Boxing Questions

[coolfield7]

Hi there! I had questions about boxing and I hoped you guys could answer them. I’m a 16 year old boy and I go to the gym and I box by myself, I’m an amateur. I’m thinking about alternating weeks between the gym and boxing but I’m not sure what to do. In the gym I’m doing exercises and I work different body parts each day for 5 days a week. I use the machines but I also use free weights, my goal is to become more muscular but not big as a house. Thing is I also want to do boxing.
(1) Can I alternate weeks between the gym and boxing? One week gym then one week boxing and so on? Or will the gym not benefit me that much if I don’t do it every week?

(2) Also, how much rest do you need after you’ve done a boxing session?

(3) And when I box I do 1 minute intense punching and 3 minutes less intense punching and then so on. I read in this article: www(dot)livestrong(dot)com/article/274102-when-punching-a-boxing-bag-what-muscles-are-you-using/ that, “Long “rounds” of three minutes will develop your anaerobic fitness and muscular endurance, while shorter “rounds” of higher intensity punching will develop power and strength.” Is this true?

(4) What exercise can I do to hit harder or hit with more force? I know a lot of the force you get is from the ground and is also generated through the rotation of the hips and body but the rest of your body helps, no? I already do push ups, sit ups on a daily basics and I’m working on doing pull ups, I also jog.

(5) Do you recommend doing any exercise at the gym? Will doing dumbbells curls, forearm exercise with the bar, military press give me any benefits in boxing?

(6) Also when you're in a boxing stance, your hands are fists but when do you make then rock hard? Should you make it rock hard in flight as it goes towards the target or do you make it rock hard right before you start the punch?

Thank you.

[Ray Corso]

Find a boxing trainer, no fighter does anything in the sport without a teacher/trainer, its impossible to succeed!
Ray (trainer for over 50 yrs)

[_original_]

I'm no expert but I'll give you my thoughts and opinions and try to help you the best I can to answer some of your questions.

1. If boxing is your priority then focus on boxing and use the gym to supplement things that will help you in the ring, most importantly strength and endurance. I'm not entirely sure if you want to take boxing seriously or if you just want to get in shape, can you be more clear?

2. There's really not one answer to this as everybody is different and sometimes you'll be working on different things during a boxing session. Rest is important though and it's good to start recognizing when you need to get rest and recharge. Though at your age this shouldn't be much of a problem anyway.

3. I didn't read the article, but the best advice I can give you is to join a boxing gym, if you haven't done so already, and reserve these type of questions for a trainer.

4. There's an old saying that states that "punchers are born." That may or may not be true, but the best thing you can do is learn proper technique and form. Repetition is key here.

5. Just know that weights are not looked at very positively in most boxing circles for various reasons. However, and this is solely my opinion, I believe that weights can greatly benefit a boxer if done correctly. Full body weight training is what I would recommend so things such as bench pressing, squats, kettleball swings, and deadlifts.

6. Typically when you have wraps and gloves on you will be constantly making a closed fist.

[coolfield7]

Alright thank you. I just want to get into shape. I just set up a punching bag and I punch. I'm not looking at doing anything more than that.

[SBleeder]

Alright thank you. I just want to get into shape. I just set up a punching bag and I punch. I'm not looking at doing anything more than that.

If all you want to do is get into shape than it's really not important to improve punching power and technique.

[coolfield7]

Ahhh ok. I want to get stronger, I want my punches to hit harder and better but I guess just practicing on the punching bag will do that. It'll get me into shape

[_original_]

Ahhh ok. I want to get stronger, I want my punches to hit harder and better but I guess just practicing on the punching bag will do that. It'll get me into shape

Getting stronger isn't necessarily going to make you into a harder puncher or better boxer just to be clear. Just "punching the bag" won't do it neither because you need to learn proper form and technique and you learn this from a knowledgeable trainer and experienced fighters. If you want to get stronger and use the punching bag as a form of cardio that's great, but don't expect it to turn you into a good boxer.

[coolfield7]

Alright cool. Thanks everyone.

[MomentRising]

1: Yes you can, because for a couple of years I've done 1 day boxing for every 2 weeks. That's only possible if you're a natural at boxing and have done enough work before hand to make boxing skills a second nature. I'd suggest to do stretches to keep your body loose as you start to do weights.

2: After a session, just go unwind. The average amount you do daily is 2 hours anyway. You can continue doing cardio by jogging or whatnot but as long as you relax and do something else altogether after your session. And make sure to eat properly to recover your body.

3: Yeah sounds like your source for punching bags is accurate. Just not the anaerobic part. 3 minutes less intense punching would be more aerobic while 1 minute hard and fast punching would be anaerobic. The reason being is that by going hard and fast, you're giving less oxygen in between movements and so your endurance to "hold your cell's breathes" are mandatory to keep going with training without much rest in between.

4: I honestly don't know. I'm already a natural hard puncher so by concentrating more on your form and the precision of impact to "cushion" the rest of your body from the transfer of energy from your hips by the support of your legs firmly planted, towards your punch, will help. Maybe develop your upper back muscles too because that's also a muscle group that adds power. You develop it naturally by punching hard a lot... atleast that's what it did for me And YES speed does help to add more power. So by twisting your body more as your knees are more bent, you'll add more damage.

5: No clue... don't really care about having weights on me. If you ever looked at boxing history, some people who hit hard aren't even muscular.

6: At the point of impact. It's very similar to Bruce Lee's 1 inch punch. Because if you start to tighten everything as you're going to land the punch, you're tensing the rest of your body, causing you to slow down and ****. In order to work efficiently, you need to be relaxed at focused at all time.

[MomentRising]

Find a boxing trainer, no fighter does anything in the sport without a teacher/trainer, its impossible to succeed!
Ray (trainer for over 50 yrs)

Yes, that's true. First the fighter needs to be developed before he can start to do his own personal training. But in order to maintain one's focus, discipline is key to success. And what better way than to have a trainer who disciplines his fighter? Unless the fighter is already disciplined and self-motivated, we still need support from the trainer and to maintain efficiency by making us well prepared.