Hi Guys,

I'm a 23yr old male, 6ft 165lbs/75kg and i have been going to the local boxing gym for general fitness classes twice a week for about 4 months. My original aim was to increase fitness and tone up, but now that my fitness is at a more reasonable level i'm thinking of going to the boxing classes in 2-3 months with the aim of self defense and just the fun of learning something new. But i feel my strength is not up to scratch which leads me to my question:

Is it ok to do free weights to fast track strength gains before i start boxing classes? and what are the best exercises that compliment boxing? ( i was thinking compound exercises like deadlift, bench press, squats etc) is it best to do lower weights/higher reps or higher weights/lower reps? Finally can anyone recommend a suitable weights regime for a beginner like me?