Advice

[awesome]

I just started getting into boxing about 3 weeks ago. I joined a local gym and working my way through the beginner classes in order to move up. I'm 23, 5'8 and about 160lbs. My goals are to fight in the amateurs by 24 and hopefully compete in the golden gloves. What kind of advice can you guys give me? I know I have to train my butt off in the gym. Pretty much the beginner classes are to teach you the fundamentals of boxing while getting you in shape. I'm only taking those classes at the moment. Should I be doing something else outside the gym? I'm hoping to fight at 150 but I've read that I shouldn't worry about weight until later. Thanks for any input.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

first off, speak to your trainers and let them know you would like to fight as lots of people just go to get fit.

Everything is still very new as you've been doing it 3 weeks, just start to make small adjustments to clean up your diet if it isn't already, that might just mean switching to wholemeal bread/pasta/rice rather than white.
Make sure you're getting enough fluids and rest. It'll just be easier and healthier for you in the long run. As you get fitter you'll be able to refine your programme, add in extra training in the gym and away, add in sprint work etc.

Thing is, for now just enjoy the experience of your knew sport and seeing how your body develops. You don't need to rush and risk doing too much & get injured.

Watch fights on tv, watch em live. Start to look for mistakes guys make & there will be many.
I read in a good boxing book - there's always a reason you got hit - that might be you dropped your hands, telegraphed a shot & you got caught etc

Best of luck and welcome aboard.

[Chris Nagel]

What kind of gym are you going to?

It's of my opinion that the beginner intent on boxing should gear their workouts toward getting into the ring to spar. I think that a patient and knowledgeable trainer is an absolute necessity. Not someone that just shows you a couple punches to direct you to bags, then has you do some exercise so that they can take your money. Someone who is willing to work with you one-on-one getting it all right. They should show you how to stand properly, how to punch and move with the right body mechanics, and then teach the right defense and counter punching that will become your tools in the ring. Make sure that they know that you're serious about boxing.

Boxing is a tough multifaceted game where you have to quickly engage your offense and defense simultaneously, often while under pressure. You need to train yourself to remain calm and composed while facing danger, how to protect yourself from your opponent's blows and respond with the right choice.

Outside of the gym, it'll help to have some kind of road work routine that gets you ready for the hard and hectic pace that you'll encounter in sparring. Interval training is great help, but the biggest difference will be made through consistently doing the work, and sparring a lot until you get used to it. Get your diet right by cutting out the things that you don't need.

Besides that try to engage your boxing brain whenever you can. When hitting the bags, don't just stand in place throwing 1-2, 1-2... Treat the bag with caution, think of it as an opponent. You wouldn't stay in punching range the whole time against a real opponent would you? Move your feet, imagine defending against specific punches, and then practice throwing the counters that you've been working on with your trainer. Experience in the ring will give you the best reference when training productively as you'll know what to look out for against an opponent, what not to do, and what works best for you. This of course comes into play when you're training, shadowboxing, hitting the bags/pads, and even when you're watching a fight.

[awesome]

Thanks for the advice.

As far as diet goes, I've been making sure that I only eat what is good for me. Someone told me that some people eat to live while others live to eat. I eat to live.

The gym I'm going to is supposedly a good one in the area. It offered different programs such as one year non competitive to three years competitive. I signed up for one year competitive. I wanted to get a feel for it before I made a committment for three years.

You have to complete 42 beginner classes before moving up. You learn all the basics from boxing stance to punch combinations. For warm up you run one mile which is 24 laps around the gym. It's pretty much repitition, coordination and skill development. The class after that focuses on eye and hand coordination, learning drills with training aids, shadowboxing, routines for amateur boxing, rope jumping, speed bags, heavy bag, light contact drills. And once that is completed you then start ring introduction, light sparring and competitive sparring.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

interesting set-up. never heard of that before.

[Chris Nagel]

That's different, has the gym produced any fighters? It might help to have a notebook and keep track of all of the work that you're doing.

[awesome]

I know the owner trains a kid who turned pro last year and is currently undefeated. We always learn a new punch combination every class so I try to keep track of that. Pretty much the first 30 minutes of class focuses on fitness while the last hour focuses on punch combinations and technique.

[wesrman]

I know the owner trains a kid who turned pro last year and is currently undefeated. We always learn a new punch combination every class so I try to keep track of that. Pretty much the first 30 minutes of class focuses on fitness while the last hour focuses on punch combinations and technique.

Weird. Im not a boxer, but i would think you would want to work more on technique when you're fresh and on conditioning afterwards.

[awesome]

I believe this class is designed to get you into boxing shape while learning technique. The next class you'll focus only on technique. I'll see how it goes.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

I know the owner trains a kid who turned pro last year and is currently undefeated. We always learn a new punch combination every class so I try to keep track of that. Pretty much the first 30 minutes of class focuses on fitness while the last hour focuses on punch combinations and technique.

Weird. Im not a boxer, but i would think you would want to work more on technique when you're fresh and on conditioning afterwards.

Pretty much every gym I've been to works back to front like that.
It's ok for fitness BUT you have to be very careful not to get in to bad habits through fatigue. So I does as I'm told in class. If I'm working in the gym on my own or at home I switch to what I (and prevailing sports science and logic) consider to be more efficient use of my time.

Hey Awesome, out of curiosity would you mind continuing to post on your progress perhaps starting a training log here at Saddo's?

[Scrap]

Missy great post, Basic common sense

[awesome]

I know the owner trains a kid who turned pro last year and is currently undefeated. We always learn a new punch combination every class so I try to keep track of that. Pretty much the first 30 minutes of class focuses on fitness while the last hour focuses on punch combinations and technique.

Weird. Im not a boxer, but i would think you would want to work more on technique when you're fresh and on conditioning afterwards.

Pretty much every gym I've been to works back to front like that.
It's ok for fitness BUT you have to be very careful not to get in to bad habits through fatigue. So I does as I'm told in class. If I'm working in the gym on my own or at home I switch to what I (and prevailing sports science and logic) consider to be more efficient use of my time.

Hey Awesome, out of curiosity would you mind continuing to post on your progress perhaps starting a training log here at Saddo's?

I will start a training log..thanks for the replies