back in the gym

[jberg]

ok, i was posting here a few months ago - but after the summer i have been struggling with school, and so i have been working on school work the whole time - and eating badly whilst doing so.

ive shot up from 150/152 lbs in july, to 158.
i feel physically weak and slow.

im going back in to the gym on tuesday to start training again.
any advice for this sort of situation?

im also wondering if maybe this would be a good time to look to be gaining muscle rather than just shedding the fat, seeing as im 6'2.

[sukhenkoy]

ok, i was posting here a few months ago - but after the summer i have been struggling with school, and so i have been working on school work the whole time - and eating badly whilst doing so.

ive shot up from 150/152 lbs in july, to 158.
i feel physically weak and slow.

im going back in to the gym on tuesday to start training again.
any advice for this sort of situation?

im also wondering if maybe this would be a good time to look to be gaining muscle rather than just shedding the fat, seeing as im 6'2.

Don't rush into it too fast. Listen to your body as you're easing back into the heavy training. Don't expect to do everything you used to be able to do. What I would do in your situation is look to lose maybe 1-2 pounds a week for the first few weeks, until you get back to your normal weight (how it was when you used to train hard) and can start training hard again. Also, if you start training too hard from the start, you might find that some things just aren't clicking how they used to, and you might grow frustrated with yourself and think of taking another break, and then another, etc.

As for the diet, just start tweaking it slowly again. Start taking out the junk week by week, until you no longer need it/want it.

Tough luck though, man. I was in the same exact situation as you. My parents made me stop going to the gym because I had to focus on exams and school work as it was my most important school year in terms of college. Make sure you have things straight with school so it doesn't interfere mentally with your boxing. Good luck though.

[JulioCesaChavez]

I don't buy into that ease back into it rubbish and push myself to limit from day one after a lay off. there are no ill effects and i end up getting back into shape quicker. The amount of weight you put on should not be affecting you so much as it is negligible. Maybe it is in your head? Self hypnotise yourself to feel energetic and get back into roadwork. You can probably lose that much weight in a week on the road.

[sukhenkoy]

I don't buy into that ease back into it rubbish and push myself to limit from day one after a lay off. there are no ill effects and i end up getting back into shape quicker. The amount of weight you put on should not be affecting you so much as it is negligible. Maybe it is in your head? Self hypnotise yourself to feel energetic and get back into roadwork. You can probably lose that much weight in a week on the road.

You should always be pushing yourself to the limit in boxing - I agree with you. What I meant to say was (I probably didn't make it clear) to not expect to be able to do everything as well as when you started, and not in as much quantity. For instance, say you were doing 100 pushups at a time when you were in the gym, and you have a 6 month lay-off. You could still push yourself to do those 100 pushups after not doing them a in a while, and perhaps you might be able to do them, but, you could start doing 70 pushups at once from the start, still be pushing yourself because your body hasn't done them in a while, and, in two-three weeks time, build up to the 100 pushups you used to be doing.

The weight probably won't affect him that much - you're right. But, I'm assuming he hasn't been doing much physical exercise in this lay-off, so the rounds on the heavy bag and the sparring might be significantly smaller (in terms of how many rounds and probably quality as well).

As a side note, you could lose that weight in two weeks just by eating right and working hard (without roadwork) - perhaps even 1 week if you really wanted to. I assume he has a lot of time, so he doesn't need to revert to such circumstances.

[JulioCesaChavez]

Obviously it may take a while to get back into prime condition. Somneone who gets out of shape that quick needn't worry about trying to exceed expectations or overtraining. More likely than not, the thread starter needs a push to make himself fitter and niot sluggish. I often see alot of people talk of overtraining and feeling 'physically weak and slow' when 99% of it is in their head. I use to be the same when I was a kid until a good mate told me the unsavoury truth.

Why would anyone want to lose weight without the roadwork? It may be possible, but there is no need to exclude the bread and butter of all boxing routines. I bet roadwork will get him back into shape quicker than gym alone. Unless you are seriously feeling burnout because you train like a prime RJJ, I would advise people to do more and push themselves to the limit.

[jberg]

thanks for that advice.
nice to hear 2 slightly varying takes