Want to Try Boxing

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hi guys, a brief training history, I’m 20 years old now and started training with weights at age 15. I have been training seriously and consistently since age 18. For the past year or so i have been focusing on bodybuilding.

Currently I am 6 feet and about 200 lbs. What I realized is that I do not necessarily have the best genetics for bodybuilding. I have short muscle bellies that insert high. As I understand, this means I have less overall potential for hypertrophy but may be more suited to athletic/explosive movements. Aside from the structural genetics, I don’t have great genetics for being lean and gaining muscle (not a mesomorph, actually tend to be more lanky).

I don’t have a great build for a powerlifter either. Long arms so my deadlifting is decent, but benching is not that great and I have a short torso/long femurs so not great for squatting either.

I want to try boxing. I have long arms, which I think helps quite a bit. However, I have been a smoker for the past 2 years (not cigarettes) and I rarely do cardio. So my cardio is pretty shit.

How would you slowly transition from bodybuilding to boxing in terms of training? Here is a progression I was thinking of:

Currently:

Lift weights 7 days a week on a bodybuilder split (back-chest/shoulder-legs-arms)

Over Summer switch to:

Lift weights 4 days a week on an athlete’s split focusing on strength (Push/Legs/Pull/Legs)
Do cardio 3 days/week to increase my cardiovascular endurance

Perhaps in 6 months switch to:

Lift 3 days/week to maintain/marginally increase strength
Boxing classes 2 days/week

Cliffs:

How do transition from bodybuilding training 7 days/week, no cardio, smoker for 2 years, about 200 lbs

to

Boxer, with about the same strength/muscularity but lighter (bound to lose some mass with all the heavy cardio training and less emphasis on weights)

One site I guess I should check is Ross Training

My whole point is that I am looking for some type of training in which I can really excel.

2

Read this whole thread. Then read it again.

3

I think boxing would be a pretty good sport to get into except the part about getting hit in the head repeatedly and getting dumber.

4

First of all: There is no ‘perfect body type’ for any endeavour. Well, maybe if you want to attain elite numbers, but even then I doubt it. So do whatever you LIKE best.

Boxing is a completely different beast and if you want to get good at it you’ll have to train at least 3x/week. Lifting weights on top of it is possible but you’ll have to scale it back drastically - doing the bare basics 2x a week would probably be the most you can do since a proper boxing session will leave you sore and drained, especially when you start out. The Thread that blaze mentioned will be useful.

And again, do what you enjoy doing. Your body type is less important than your commitment when it comes to sports.

5

I seem to remember this guy. He was too short and light for heavyweight. Arm was too weak to play catcher in baseball. Moved like he had two left feet. But he wanted to box, so he started training like a monk,and turned pro.

His name? Rocky Marciano, the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated. It’s not what you’re born with, it’s what you do with it.

6

Agreed, don’t try and find a sport that fits your build cos there is a very high chance if that is the only reason you are doing it, you will just end up quitting,

Do something you love doing, then training enough to excel at it won’t be a chore and you’ll find yourself getting really good cos you put the effort into training cos you enjoy it.

All my mates think I am really disciplined cos I go to the gym monday and friday, train Muay Thai on tuesday, thursday and alternating saturdays (and I have just started trying to work in a boxing class or two) and have footy training on wednesdays with games on alternating saturdays.

But I don’t feel disciplined, I just love going to all those things so I find it easy to do. I don’t have to drag myself to training cos I look forward to getting there.

And defs don’t try to force yourself into a sport like boxing. It’s not like a ball sport where you run around till your exhausted, maybe take a few hits/falls and then call it a day. You will be signing up to fight people. You are signing up to getting punched in the face and body over and over. It’s not for everyone and that kind of physicality is not something you just do for the sake of it. You have to really want to go through that.

7

All solid advice above.

The thing I would add about boxing is that unlike almost any other sport, there are a hundred different ways to be good at it. Some people are good infighters, some people are good outside boxers, some people have great power in both hands, some people have fantastic defensive technique, some people have fantastic hand speed, some people have extraordinary reflexes, some people have amazing timing, some people have great heart and endurance, some people are extremely clever fighters and are able to negate the physical attributes of their opponents. To me, that is the best thing about boxing, that there are so many ways to be good at it that even the averagely co-ordinated can compete at a high level if they dedicate themselves enough.

8

[quote]Seinix wrote:
Hi guys, a brief training history, I’m 20 years old now and started training with weights at age 15. I have been training seriously and consistently since age 18. For the past year or so i have been focusing on bodybuilding.

Currently I am 6 feet and about 200 lbs. What I realized is that I do not necessarily have the best genetics for bodybuilding. I have short muscle bellies that insert high. As I understand, this means I have less overall potential for hypertrophy but may be more suited to athletic/explosive movements. Aside from the structural genetics, I don’t have great genetics for being lean and gaining muscle (not a mesomorph, actually tend to be more lanky).

I don’t have a great build for a powerlifter either. Long arms so my deadlifting is decent, but benching is not that great and I have a short torso/long femurs so not great for squatting either.

I want to try boxing. I have long arms, which I think helps quite a bit. However, I have been a smoker for the past 2 years (not cigarettes) and I rarely do cardio. So my cardio is pretty shit.

How would you slowly transition from bodybuilding to boxing in terms of training? Here is a progression I was thinking of:

Currently:

Lift weights 7 days a week on a bodybuilder split (back-chest/shoulder-legs-arms)

Over Summer switch to:

Lift weights 4 days a week on an athlete’s split focusing on strength (Push/Legs/Pull/Legs)
Do cardio 3 days/week to increase my cardiovascular endurance

Perhaps in 6 months switch to:

Lift 3 days/week to maintain/marginally increase strength
Boxing classes 2 days/week

Cliffs:

How do transition from bodybuilding training 7 days/week, no cardio, smoker for 2 years, about 200 lbs

to

Boxer, with about the same strength/muscularity but lighter (bound to lose some mass with all the heavy cardio training and less emphasis on weights)

One site I guess I should check is Ross Training

My whole point is that I am looking for some type of training in which I can really excel. [/quote]

Start boxing now.

Ditch the weights.

Run more.

9

Hey man . I had a similar situation as yours. I’ve been boxing now for almost a month now and its been awsome. I was hesitant to ditch the weights at first but eventually did it after realizing how hard the first week of boxing was on my body. Now that i’ve been boxing for a couple of weeks and my body has gotten used to the training , im planning to add weight lifting into my regimen again but only to compliment boxing as i want to make that a priority.

I probably shouldn’t jump into weights so early ,but im really hard headed lol and plan to eat a ton so i recover from my workouts. From what i understand if your planning to do both weights and boxing make sure you only weight lift two or three times a week and only focusing explosive/big lifts such bench press/squat/olympic lifts.

Theres a youtuber called ross who has a lot of good videos on what lifts are good for boxing and he has a pretty good boxing website as well. Check it out.

10

You have to find a sport that you have a passion for because that is the only way you will be good at it… The most important thing to box isn’t body type it is mental toughness, you have to have the guts to box or you will be terrible… At your size (6’ 200lb) there are plenty of sports you are big enough to be good at so you shouldn’t limit yourself… Follow your passion…