Gutbuster's Log

Hi dude nice to see you're still managing despite how things are going. I remember before I asked you how your left hooks were doing, this was because I noticed that you were focussing on left hooks on one of your bag sessions. Isolation kind of work like this is great if you're still trying to get the technique down enough so that you can bring that consistancy into the ring. When you feel that your technique is okay you can start to think about different ways that you can set your left hook up. You might ask yourself how do you transition from one punch to your left hook. You can see how the weight shifts for one punch loads you up for another punch on the other side.

When you're throwing your left hook find pick your spots that you want to hit, such as the short ribs, the liver, or right in the gut. Then you can go off the different things to see how to set your opponent up, how to get around their guard, or how to land it as a counterpunch. The typical left hook to the body works off of a slip of your opponent's right hand. Then you might think about how you would get your opponent to throw that right hand, and so forth.

Once you get this kind of experience from a real opponent you can apply this to your shadow boxing and bag work so it isn't just punching practice. You'll probably have to use your footwork to get the angle you need to land a particular punch. You can mix it up however you want, you might want to use each round, to work on a different set-up, using the rest time in between to think about how your going to set up your next punch/combination.

It can really suck not getting any sparring especially when you're worried about your progress. You either have to go a little out of your way to find a good gym, or find a boxer in your area that you can over different things at your place.

I hope this helps, I'm sorry I didn't hit you back sooner. Anways ThomasTabin and greynotsoold have a lot of neat posts that go over this kind stuff. You can access the search feature from this link: http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxing_fo...?action=search

Hey Chris, thanks for the advice. I kept it in mind last night and tried to think more in terms of setting things up and controlling the action. I think I get a lot out of this site, the guys you mentioned, yourself and a lot of others really give quality advice. Its frustrating me that I can't really try things out now though, but hopefully I'll figure something out so I can at least run drills with someone to practice some of this.

So since I've been whining about my gym situation here I guess I'll continue *updating* (venting). The owner has brought in more racks for bags and now there's hardly any floor space and so many bags that its tough to find an area where you can even see yourself shadowboxing. The guy made it sound like he trained people to fight but it seems more and more like its just a half step up from some la boxing or taibo type cardiokickboxing place... and going in the wrong direction.

On the other hand the two coaches seem to know their stuff, one of them is at least willing to work pads when he's around and not teaching a class, and they've pointed out a couple of problems with my technique and ways to improve my balance. I think if I can get some sparring I could spend a couple of nights a week doing my own conditioning, a couple nights doing their stuff, and then spar as much as possible and that would probably work out alright. Sparring is still the big question mark though.

9/19

*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
2 rounds rope
1 round burpees
1 round situps
1 round mountain climbers
3 rounds rope
4 rounds shadow boxing
1 rounds of squats

warmup/stretching
jumping jacks
shadowboxing
~45 minutes kickboxing combinations on bags, occassional burnouts for rest
*(side note, I'm a little concerned that the long sessions might throw me off from the 3 minutes of high intensity output I'm used to)
pushups/ ab excercises
stretching

I was going to stay and see if i could get some boxing work in but the coach seemed to want to leave and just got on the phone and computer... there was supposed to be a boxing class scheduled after kickboxing but no one else came and he stayed sitting there... plus he had taken the clip for the only double end bag so I just left.

Sorry for all the complaining in this long-winded post. I know a lot of people have much more challenging obstacles, I'm just venting cuz I'm frustrated.

9/20
lunch:
2 rounds shadow boxing
3 minutes holding pushup position
3 minute plank hold
3 minute superman hold
3 minute wall sit
wrist curls with dumbells (including reverse and circular curls)

evening:
*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
10 minutes of ropes
7 rounds of pads
3 rounds of free combinations on heavy bag
2 rounds of burnouts
~60 pushups (sets of 10 of various types)
50 crunches
100 leg raises
stretching

night:
30 minutes on bike

9/21
3 minute rounds, 30 seconds break
12 minutes of skipping rope
3 rounds shadow boxing
3 rounds double end bag
5 rounds pads
3 rounds heavy bag
pushups, abs and stretching

9/22
10 400 meter sprints with 1 minute rest between each

9/23
Couldnt use the timer so I'm guessing on the times for some of these... I tend to estimate longer times so I'm rounding down.
5 mile jog
5 minutes rope
5 minutes double end bag
500 jabs on heavy bag
300 crosses on heavy bag
10 minutes of combinations heavy bag
100 uppercuts on heavy bag
stretching

9/24

10 minutes double end bag
stretching/ warmup
shadowboxing
~40 minutes of bagwork
pushups
abs
stretching
10 minutes double end bag

9/25
Evening:
3 minutes double end bag
10 minutes skipping rope
2 rounds shadowboxing
5-7 rounds pads
4 rounds burnouts on heavybag
pushups/abs/stretching

Late night:
200 crunches
50 pushups
40 minutes on bike

9/26
*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
10 minutes rope
stretching
3 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds double end bag
3 rounds heavy bag
5-6 rounds pads/ defense work
3 rounds heavy bag
3 rounds shadowboxing
stretching

45 minutes on bike

This was a good session. I've really never had much instruction on defense and pretty much tended to go with a smother the opponent with punches strategy, so its nice to start patching up the big holes i have in my skills. I also was told that I may get to start sparring next week and if not then soon after. I'm still a little skeptical, but I'm excited for the chance. Its been a few months and I'd really like to get the rust off and work on applying things in real situations.

9/27

Stretching
10 minutes
10 minutes shadowboxing
30-40 minutes combinations on bags with occassional short punchout breaks (no bells or breaks today)
pushups (regular, knuckle, wide grip, hands out, fingertips, wrists)
Abs (leg lifts, crunches, knee-ins, bicycles, scissors, v reaches on back with legs up(?), oblique reaches, and a few others)
stretching


Later at home:
300 crunches
30 minutes on bike

9/28

I got the new wrist roller and neck harness I ordered so I did some situps and some sets of excercises with those. I plan to do at least a couple of sets of each 4-6 days a week.

9/29

Stretch/ warmup
5 400 meter sprints
10 100 meter sprints
Started 2 mile jog but my knee was bothering me so I cut it short at around 1/2 mile.
2 3 minute rounds of wrist
2 3 minute rounds of neck

9/30

2 3 minute rounds of wrist (5lbs)
50 neck raises (15lbs)

10/1

10 minutes rope
*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
5 rounds shadowboxing
4 rounds combinations on heavy bags
3 rounds punchouts on heavy bags
10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
15 diamond pushups
15 wide pushups
15 knuckle pushups
15 wrist out pushups
15 fingertip pushups
15 clap pushups
50 crunches
30 leg lifts
30 knee ins
30 side reaches
30 scissor kicks
30 leg crosses
stretching

45 minutes on bike

great workouts gutbuster, what sort of improvements are you seeing? i know speed and power cant really be easured but feeling it lost weight ectect?

Thanks gally. Its honestly hard to tell... in the past I've used sparring as a gauge of progress and I could see my endurance and skills improving as I did better and better against the same people. Lately I think I've been making some improvements with my speed and technique but its hard to tell how much will transfer... I think a lot of it should though. I've been working with new trainers for a couple of weeks and they've given me a lot of things to think about and work on, especially involving footwork, weight transfer, varying rhythm and maintaining good spacing.

I think my endurance is good and we've been doing more skipping rope which should help improve it. I did more sprinting at my last gym but I think maybe it was too much since we were sprinting just about every day. I talked to my trainer about that the other night and I'll be aiming to get sprints in 3 times a week now which i think makes more sense. I'm a little worried about losing power because I used to do more upper body conditioning, but I'm hitting the bag more so I feel like that and some improvements to my technique are more than making up for it so far. I have a pullup bar on the way and I plan to work those in and maybe increase the pushups I do, plus work on the neck and wrists more, so hopefully those and the bag work should keep my power up. I'm supposed to start getting some sparring in soon too, which I'm eager to do... but we'll see when/if that pans out.

10/2

I didn't have a track available so I used a soccer field which (based on my times) I think was around 120 meters... give or take.
sprint 1 length, rest 40 seconds X10
sprint 2 lengths, rest 40 seconds X2
sprint 3 lengths, rest 1 minute
sprint 4 lengths, rest 1 minute
Then to the gym:
stretching/ warmup
10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadow boxing
~7 rounds combinations on heavy bags, 30 second punchouts between rounds
30 seconds rest
1 round burnouts
various pushups
various ab excersizes
stretching
Later, after dinner:
30 minutes on bike

10/3

After I took a shower in the morning I noticed my vision was all blurry and I was seeing bright spots on one side. I assumed it was just because I was tired and it pretty much went away by the time I got to work, but it turned out to have been the start of a migraine. I went home and slept off the worst of it before going back to work, but I took the night off from training since I still felt screwy. It was probably from not getting enough sleep combined with the training and regular everyday stress with work, bills, trying to find a new apt, etc. The headache lingered overnight but I'm still going to train tonight... maybe I'll skip the sprinting though.

10/5
*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
warmup/stretch
10 minutes rope
3 rounds combinations on heavy bags
Alternating 1 round punch mitts, 1 round burnouts on heavy bag for 12 rounds
pushups and abwork

later:
1 round of wrist roller with 5lbs
30 neck raises and 20 alternating side neck raises with 20 bounds on harness
30 minutes on bike

10/5

10 400m sprints with 45 seconds rest between each
10 minutes jump rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds heavy bag
10 minutes pad work
10 minutes jump rope
pushups
abwork
stretching

10/6
30 minutes on bike

Sadly, I think that was all I did over the weekend. Saturday was busy but for Sunday I don't really have an excuse.

10/8
400 meter jog
6 400 meter sprints
2 200 meter sprints
4 150 meter sprints
stretching
jumping jacks ~3 minutes
shadowboxing ~10 minutes
combinations on heavy bag ~40 minutes
Pushups ~100
ab excercises

The pull up bar I ordered came in the mail and I put it together but it seems to be defective and wouldnt stay up at all. I guess thats what I get for going with the cheap model.

10/9
3 minute rounds, 30 second breaks
jump rope- 1000 count, then 4 rounds including breaks (13:30)
3 rounds of burnouts on heavy bag
5 rounds pads
1 round heavybag
1 round pads
1 round heavy bag
1 round pads
pushups: diamond, wide, regular, knuckles, hands out
edit: At least 2 sets of 15 burpees
100 situps, 100 leg raises
stretching

Later:
1 round wrist roller- 5lbs
1 round neck raises with 25 lbs on harness
30 minutes bike

10/10
3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadow boxing
4 rounds double end bag
3 rounds heavy bag
1 round punchouts on heavy bag
~5 or 6 rounds with pads
50 pushups
50 leg raises
stretching

Later:
30 minutes on bike

10/11

warmup
10 minutes of rope
~10 minutes shadowboxing
~30 minutes heavybag
pushups
ab exercises
stretching
5 rounds double end bag
1 round heavy bag

10/13
400m jog for warmup
5 400m sprints, 1 minute between each
3 mile jog

10/14
*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds double end bag
7 or 8 rounds heavy bag
4 rounds double end bag
3 rounds of punchouts on heavy bag
5 rounds of rope, working through breaks
100 crunches
25 clap pushups
50 leg raises
50 leg drops to each side
25 pushups
stretching

One of my coaches told me to adjust my left hook so I hit palm down when I go to the head. I'm working on that a lot because I feel like that takes all the power out of my punch and makes it land awkwardly a lot of the time... My hand/ first two knuckles have been hurting since I started making the adjustment... I think mostly from hitting with the sides of my knuckles instead of fully cocking my elbow and bringing them straight on. So hopefully I won't screw up my hand too much before I get that working right.

10/16
I was going to go to the gym last night but my half hour nap before going turned into 2 hours before my girlfriend woke me up for dinner. Then I couldn't get back to sleep all night, so I went to the gym for an early session before work. The gym is right near where I work and theres a shower here so it actually feels nice to have gotten a good workout in and then had a nice shower... now if only I could just go home, make some coffee, put a movie on and bury myself under the blankets I think I'd be in heaven. Instead I just have to make it through the next 8 or 9 hours without letting anyone catch me dozing at my desk. Anyway, sorry for the rambling here.

am:
3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest
10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
4 rounds double end bag
4 rounds heavy bag
3 rounds punchouts on heavy bags
100 situps
100 side reaches
25 leg raises
stretching
3 rounds

10/17
7 minutes rope
1 round double end bag
1 round heavy bag
4-5 rounds sparring
10 minutes rope
100 situps
50 leg raises
50 leg drops to alternating sides

It was nice to finally get some sparring again, even though it was just to the body. It felt good and I'm sure next time we'll get geared up and go to the head too. I did ok for the first few rounds but my footwork deteriorated in the later rounds as i got tired and started taking bigger steps, jumping in and out and being sloppier in general.

10/18
Frustrating day. I got my tired as* out of my nice comfortable bed by 5:30 so I could go to the gym before work, but when I got there no one was around and it was locked up. Then after work I was going to get some running in at this field I go to near my gym before training, but there were all these kids playing soccer there. So I decided to just go to my gym and do some extra ropes and bagwork before our session but when I got there the door was closed with a sign saying 'do not disturb- private session in progress' so I just took a nap in my car. I know its got to be hard making ends meet at a small gym like this, but its frustrating when its not open for posted hours and I've made plans around it.

Anyway, it looked like i was going to get some 1on1 time to do pads and all that but then someone showed up so it was more of a cardio boxing type workout. Actually I don't know if its cardio boxing... we don't do any fruity stuff, just a long stretch of combinations on the heavy bag.

stretching
17minutes rope
~5 minutes shadowboxing
~45 minutes combinations on heavy bag with occassional punchout breaks
2 rounds punchouts, 1st to head level, second to body
10 diamond pushups
10 regular pushups
10 wide pushups
10 hands out pushups
10 knuckles
10 wrists
10 fingertips
assorted ab exercises
stretching

Interesting log man although arent you getting tired?

Yeah... what tires me most is being at the office all day though. Well that and chronic insomnia... I relate the two though. I actually decided to start taking some comm college classes (just in case my promising professional boxing doesn't pan out) so between those, a three year anniversary, my mom, sister and girlfriends birthdays and changing apartments I think November will be a busy month. My coach had mentioned that he might have me fight in december so hopefully I'll get enough training time to make that happen still.

10/21

Jogged ~half mile to track. Sprint 5X100 meters, jogging 100 meters between each sprint rather than stopping. 5X 100 meter sprint and 300 meter jog. Jogged ~half mile back home.

10/22
*3 minute rounds, 30 second breaks
10 minutes rope
4 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds combinations on heavy bag
3 rounds punchouts on heavy bag
40 leg raises (with partner knocking legs back down each time)
20 sit-ups to standing
40 leg raises
50 pushups
stretching
3 rounds double end bag
stretching

10/23
lunch:
4 rounds shadow boxing
300 crunches
3 minute pushup hold
3 minute plank hold
3 minute superman hold

pm:
1 round w/ wrist roller
1 round w/ neck harness
3 rounds punchouts w/ 5lb dumbbells
2 rounds shadowboxing w/ 5lb dumbbells
1 round of footwork w/ dumbbells (mostly working on weaving/slipping)
1 round of defense only *sparring* (gave my girlfriend a pair of gloves and let her beat the crap out of me)

10/24

10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
6 rounds double end bag
3 rounds combinations on heavy bag
3 rounds punchouts on heavy bag
1 round double end bag
10 minutes rope
50 leg lifts
50 pushups
50 knee ins
40 leg drops to sides
50 side crunches
50 pushups
100 crunches

10/25

10 minutes rope
4 rounds combinations on heavy bag (mostly working on multiple jabs)
6 rounds on pads
2 rounds working on infighting techniques on heavy bag
2 rounds punchouts (non-stop 1-2's to head level)
pushups/ abs/ stretching

10/26
stretching/warmup
3 rounds rope
~45 minutes of combinations and burnouts, focusing on endurance
3 rounds rope
squats, pushups, abs


10/27
30 minutes bike.

Busy weekend so I didn't get much training in. My brother ran a marathon though.. at least someone in the family was getting it done.

10/29

3 rounds rope
2 rounds shadowboxing
1 round double end bag
3-4 rounds sparring
2 rounds heavy bag
2 rounds jump rope
10 burpees
10 clap pushups
20 leg raises with partner knocking them down
stretching

Got to do some real sparring for the first time in ages last night. My defense was horrible, but I did see drastic improvement between the first and last rounds. It felt great to be mixing it up a bit, I've definitely missed that and hope this works out to be a regular thing now. My main sparring partner fights at cruiserweight (maybe 40? lbs more than me) with solid skills and has had a couple of professional fights so even though he wasn't trying to take my head off and held back some on his offense he's still definitly going to keep me honest in terms of tightening up my defense.

10/31/07
14 minutes rope
4 rounds shadowboxing
1 round shadowboxing with gloves
4 rounds double end bag
3 rounds heavy bag

11/1/07

*3 minute rounds, 30 seconds break
10 minutes rope
3 rounds of combinations on heavybag, focusing on continuous movement and circling
4-5 rounds of pads
3 rounds of burnouts on heavy bag
100 pushups
200 crunches
stretching

11/2/07
warmup, skipping, jumping jacks etc. about 5-10 minutes
shadowboxing 10 minutes
combinations on heavy bag ~35-40 minutes
various floor excercises for about 10 minutes (lots of burpee like exercises.. mostly variations on jumping back and forth between squated and pushup positions)
Stretching

11/5

10 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds double end bag
1 round heavy bag
4 rounds sparring
3 rounds double end bag
5-6 rounds heavy bag
2 rounds double end bag

11/7/07

10 minutes rope
4-5 rounds shadow boxing
5-6 rounds double end bag (mostly working on slipping)
2 rounds heavy bag
4-5 rounds of work on defense and footwork with trainer

11/8/07

14 minutes rope
2 rounds heavy bag
1 round pads
1 round heavy bag
(repeated 1 round pads, 1 round heavy bag for 10-12 rounds)
2 rounds punchouts to head on heavybag
pushups, abwork
stretching

11/12/07

12 minutes rope
3 rounds shadowboxing
3 rounds double end bag
2 rounds heavy bag
3 rounds sparring
2 rounds double end bag
1 round heavy bag
50 situps
25 pushups
50 leg raises
25 pushups
50 leg drops to each side
25 pushups
50 scissors
50 alternating leg lifts