest exercise overall)

Standing Military Press (was doing these fairly regularly until 2/3 weeks ago and I worked up to 55kg for 5 reps but today I couldn’t even get 50kg up)
3 light warm up sets
4x5: 40kg, 40kg, 45kg, 45kg

Goblet Squats/Neutral Grip Pullups (Superset)
4x8: 22.5kg (felt I could have gone a lot heavier but didn’t want to push lower back)
4x6: Body weight

Side Lateral Raises
4x10: 7.5kg dumbbells, 15kg total

Boxing Session - 5:30pm

Warm up on ropes+some dynamic stretches

3x2: Shadowboxing with clap press ups and squat jumps in break
1x25: Working on clinching, getting into the clinch, using the clinch effectively, defending the clinch
2x2: Bagwork high intensity
1x30 seconds non-stop hard and fast as possible
2x20 seconds
1x15 seconds
2x10 seconds
1x5 seconds
Straight into a circuit: different press up variations, ab work and plyo leg work each exercise for 10 seconds finish with burpees

Looking to fight at 75kg/165lbs (middleweight) and for months I’ve been hovering around 77kg however after training today I got on the scales and was 73.5kg/162lbs. I hadn’t eat much during the day (save calories for later in the day due to college) so this will have been a factor but its good to know months of tracking macros and training hard has paid off hope to walk around on weight or within a kg as I prefer to lose it very slowly.

16

17/1/17

Did a 2 mile run this morning +100 crunches and 100 heel taps (fasted) didn’t feel great but glad to get the miles in.

Boxing Session - 11:10am

Static and dynamic stretches + 1x5 round on the rope

3x2 Shadowboxing: focusing on being switched on and thinking about everything
2x2 Heavybag: high intensity working off the jab
2x2 Floor to ceiling bag: straight shots
3x2 Shadowboxing: adding a second phase of attack
1x2 on the rope to cool down with some static stretches

17

18/1/17

Strength Training Session - 11:50am

Dynamic and static stretches to warm up

Cleans from Floor
3x5: 30kg, 40kg, 40kg (using these to get switched on for main lift may have to cut these out as bruising on collar bone gets in the way)

Deadlifts
2x5: 72.5kg, 82.5kg
1x7: 92.5kg
Started 5/3/1 today as previously there was no real structure to my strength training, smallest plates in the gym are 1.25kg so getting the exact weight is impossible but i got as close as i could.

Neutral Grip Pullups/Romanian Deadlifts
3x6: Bodyweight
3x10: 60kg, 60kg, 60kg

Boxing Session - 5:30pm

3 laps around outside of gym to warm up followed by 2x2 shadowboxing mixed in with some plyos and dynamic stretches to warm up

Circuit x4
Switch feet in an out of hoops moving laterally
Moving forward an back using ladder
Short lateral jumps over hurdles
Situps
Shadowboxing with 2.5kg dumbbells

4x2 Bagwork: first round was open then touching the head non-stop, touching the body non-stop, full power non-stop; whichever the coach shouted
2x2 Jumprope: interspersed with 10 second sprints on rope with 15 seconds to finish each round
2x2 Pads: with one of my favourite coaches felt good
1x2 Bagwork w/partner: 20 seconds boxing, 10 seconds trying to outwork partner
Little circuit to finish: plyos, bodweight exercises etc.
Stretch off

Always do a little bodweight circuit at the end of the session an they used to kill me now i’m starting to finish first however doing laps around the gym i was near the back which gives me something to work on.

18

19/1/17

Did a slow 2 miles+100 crunches this morning, think the best way forward may be to slow down and add miles as going for a pr each run is draining me for the rest of the day.

Strength Training Session - 1:20pm

Static stretches to warm up

Clap Press Ups
3x5: bodyweight

Bench Press
3 light warm up sets
3x5: 55.5kg, 62.5kg, 65kg (again got as close as possible to 5/3/1 weight)

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press/Supinated Pull Ups
5x5: 22.5kg, 22.5kg, 25kg, 25kg, 25kg
5x6: bodyweight

Would normally do some boxing work after this, shadowboxing, bags etc. but there was a group in the gym meaning I couldn’t which was annoying so I’m glad I got the run in this morning.

19

20/1/17

Boxing Session - 9:55am

Dynamic stretches+ 1x2 on the rope with a few 10 second sprints to get going
3x2 Shadowboxing: focusing on the second phase of attack starting to implement a few combinations
4x2 Heavybag: (alternated between heavy and floor to ceiling bag each round) working some specific combinations on the heavybags
4x2 Floor to Ceiling Bag: keeping relaxed with a high work rate to condition the shoulders
2x2 Shadowboxing: again working some specific combinations and trying not to become too predictable

Was going to do some hill sprints this morning but body said no, probably could have grinded them out but I really didn’t want to. Kept rest between rounds at 30 seconds to maintain a high intensity need to work on conditioning.

Hill Sprints - 5:30pm

150m x5 75% effort, went balls out on the last one

Got psyched listening to some great tunes this afternoon so took some pre-workout and did my hill sprints. Actually enjoyed them so think I may have to give up fasted running and start running later in the day when I’m fed.

20

21/1/17

Strength Training - 9:40am (just wanted to hit the numbers)

Squats
Static+Dynamic stretches and 3 light warm ups sets
3x5: 47.5kg, 55kg, 62.5kg (this is what my bench press should have looked like the other day but I forgot my sheet with all the 5/3/1 weights on it and maths isn’t a strong point so I was off by a few kg)

Boxing Session - 10:00am

1x3 Ropes: 10, 20 and 30 second sprints on the rope was a graft session today
Dynamic stretches+some plyos
10 seconds squat jumps then crawl around gym on hands and feet for 20 seconds then repeat x4
10 seconds clap press ups then crawl around gym on hands and feet for 20 seconds then repeat x4

3x3 Partner Pads: with some newer guys so wasn’t 100%
1x3 Bags: open
1x3 Bags: 15 second non stop jabs 5 second rest x2 then same with backhands x2 for whole round
4x3 Bags: various different drills all high intensity not going to pretend I can remember them all :joy:
1x3 Pads: light, continuous straight shots then same for uppercuts
1x3 Pads: working on throwing instinctively not waiting to be told to i.e block right hook follow with left hook randomly throughout the round, with a good coach

1x2: Walking lunges then split squat jumps for 10 seconds (these were hard going to work on leg conditioning)
1x2: Crawling on hands and feet then clap press ups for 10 seconds