Hello everyone, need advice from experts Please :)

[Kawtu]

Hello everyone, my name is Raphael, I’m a 20 year old British male, and I searched for the most popular Boxing forum online to hopefully receive helpful information from any of you people here, preferably from experienced boxers.
I don’t intend to post much here, but only to explain my issue and see what some experts recommend I should do, I will write a brief summary of what I have done and am doing now, aswell as my body ‘stats’, if there’s any extra information you’d like to know, just ask. Thankyou Very Much in advance to anyone that reads this, and/or replies, God bless you.

I have boxed for 6 months a year ago, and before that I did Kung fu for 4 years, but I learned more in 6 months of boxing than 4 years of Kung fu to be honest, I learned how to actually fight which is what I enjoy and what I need., not just choreographies copying animals…

I stand at 186 centimeters, 6”1’, and I currently weight just about 180 pounds. But this is because I have done exactly one year of bodybuilding now, starting right after I stopped boxing. Before this I weighed 160. So I quit boxing, and started bulking and building muscle, working out very intensely, after a few weeks I found my personal best training schedule, never skipped a workout unless I was really sick, stopped going out and everything, worked out on holiday aswell, and I pretty much almost quit cardio all together though, as I am an ectomorph with fast metabolism and was worried I would lose gains (which I know is wrong, some cardio is always good). I had two injuries but I managed to workout around them, like tendonitis and stuff like that.
But I have always been quite skinny so I wanted to build some muscle and I finally have. I went from 160 to 180 pounds and for the first time in my life now people actually tell me I look bigger, even if I’m wearing a top on it shows in my traps and shoulders, and although I don’t do it for the just for the looks, I admit it’s also nice to be complimented from time to time. So yes, I am happy now, I gained mostly in my back, triceps and shoulders, always lagged biceps and chest a little bit, but I have a V back now. (Video of my Lat Spread /watch?v=5TxMyEYiEZk

My question and dilemma now is this: I REALLY want to Box again. I feel the urge to fight and compete. As much as I love the bodybuilding as a lone passion, ( I workout at home ) I feel I have built a pretty nice body compound but it’s less functional, and I am a guy that needs to keep proving to himself he can DO things, and not just look like he can. So I want to fight again.

So, since I do next to NO cardio now, going back to the crazy intensity cardio I did when I was boxing, I am worried that I will quickly lose all my muscle gains I worked so hard for, an entire year. Since my body is not used to that anymore. Damn, I remember coming out that gym and I was drenched to pieces and my heart was exploding. I hardly ever get that intensity now. So when I was boxing I was super thin, all I had was a very defined six pack which everyone noticed, but for the rest I was ripped but too skinny. Now my six pack is there but less defined, but it’s bloody worth it for all the mass I’ve gained all around the rest of my body, finally my shirts fit tight now and I have some shape in the muscles.

Therefore I am asking you professionals or amateurs, is it possible to return Boxing, and maintain my muscle gains and current weight? Or being the ectomorph I am, will I lose weight if I start that high intensity again? It would mean working out as usual PLUS going to gym for boxing training.

Would I have to eat a lot more than I already do, in terms of calories? (I also have to add that I’m totally broke, poor in money… I can hardly afford my ****ing tuna cans and almonds for post workout, and whey protein is too expensive, I’ve never had it)

So that’s it, I’d like to know from you guys Please, what could I do, and if I go boxing, what would it be better to focus on in my normal not-boxing workouts, Strenght or Volume? (For example: Short workouts with low reps and high intensity, or longer workouts with higher reps and volume?)

Thankyou very much, God bless you all.

[SBleeder]

If you want to be a great boxer, train at a boxing gym and ditch the other stuff.

If you want to look good at the beach, keep doing what you're doing.

[Kawtu]

If you want to be a great boxer, train at a boxing gym and ditch the other stuff.

If you want to look good at the beach, keep doing what you're doing.

Thankyou very much Sir. Always great to hear the real deal straightforward.

They'd told me at the boxing gym that I had some potential. I guess over the last year I became more of a narcissistic idiot chasing some gains.

[Ray Corso]

The amatuer weight class of 178 should fit your needs well. You need a nutritionalist to help you maintain your body weight. No one can exact your needs on the net this needs to be done in person and maped out accordingly.
Since your looking to maintain weight your in a more comfortable situation than someone who needs to tear down!

Find a boxing trainer, this is NOT a sport that an individual can succeed at by himself! Impossible!!!

Bodybuilding is fine but you need to realize that "peaks" as in biceps are NOT a boxers goal. Any build that allows blood flow to fill an area is not in your best interest as a boxer! It spells fatique in the ring! You will not be successfull on your own. Theres to much to learn and you need help.

I think you said your in England, search out the "Authority" on this forum he is a trainer who belongs to a few clubs in England and has a son who competes. He can direct you to help! Ray.

[Pony Boy]

Wow what a contrast in choices but the good thing is you now know how to built muscle and how to keep it which is a full time job. Unfortunately by what you described, it's all aesthetic muscle and not really functional and as soon as you start doing boxing, your going to shed a lot of weight. Mostly water weight. The good news is that all that muscle you already have will be better defined. It sounds like you have some knowledge about calorie counting, which can be a lot of help trying to track how much weight (fat, water and mass) you loss in a period of time. Preferably, weekly tracking. The downside is your lack of money to continue eating high quality proteins to keep most of that mass. This will be more work than just building muscle mass because of your fast metabolism. Two good examples of successful boxers who added muscle mass are, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez but these guys could afford cooks and dieticians to do all the guess work for them. But they still have to eat a lot more than they normally would just to keep the mass and to eat right so they can have the energy for the high intensity required in boxing. Now, according to your height and walking weight, you should be able to make the middle divisions without loosing too much muscle. So my recommendation would be (if you're serious about boxing) to go back to boxing and functional training because in approximately a year you will be in better shape than you are now. Remember that after competing boxers usually rehydrate and gain some weight. That's the time you can gain back the muscle you lost. With the right nutrition and training adjustments.

[Kawtu]

Hello

I can't express enough how much I thankyou for your posts, Thankyou SO MUCH, endless gratitude. I am sorry that at the moment I cannot reply more in detail to your great posts, due to being busy with University

I am pretty sure that soon, hopefully next month after my damn exam, I will come back here and reply properly as you deserve.

Very quickly for now to @Pony Boy, thankyou again, and just for information, yes, I have quite some knowledge now on nutrition and bodybuilding, also I wanted to say that I have done it all entirely through calisthenics, no weights, except my body and weight vests and things. If you're willing enough, you can get as buff as anyone in gym, you just have to be creative and workout hardcore with your own body, there's endless ways to increase intensity, and I love it because it's 'natural', it's more 'raw' and you do it anywhere and you know how to use your body. Hence, my goal was to NOT lose (too much) functional muscle, altough Certainly as you said, it will never be as functional as a Boxers' right now. But I workout like this because I like climbing and free running and things So I wanted muscle but also capabilities, same reasoning of why I like boxing.

Farewell for now, thankyou again to all of you.

[Pony Boy]

Hello

I can't express enough how much I thankyou for your posts, Thankyou SO MUCH, endless gratitude. I am sorry that at the moment I cannot reply more in detail to your great posts, due to being busy with University

I am pretty sure that soon, hopefully next month after my damn exam, I will come back here and reply properly as you deserve.

Very quickly for now to @Pony Boy, thankyou again, and just for information, yes, I have quite some knowledge now on nutrition and bodybuilding, also I wanted to say that I have done it all entirely through calisthenics, no weights, except my body and weight vests and things. If you're willing enough, you can get as buff as anyone in gym, you just have to be creative and workout hardcore with your own body, there's endless ways to increase intensity, and I love it because it's 'natural', it's more 'raw' and you do it anywhere and you know how to use your body. Hence, my goal was to NOT lose (too much) functional muscle, altough Certainly as you said, it will never be as functional as a Boxers' right now. But I workout like this because I like climbing and free running and things So I wanted muscle but also capabilities, same reasoning of why I like boxing.

Farewell for now, thankyou again to all of you.

Great to hear from you and good luck in your exams

[Kawtu]

Great to hear from you and good luck in your exams

Hello again! And thankyou for wishing me luck sir

I am sorry I am really late... I left this for way too long and guess what, I'm still tormented.

Well, for the record, my exam was a month ago and it went well in the end Now I am already studying for the next...

As for boxing, I have been thinking all the time as usual, and I have finally made some 'progress' in the thinking, although I'm still ****ed up in the head...

I realize that natural bodybuilding, with calisthenics only (by choice) and also without whey protein and no money to even buy enough meat/protein, it feels as if I almost reached almost the max of what is achievable given my conditions. I weigh 182 pounds, pretty much everyone I know has told me that I have gotten 'big', so atleast I have proof aswell. But from here it feels very hard to make big improvements. Especially strenght wise, I can't really see it improving. I am doing longer workouts and almost feel like I'm overtraining.

So... The Boxing flame inside me is always there, telling me to go. I just have to realize that if I go back boxing, I will most definitely lose atleast some weight, and it will not be possible to bodybuild easily, also given me being an ectomorph, I might even fall back to 170. The only way would be to keep eating a LOT of food, Right, up my calories to surplus? This is my question.

And also, I would cut down muscle workouts from 3 to 2. a week.

My last question? If I started boxing, and I chose to do two workouts a week (example: Tuesday: Back and tris, Saturday: Shoulders and chest) would it be better, as a Boxer, to do a short high intensity workout? Like heavy weighted pullups? Or else a long workout with many bodyweight reps?

Thankyou!!!

[Kawtu]

In respect to the people that took interest and replied helpfully,

I did not start boxing, I continued my training and I am happy this way. Started working on new strenght moves instead of just trying to build up.

Unfortunately though I have a Hill Sasch fracture in my humerus head, so I am stopped now for weeks... Had an MRI.

It's really difficult to stay motivated this way. Knowing that I will lose some strenght and some muscle all this time, I already feel like **** after two weeks, it's crazy how addicted you can get to training, mentally and physically. I feel bad in the head, and soft in the muscles, I miss the pump in the arms and back, it really sucks not to workout upper body, full stop. So I'm hitting legs and core really hard and I hope I can get my shoulder back in full shape to start hardcore training again.

Boxing will always be in my heart.