Heavy Bag or Lift Weights

[MightyMike]

I have saw different responses to this question already but we'll see.

Is it better (for a boxer) to lift weights and all that jazz or to just have a good workout on the heavy bag? Or should I just mix them both in?

[Sheps]

Bag 9 times out of 10 is better then weights.

Weights just build up your muscle and is more for show then actually strength, whereas with the big your actually using your arms for what you will be using them for in the ring.

More muscle doesnt always mean more power.

[alex w]

think of it like this mate.
i can do more pushups than one of the blokes on the track field, yet when we do sprints he leaves me in the dust. other forms of training are helpful for boxing, but nothing will get you better like practicing the sport itself.

hit the heavyba. the really heavybags are like weightlifting with your punch, your applying a huge resistance to your punching movement and therefore strengthening those muscles.

im personally a weights whore, i love them, but there are plenty of worl class boxers who dont even touch them and still get the results

[Mr.B]

If your goal is to be a better boxer, and you have to chose one or the other, the heavybag is the obvious choice. But the reality is that you probably don't have to choose. Every major sport has accepted that weight training improves athletic performance with increases in both speed and power. Boxing, for some reason seems to be filled with people that don't understand that simple concept. Most boxers that will warn you to stay away from weights will tell you something like "bodybuilders are slow" but that's an absurd argument because weight lifting and bodybuilding are two very different things. If you have the option, train smart with both and you'll be better off.

[means2184]

yea hitting hard ...and being able to bench 300lb sint the same thing even though you could maybe do bothy lol ...but when u hit a bag for years no matter what ur weight u develope alot of pressure and snap to your punches ...(as long as u make sure and hit the bag w/ the last 4 inch extension of your punch) which is the correct way to gain punching power

also when u do lift FOR BOXING u only need to like a couple times a week and dont do it for bulk ....also do mostly pushing excercises (you dont use your "pull muscles" so much for boxing

[Poom]

think of it like this mate.
i can do more pushups than one of the blokes on the track field, yet when we do sprints he leaves me in the dust. other forms of training are helpful for boxing, but nothing will get you better like practicing the sport itself.

hit the heavyba. the really heavybags are like weightlifting with your punch, your applying a huge resistance to your punching movement and therefore strengthening those muscles.

im personally a weights whore, i love them, but there are plenty of worl class boxers who dont even touch them and still get the results

Alex how do you balance weights and boxing ?

Im training boxing 3 x a week which isn't that much, but still have a hard time doing weights sometimes cause i know if i box the next day im gonna be very sore and immobile.

[El Kabong]

Stretch before and after you lift and it'll cause less soreness. Do lighter weight and more reps and that should help your muscle stamina which is of course a boxer's best friend

[Poom]

Thanks for your Pm alex, tried to write back but it is giving me

"You are not allowed to send personal messages." - So ill just write a reply here.

but yeah im gonna try to stretch more throughly today, gonna box - 6:30 - 8 , then do an hour of weights 9 - 10 , then stretch again.

And I have been taking some creatine, I take quite a cheap version called CEE which does not make you retain water like normal creatine, its very cheap @ about 3 quid a month(it is legit though despite the price i assure you) , it didnt actually help my recovery that much, but did increase my muscle mass alot... might just try lifting less heavy weights now and more reps to see if my next day pains get any better.

thx again for the pm.

It has been a hard decision for me thinking whether or not to continue weights or not , i mean i read that people like Naz and Calzaghe dont ever do any weights as it slows them down, but then people like Holyfield swear by weights.

[alex w]

hmm
p4p for my weight im faster than i am strong (dont get me wrong, iv won nearly all of of the 33 fights iv had by KO, i dont punch like a girl) but i swear by weights.
you use muscle fibres to move your punches at speed.

what builds muscle fibres?

[spagy]

go on www.rossboxing.com and go to the gym and look at weight training for boxers

[means2184]

think of it like this mate.
i can do more pushups than one of the blokes on the track field, yet when we do sprints he leaves me in the dust. other forms of training are helpful for boxing, but nothing will get you better like practicing the sport itself.

hit the heavyba. the really heavybags are like weightlifting with your punch, your applying a huge resistance to your punching movement and therefore strengthening those muscles.

im personally a weights whore, i love them, but there are plenty of worl class boxers who dont even touch them and still get the results

Alex how do you balance weights and boxing ?

Im training boxing 3 x a week which isn't that much, but still have a hard time doing weights sometimes cause i know if i box the next day im gonna be very sore and immobile.

if u stay on schedual consistantly you wont get sore anymore ....like literially your body gets used to it like a work horse,like i'm not trying to sound all badasss but eversince highschool football i really dont get stiff & sore anymore..no matter how stiff you are you can always warm up and get moving again w/ about 10 min of stretches and 20 min warm up work/real light jogging

[canuck kid]

I have saw different responses to this question already but we'll see.

Is it better (for a boxer) to lift weights and all that jazz or to just have a good workout on the heavy bag? Or should I just mix them both in?

i would focus more on techniques/style, bag work, with weights coming in secondary focusing on only compound exercises, such as squat and or bent over rows, bench presses are overrated, more of an ego exercise, plus they work your shoulders more than your chest, if you do want to work your chest try dips.

[Poom]

if u stay on schedual consistantly you wont get sore anymore ....like literially your body gets used to it like a work horse,like i'm not trying to sound all badasss but eversince highschool football i really dont get stiff & sore anymore..no matter how stiff you are you can always warm up and get moving again w/ about 10 min of stretches and 20 min warm up work/real light jogging

But with weight lifting

I guess the principle is that you are constantly stressing and breaking the muscle so it grows back stronger.

So if you are contantly pushing and straining the muscle harder then you would always get sore no ?

[Mr.B]

So if you are contantly pushing and straining the muscle harder then you would always get sore no ?

Depending on the person, a good rule of thumb is to change your routine every 2 months or so. If you stay in the same routine, your body will adapt and no amount of effort doing the same thing will produce optimal results. Alex mentioned this just the other day. Some call it "tricking" the muscle into growing. After the body adapts to certain demands and a certain routine, you either change your routine to kick your body back into high gear or your gains will creep to a snails pace. And by the way, by "change your routine" I don't mean put a few more pounds on the bar. I mean drastically change your routine. Switch to an all bodyweight exercises routine where you go to the point of failure every other day for a week straight. Or do a power lifters workout for a couple of weeks. Whatever you do, you have to throw your body a curveball every now and then or your body will adjust to the demands and your progress will slow down.

[Mr.B]

i would focus more on techniques/style, bag work, with weights coming in secondary focusing on only compound exercises, such as squat and or bent over rows, bench presses are overrated, more of an ego exercise, plus they work your shoulders more than your chest, if you do want to work your chest try dips.

I just had to comment on this... Compound exercises are absolutely the way to go. Bent over rows are great for building the back (and indirectly the biceps). The squat is the absolute king of compound exercises and will recruit more muscle fiber than any other single exercise you can do. But the bench press is overrated? You lost me there.

Just about every punch you can throw uses ALL of the muscles that are developed with the bench press. Having a strong back (from bent over rows) helps bring your hands back faster from a punch, but the actual punch itself, the power starts in the calves, comes up through the quadriceps, through the hip flexors, abdominals and then goes DIRECTLY through the shoulders, pectorals and triceps muscles. The shoulders, pecs and triceps are all developed with the bench press. If I had to chose 2 lifts that boxers can benefit from, it would include the squat, and the benchpress. There's a good reason that these two are staples among atheletes in just about every major sport.