Newbie Questions

[D+C]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for a while and thought I'd sign up and ask a few questions of my own. Basically in the summer I'm wanting to take up a combat sport (Until then I'm living in the middle of nowhere working as a research assistant), and I'm thinking of boxing. At the moment all I have to do in the evenings is lift weights, so I'm working on my strength and size. I have always been pretty weak, so I'm enjoying putting on a bit of muscle. I'm currently 189lbs at 6'3", but my lifts aren't very big yet and I'm aiming for a bodyweight in excess of 200lbs. Will I have to lose all this weight when I start boxing training in August, or will I be able to train to fight at a higher weight class?

Secondly, and I think I know the answer to this already, does it matter that I am not a naturally violent person? I have never been in a fight, I am the kind of guy that calms everyone down, and although I always train hard I am not massively aggressive. Am I going to get my head ripped off by a psychotic maniac the first time I get in the ring? I'm really competitive, so I want to compete at whatever I train in.

[Boxerguy2008]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for a while and thought I'd sign up and ask a few questions of my own. Basically in the summer I'm wanting to take up a combat sport (Until then I'm living in the middle of nowhere working as a research assistant), and I'm thinking of boxing. At the moment all I have to do in the evenings is lift weights, so I'm working on my strength and size. I have always been pretty weak, so I'm enjoying putting on a bit of muscle. I'm currently 189lbs at 6'3", but my lifts aren't very big yet and I'm aiming for a bodyweight in excess of 200lbs. Will I have to lose all this weight when I start boxing training in August, or will I be able to train to fight at a higher weight class?

Secondly, and I think I know the answer to this already, does it matter that I am not a naturally violent person? I have never been in a fight, I am the kind of guy that calms everyone down, and although I always train hard I am not massively aggressive. Am I going to get my head ripped off by a psychotic maniac the first time I get in the ring? I'm really competitive, so I want to compete at whatever I train in.

I say the first thing you should do if you want to box is go to a reputable gym. That should be #1 on your list, after that, before weights, I would say work on endurance by doing some roadwork, HIIT, skipping rope, all that stuff. The problem with trying to do everything yourself before going to a gym is that you may develop bad habits that could be hard to break.

As for weight, I say fight at what weight you are comfortable at. When you begin training your body will fall into a weight and I think it would be best to stay there. don't try to do something unnatural and put on lots of weight or try to lose lots of weight the wrong way. Your body will thank you.

For the mental state of things, from what I've noticed the best fighters are the ones that keep their emotions out of the fight. You may not be an aggressive person and you might fight someone that is more aggressive than you but just fight your fight, keep your emotions out.

The most important thing is to get to a good gym with a good trainer and work on your technique and form, and if you do decide to stay with boxing, do everything 100% don't half-ass it.

[snoopy360]

+1 also don't worry about putting on to much muscle. Your going to get alot of disagreement when it comes to weights and boxing. More muscle means more weight for your body to move while your boxing.

[D+C]

The most important thing is to get to a good gym with a good trainer and work on your technique and form, and if you do decide to stay with boxing, do everything 100% don't half-ass it.

I will get my chance to go to a gym in August. At the moment the nearest boxing gym is over an hours drive away. So does even heavyweight boxing training not involve weights then? I know cardio and HIIT are really important but weight training is what I really enjoy.

[snoopy360]

I'm saying that building mass isn't what your going to want to do. I strength train so I do high weight and low reps. Normally 1-3 per set and 20 sets per muscle group. Since I recovered from my illness 2 yrs ago and started working out I've gotten way stronger, doing it that way I've gained no weight and had no injures to this date (knock on wood). Everyones different and as time passes you'll learn whats right for you.

[Sven72]

Secondly, and I think I know the answer to this already, does it matter that I am not a naturally violent person? I have never been in a fight, I am the kind of guy that calms everyone down, and although I always train hard I am not massively aggressive. Am I going to get my head ripped off by a psychotic maniac the first time I get in the ring? I'm really competitive, so I want to compete at whatever I train in.

Mate, first of all welcome. You sound just like me. There is no way I would call myself a fighter. I've been in the odd scuffle but never really been in a street fight, I've always got a cool head and just never put myself in those situations. However I'm very competitive and love to get in the ring and test my skills. I don't think aggression really comes in to it. I'm just in the ring having fun, I'm not looking to go pro (too old for a start) just to stay fit and keep learning and applying the skills. A cool head is a big advantage. Boxing is a thinking man's sport.

[D+C]

Thats really good to hear Sven.

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but this is the first time I've had a chance to check these latest answers.

So mass building exercises are out, and so I've been checking out a few strength regimes. Stronglifts.com looks good, bearing in mind I have three months to get in shape before I start training.

What should I look for when I start looking for a boxing gym? Are they all pretty similar or are there big differences? I checked out the website of my local club and it almost put me off the whole thing. All the members were on about how they couldn't wait to "knock some ****er out" and how their hobbies are getting blitzed and fighting in town. Should I expect these kind of people in all boxing clubs or are their ways of avoiding this side of it?

[2swell k-wells]

+1 also don't worry about putting on to much muscle. Your going to get alot of disagreement when it comes to weights and boxing. More muscle means more weight for your body to move while your boxing.

DA1CATAS seems to be doing good build like a bull so far

[Unanimous]

What should I look for when I start looking for a boxing gym? Are they all pretty similar or are there big differences? I checked out the website of my local club and it almost put me off the whole thing. All the members were on about how they couldn't wait to "knock some ****er out" and how their hobbies are getting blitzed and fighting in town. Should I expect these kind of people in all boxing clubs or are their ways of avoiding this side of it?

No it won't be like that in every club. It's the only thing that is going to put me off joining one is if there are idiots there like that. However, you could take your aggression out on them in sparring!

[JayCoe]

Not being aggressive shouldn't hinder you so long as you have that bloodlust. I would saying being aggressive would certainly help, so long as you have a level mind and are thus capable of controlling it so you don't flip out in the ring because if you do that, you'll make mistakes. I think where aggression comes to benefit the fighter is the idea of hitting someone in the face over and over again, every swing with "bad intentions" as it's commonly put nowadays. The point of boxing is to hit them, if you're timid then you wont hit them, if you wont hit them, you'll get hit and you'll lose. I'm not a coach but I bet a common problem for coaches is to make their fighter actually go for the punch when they're starting out. So, to sum it up, you don't have to be aggressive but you have to swing, it's a choice between hit or get hit.

As for weight, if you're looking to box I wouldn't recommend stacking on the lbs, even in muscle, until you've been training a while. Poundage = strength but decreases speed, the best way to therefore achieve the best results from both, strength and speed, is to learn to be fast, then put on the lbs in muscle and carry the speed through with strength. Focus on fitness and endurance, put on the lbs after august.