The Glowing Edge

Tag: strength

How to Train FASTER
I’m officially about 8 weeks out from my next fight, which is just the right amount of time I need to set up my training goals. About a year ago I started categorizing the main areas of my boxing training, and since then I’ve refined my system enough to find it pretty useful as I plan my workouts.

(It would be fair to say I’m a bit compulsive about organization. Obsessed, even. But people hire me for it, so I’m allowed. Note to you: try to get paid for the stuff that makes you weird.)

The acronym I use to lay out my goals is FASTER, although if you want to be picky about it — which I generally enjoy doing — you could also say FASSTER, because it stands for Form, Anaerobic Conditioning, Strength, Speed, Timing, Eating Clean, and Resting.

But first, a note about training hours…

How many hours of training each week?

Remember those awesome gold star stickers from first grade? I’ll still do damn near anything for those suckers.

So when I’m in my normal routine, I use a “medal” system for every week of training. This means I give myself a mental bronze medal for every week in which I train three times, a silver for four good training sessions, and a gold for getting in five training sessions for that week.

I used to train two hours or more at a time, but now that I’m more efficient, I train about an hour to an hour and a half each time. If I’m focused and not jacking around, I’m finished inside of an hour.

I know plenty of people who put in far more training hours, but I just don’t have that luxury. And anyway, I would die of boredom spending long, slow hours on a trail or treadmill; besides, that sort of training doesn’t produce the kind of conditioning you need for boxing (see Anaerobic, below).

I average about 4 hours of training in a normal week, but when prepping for a fight, I try to stay consistently in a 5 workout-per-week mode.

Form

Ideally, you get your form cleaned up by shooting video of yourself sparring or working the heavy bag. That way you can watch yourself and correct the sloppy stuff. You can also watch yourself in a mirror. Either way, make sure you always have a form goal you’re working on.

Here are a few examples of good form goals:
Anaerobic conditioning

Anaerobic (coined in 1863 by Louis Pasteur, from the Greek: an – “without” + aer “air” + bios “life”) is very different from aerobic conditioning. Anaerobic conditioning means you’re teaching your body to function at high levels for very short periods of time with a shortage of oxygen to your system.

The win here is in interval training. Nobody cares if you can run five miles because what you need to be able to do in boxing is sprint hard for two (women’s rounds) or three (men’s rounds) minutes, recover in one minute, sprint another round, recover, and sprint again.

You can do interval training on pretty much everything. Weights, jump rope, treadmill, stair runs, box jumps, tire flipping, elliptical, rowing, sprints, you name it.

Boxing Interval Training: Do as much of your training as you possibly can in rounds or two or three minutes each, with 30 second recoveries between. Work crazy hard during the round, and keep moving during the recovery. Don’t slouch over or put your hands on your knees during your rest period. Stand tall and get plenty of oxygen back in to your system.

Tabata Interval Training: I generally keep my intervals to boxing round times, but that’s not the only way to do it. Tabata interval-style training was founded by a Japanese scientist named Izumi Tabata, and someday soon I’ll write a post on Tabata training, but the basic gist is this: After your warm up, you do 8 intervals of 20 seconds all-out intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. Sound short and easy? Check out these killer Tabata-interval burpees. (Note he slouches to breathe at 2:30; Tabata will do that to you.)

Strength

For fight sports, speed and strength go hand in hand. When I do strength training I typically use light weights and high reps because I’m working for quickness and explosive power as well. Although I also slow it down and work heavier weights now and then because it’s so good for your bone density.

I’m not a huge exercise gadget person, but I do make use of dumbells, freeweights, tractor tires, sledgehammer, and medicine balls, and if I were in a fancy gym I’d be using slam ball, kettlebells, heavy rope, balance rings, and harness pulls as well.

Speed

You can build your speed by focusing on agility, explosion, and sprinting exercises. I have an agility ladder, but I’m just as likely to work along a sidewalk line or parking lot stripe. I also use dot drills, box (or wall or bench) jumps, and my general interval training to train for quickness.

You’ll definitely want to build up a set of reaction drills to use in building speed, too, and for some of those you need a partner. Practice letting your partner throw jabs at your head while you slip and duck. (good for Timing too, see below). Tie up a slip rope and work your way down it, moving quickly and lightly as you duck under and bob up on the other side.

Timing

If there’s an area in which I shortchange myself, it’s in timing. I do regular rounds on the speed bag (which really should be called a timing bag, because that’s what it trains), and once in a while I get on the double-end bag, but most of your practice in timing will come by way of regular sparring.

There’s just no substitute for learning to get out of the way than by having someone come after you with a blazing fast combo. And when you are getting regular sparring in, you’re also building timing by looking for the open shot and trying to land it consistently.

Eating Clean

My dietary outline comes mainly from the Dr. Sears Zone Diet, but I also incorporate Paleo once in a while. Above all, I work pretty hard to avoid the Forbidden Five foods (white bread, white rice, white pasta, white potatoes, and high fructose corn syrup). If you’re subscribed to my emails I love to send out recipes (as well as workout plans, training stories, playlists, random shenanigans, and free books once in a while; sign up here if you haven’t already).

And yeah, I cheat. You should too. Make your goals for eating sustainable, not ridiculously lofty. My goal in this area is usually to eat 80% clean every week. Which leaves room for spinach, mushroom, sausage, and onion pizza once in a while. (With extra garlic, yeah baby.)

Rest and Recovery

You’ve probably already heard the newsflash that you don’t build muscle while you’re training; you build muscle as you’re recovering. I have never been a train-every-day person anyway, but since I’m in my forties I’m particularly aware of a) being efficient with my time and training, and b) not getting injured by overtraining or making stupid mistakes.

Your turn…

What’s missing? What do you include that isn’t listed here? Leave me a comment below and share your ideas, additions, and training secrets.

CC image by Andrius Petrucenia
November 26, 2012
How to Succeed in Boxing

Success in boxing isn’t always measured by the number of “W”s on your passbook. It’s something hard-won over time with plenty of blood, sweat, and the right attitude.

Take a look at the following 11 keys to success in boxing, and join in the discussion by leaving your ideas and additions in the comments below.

1. Don’t ask who will let you learn to fight. Ask who will stop you.

This was my very first lesson in learning to box, and not coincidentally, in learning to live the life I dreamed of but didn’t have. The voice inside your head that says you can’t do this is a liar. If you want power, fight for it. If you want love, fight for it. If you want your art, your career, your relationships, your health…there isn’t someone you need to ask permission from. But there may be people, roadblocks, and personal limitations you’ll have to push past.

2. Find a coach you can trust.

Great boxing coaches almost always have boxing experience of their own. But just because someone was a boxer does not mean they’ll make a good coach. You want someone who understands how to teach boxing by careful increments, not the “throw ’em in the ring, beat ’em up, and see if they are ballsy enough to come back” school. Avoid any trainers who teach by routinely belittling, cursing, bullying, or humiliating their fighters. Certifications are overrated; what you want is someone you feel can bring out your best game. You can’t always put a certification on that.

3. Accept that blood happens.

Black eyes, bloody noses, busted ribs, torn muscles, knockout punches, and even serious ass kickings do happen in boxing. No, boxing is not all about beating someone up or getting beat up, but if you try to get through this sport without your fair share of pain, you may be knitting but you aren’t boxing. As it happens, the same is true in life. Sometimes you get punched in the face, hard. It’s far better to have some experience with that so that you know how to respond to it.

4. Play to your strengths. Train up your weaknesses.

As you start to learn to box, you’ll discover that you have certain strengths and liabilities as a fighter. You may have great reach, but you don’t like the inside game. Maybe your punches pack power, but you can’t seem to get your feet to move lightly in the ring. You never manage to land an uppercut, but your jab stings like a bitch. Figure out what you’re good at, and put it to extra use in the ring. Accept that you have vulnerabilities, and seek training partners who excel in those areas and will help you train up your weaknesses so that they don’t present a fatal crack in your armor.

5. When you can’t do something everyone can do, train until you get it or find a workaround.

I learned a long time ago that as a boxer in her 40s I can’t always do the same things in training that the teenagers do. I’ve learned to come early to warm up more, find alternate exercises when one they’re doing won’t work for me, and modify some of the “routine” training patterns of my boxing team so that I can do the same work in a way that fits my body. For example, if the call is for 40 push-ups, I’ll do mine in sets rather than all in a row. One size does not fit all in boxing training; push yourself, but make it work for you and not against you.

6. Keep climbing back into the ring.

Learning to box takes years. It isn’t something you can try this week, and be “naturally” great at. Street fighters do not have an advantage. Muscle-bound tough guys do not have an advantage. Football players, rugby players, hockey players or other athletes do not have an advantage. (MMA fighters have an advantage.) Boxing is its own game, with unique challenges and rewards. The only way to become good is to train consistently over a long period of time. Set goals and work to achieve them, but remember the scale of this sport and allow yourself time to improve.

7. Fight until the bell rings.

Your first rounds in sparring are a real eye-opener as far as showing you exactly what’s required in this sport. Even once you have lots of experience, you’ll go in the ring some days thinking those three tiny minutes last about a hundred years each. But giving up mid-round sends the message that you just aren’t serious.

8. Cross train.

Going to your boxing gym three or four times a week may make your game good, but throwing in regular cross training will take you to the next level. And if you can make your cross training fit the rhythms of boxing (for example, fit exercises into 3 minute intervals with 30 second rests when possible), you’ll make your game the best it can be. Cross training strengthens the muscles that boxing doesn’t hit, alleviates boredom, and opens you to new experiences, coaches, and communities.

9. Seek out experienced fighters and listen to what they have to say.

Learn from the boxers who are already good. They know a lot, and can show you things you haven’t figured out yet. Watch them when they’re in the ring. Ask them questions. Train alongside them. One way to get good is to copy someone who is already there.

10. Seek out new fighters, and listen to what they have to say.

If you’re new, they will make you feel less alone. If you’re experienced, they will keep you on your toes and even teach you things you’ve missed or forgotten about. It’s always valuable to have the perspective of someone new to boxing. It’s also important to give back by listening to newbies and offering what counsel and encouragement you can.

11. Remember to breathe.

This sounds ridiculous until you’ve gone your first few rounds in the ring. Holding your breath while punching, forgetting to relax while in the ring, taking tiny, shallow fearful breaths… There’s so much strain and fear and work in boxing you can frequently find yourself fighting without breathing. A good coach and corner will constantly remind you to breathe, and you will have to work and focus hard to obey them. (You’ll be glad you learned it, though.)

I know there’s plenty missing from the list. What you would add? And I’m curious to know how well you think these keys translate to other sports as well. Leave a comment below and weigh in!

Photo of me training by Melissa Eggleston

November 4, 2012
Boxing After 40 With a Bad Shoulder

I took 6 weeks off of boxing lately, mostly just to rest, focus on work, and give myself a break after my last fight.

I’m not crazy, though — I kept up my runs and weights at home. I just didn’t do any boxing-specific work. No heavy bag, no sparring, no punching drills. I didn’t even show my nose at the gym.

When I went back for the first time this week I carefully stayed out of the classes that were training in the gym and did my own slow and careful workout: warm-up, shadowboxing, 10 rounds on the heavy bag.

The next two days showed me the muscles I had not been training while out of boxing: forearms, lats (although I swear I did lats!!), and some obliques. Also my neck was sore from carrying all the tension of the first workout back.

But amazingly, my shoulders were good.

I’ve had chronic bursitis in my hips and shoulders for as long as I can remember.

You gotta have shoulders to box.

You gotta have everything, I guess, but I never would have guessed that I could actually find work-arounds for the issues I have to deal with in my body’s performance, and still box well.

I was over 40 when I started this sport, and I was astonished that I could box well even though my hip joint issues meant I couldn’t run distance (for me, that means more than 4 miles).

Now I’m learning that I don’t have to punish my shoulder joints, either, in order to compete in the ring.

At first I sweated hard to learn to do dozens of standard push-ups, along with burpees, pull-ups, and the other shoulder-intense exercises. For several years I dealt with a level of everyday pain that I thought I would have to live with, if I was going to box.

Then I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder (doing unassisted pull-ups), requiring 3 months of physical therapy and a lot of time out of the ring. That shoulder became — and still is — the single body part I most have to favor.

My physical therapist — a pro fighter a few years older than me — told me to cut back on the heavy shoulder work. “You’ll still box just fine,” she assured me. And I decided to test it out.

So I stopped obsessing about building the number of push ups I could do, and I started re-working my personal training workouts.

And my pain levels started to recede…

But the real challenge is in what to do when the whole team is working out together.

I began by thinking up a few alternate exercises.

For example, when the team is doing entire rounds of toe-taps on the medicine ball, I do steps instead, which hurt my hips less. When the team is doing burpees, I do deep lunges instead. If the command is for 50 standard push ups, I’ll do knee push ups.

It’s extremely difficult to be doing something different from everyone else on the team, but I try to tell myself that I’m 46 and they are 20, and I’m allowed. I can still meet them with a nasty-ass right when the bell rings.

This one single thing — not doing what everyone else is doing — is the absolute hardest part of my sport. I must have a big pride thing going on, because I absolutely *hate* having to do my own thing. But I’ve finally decided to do it anyway.

And I’ve found that my results in the ring are just as good, which is why I am sticking with it.

The second thing I’ve changed is to lower the weights, reps, and impact.

If the call is for 50 arm lifts with weights, I’ll do 30, or lighten the weight. I don’t shadow box with 5-pound weights, I use 1-pounders instead. Believe me, I could do all this stuff full-bore before, but I paid a heavy price in pain levels and injuries.

And there was simply no need to do that.

The third thing I’ve done is test the time limits.

By testing, I’ve found that I can do as many 1 minute (not 3 minute) sets of toe-taps as everyone else and still be relatively pain-free.

I’ve been working actively on that particular exercise, so I haven’t yet tested 2 minute rounds, but the 1 minute rounds are solid.

I can’t change all my time limits, but I change the ones that hit my hips and shoulders the worst. Amazingly, sparring is not affected at all. Which is probably further proof — if I needed it — that just because I’m not starting every workout with 100 push-ups doesn’t mean I am going to suck in the ring.

When I was back in the gym this week for the first time in 6 weeks, I was struck by how many shoulder-intense exercises both training groups were doing.

One coach had the team doing literally hundreds of dips, followed by alternating-hand push-ups on a medicine ball. (If you start with your left hand on the ball and your right hand on the floor, you do a push-up, then shift quickly so that your right hand is now on the ball and your left is on the floor. Repeat. It takes balance, speed, and lots of shoulder strength.) Anyone who fell behind was assigned 50 more push-ups.

That session would have been a total loss for me.

As it was, I did my own workout, which involved exactly zero dips or push-ups. I’ll put some of those in there as I get going again, but it will be far less than those guys are doing.

In the end, my lesson has been — once again — that I have to know my own body and look out for myself. Even in the face of pressure from a coach or the team.

So I’m passing it along to you. Boxing is an incredible, joy-giving, empowering sport and with a basic level of fitness, you can do it. Even if you’re over 40. Even if you have cranky hips and shoulders. You can do it!

And so can I.

Image by walleydog

December 15, 2011
Test Yourself

After recently learning my body fat percentage I decided to incorporate heavier weightlifting into my training in order to trade a bit of fat weight for muscle weight. I dreaded it, frankly. For some reason I had decided that I was already lifting heavy enough weights, and in fact I think I had it in my mind that I couldn’t lift heavier weights.

One day in the gym I challenged that assumption.

Normally I do chest presses with dumbells, and I will pick up two 20 lb weights and do three sets of 15 reps. I’m feeling silly even telling you this, because on Test Day I picked up 22.5’s and did an easy set, then 25’s, then 30’s. With absolutely no difficulty. None whatsoever. I was sure this was a fluke.

I finished out arm and back exercises as usual then went over to the leg machines, still suspicious. Normally I’ll set the extensions on 30 lbs and do three sets of 15 reps. On Test Day I loaded 50 lbs and moved easily through two sets. Then 70 lbs. Another set, no problem. This was becoming embarrassing.

On leg presses I always pick 90 lbs, simply because anything over 100 sounds enormous. Test Day: I loaded 150, since it is more than I weigh and it seemed like a serious challenge. It was easy enough to finish two sets. In a moment of “Oh, this is just stupid, I’m not Superwoman,” I jacked it up to 210 and found I couldn’t even get the plates off the stack. “See,” I told myself, pulling it back down to 190, where I completed my last set, but had to work for it. But 190! A cool hundred pounds more than I had been doing! Why didn’t you tell me I was such a slacker?

I’m stronger than I thought. I’m Super Jr. Woman. Miz Up-and-Coming.

I’m going to keep shifting more of my exercises up until I can’t complete my long sets, but I’m going a bit at a time to avoid over-stressing anything. It’s been about 6 upgraded weightlifting workouts so far, and there have been no negative repercussions, problems, or difficulties.

Let my oversight be your lesson: test yourself! You never know what you can do until you try. Trite as hell, but also true. I’m not sure how I missed it all this time.

But I’m on my way now.

Image credit: mrflip on Flickr

July 27, 2009
A Look Inside Boxing Training

Boxing Team Training from Lisa Creech Bledsoe on Vimeo.

The above is a short video with some clips from our boxing team training sessions. (I have one tiny cameo on the speed bag: I’d like to thank the Academy). There’s some nice sparring footage at the end — the guy with no shirt is Will, one of our pro boxers, working with some of the other guys on the team.

Probably one of the most-asked questions has to do with how I train. This post is a longish answer to a short question, and it doesn’t address the way I eat, but I’ll get to that in a future post.

How many hours?
I work out with my boxing team twice a week for two hours each time, and I work out on my own another four times a week for an hour. That’s about eight hours per week of hard workout time. You can certainly get in shape with much less, but 8 weekly hours of training is critical if your goal is to go a few good rounds. It’s amazing how much power and energy — not to mention mental fortitude and focus — it takes to box three rounds of three minutes each.

F.A.S.T.
This is totally my own invention, so buyer beware. I try to focus on four areas in my training: Form, Aerobic, Strength, and Timing. I have specific goals in each area, and I do whatever it takes to meet those goals.

Form
The thing that helps me most here is shooting video of myself, particularly in the ring or on the heavy bag. Then I can really see what my trainer is saying to me over and over and over again (sorry Bonnie) and practice to correct it. My current top goal here is to keep my guard up higher in the ring, rather than dropping my gloves when I throw punches or when I’m fatigued.

Aerobic
Boxing goes nowhere without great cardio or aerobic training. In fact our trainers will sometimes tell the guys to decrease weights in their strength training; you want to be powerful but also light and fast. We go through dead-rotten cardio workouts as a team; we do more of that than anything else. The win here is in interval training. Nobody cares if you can run five miles, what you need to be able to do is sprint hard for three minutes, recover in one minute, sprint three more minutes, recover, sprint three more. Everything is in in the standard boxing round of three minutes, and whatever you do cardio-wise, you need to be able to do it hard and fast for at least that long. I do intervals on jump rope, running, rowing, or elliptical every time I work out. When I do two sets of 15 cardio minutes in a single workout on my own, I try to do one near maximum heart rate (for me, about 180 bpm) and one at 60-80% of that rate. But when I train with the team I’ll do much more than that.

Strength
I do some arm, shoulder, chest, back and ab exercises in almost every workout, typically with light weights and high reps. I have my favorites but try to mix it up so that I get good overall strength. I’m not a huge “exercise toy” person, but our gym has several of the CrossFit tools (the long heavy rope, kettleballs, etc.) and we use them in team training. I don’t currently do many leg exercises other than my aerobic training, although I’ve been adding lunges recently because the coaches are calling for millions of them during training and my quads lock up if I haven’t been doing any. This equals misery for two days following, but I’m getting up on the curve.

Timing
This is primarily work I do on the speed bag, half bag, and double-end bag. Timing is area is where I suck the most, no lie. I couldn’t see a punch coming if I got four emails in advance. My trainer says this just takes long, long practice and experience in the ring. Meanwhile, watch me eat punches.

How do you have time for that??
Truthfully, boxing is the only “other” thing I do. I work full time and I’m a mom. Pink mold has a permanent home in my shower stall. About twice a month I attend late, late rock gigs after my kids are in bed, during which have a few drinks, sing my heart out, dance, and drag my sorry ass in at 3 am, hoping I’m not too tired to box the next day.

April 14, 2009
Sample workout, arms emphasis

Image by KayVee.INC on Flickr

This is a workout I regularly do for a non-boxing day. I always start with a couple of cardio warm-ups, but I prefer not to do two high-impact exercises like jump rope AND run, for example. (trying to go easy on my knees). On a boxing day, all bets are off; those are much tougher workouts. I’ll post one of those soon.

Aerobic

Elliptical
15 minutes, at least half IN max heart rate zone (for me, 180)
Jump rope
3 rounds, 3 minutes each, 1 minute rest between rounds
Every minute of every round should include 15-30 seconds of sprints

Arms

Arm circles:
Hold 2.5-lb weight plates in each hand
60 out to side, 60 out to front, 60 behind
Forward and reverse in each grouping (30/30)
Front deltoid raises:
Raise a 25 lb barbell to chin
3 sets of 12 reps
Side deltoid fly:
Raise both arms together like wings with 5 lb weight plates
3 sets of 12 reps
Rear deltoid fly:
Hang forward and raise both arms together with 5 lb weight plates
3 sets of 12 reps
Forearm “crunches”:
3 sets of 12 reps with 20 lb barbell, rolling it from fingertips to wrist-up position
Tricep extensions:
3 sets of 12 reps with 20 lb dumbell behind head
Bicep curls:
4 sets of 12 reps with 35 lb curl bar
Reverse curls:
2 sets of 12 reps with 25 lb curl bar

Abs & Back

Bosu Ball crunches
200 forward, 100 left side, 100 right side
Back extensions
2 sets of 25
Planks
Finish with a one-minute plank (it’s like a little victory lap)

I’m no expert at any of this, and have mostly learned by watching others. I would love to hear what you do — leave me a comment!

March 31, 2009