Once a week boxing training, is it fine?

[CodeBreaker]

Due to busy schedule with my work, I can only go to the boxing gym like once or twice a week.

Would that be okay? I mean, would I still improve and develop my skills and techniques? My coach often tells me I'm a very quick learner, I think that should be a factor as well. Just to add, I have no problem with weight or anything, just training my boxing lessons for self-defense and fight knowledge.

I don't want to be Muhammed Ali, I just want to be far tougher than the average person, I basically want to feel comfortable about fighting someone random.

 

[RightToBareKnuckles]

hey CodeBreaker, i'm pretty much in the same boat. i'm 35 years old, work a desk job 9-5, and just looking to train for self-defense, fitness and fun. i would say at only once a week, it's hard to improve too much, but if at least you do some light-medium sparring each week, that might keep you comfortable in a random fight. i did some light sparring for the first time in a while and could tell i was rusty!
but it's probably best if some of the sherdoggers who've had actual fights/competitions to comment. best of luck!

 

[j123]

I don't want to be Muhammed Ali, I just want to be far tougher than the average person, I basically want to feel comfortable about fighting someone random.

Personally I feel that won't really happen until you at least get a taste of competing, even if its a exhibition at a small venue

When I started out I had many reasons why starting combat sports, self-defense being one of them. But what we do in the gym is practice, you're still pumping the brakes because its your training partners and you're not there to win or injure them. So by that default you both are in a position where you're not in a real scenario.

Competition is the closest thing to it, not just in terms of going all out, but nerves, adrenaline, aggression, killer instinct.

While you do progress just training and not competing, it will come much much slower, esp. at the low frequency you're able to attend. I feel that if I didn't get my feet wet and start competing, I wouldn't be where I am today, I'd probably be 2/5ths of what I am right now in terms of how this all works.

That's to say your schedule won't be like that forever, things change, maybe you'll get a job with a more flexible schedule where you'll be able to train much more frequent.

In the mean time, focus ALOT of strength and conditioning, become as explosive as you can. Most first time fighters, those fights are very feauled by aggression and athleticism, technique is actually pretty sloppy and rare at that stage of development. Its likewise the same when you duke it out with an angry short fused guy. Technique is great, but remember its only a supplement to help you win your fight.

But overall, remmeber to have fun and enjoy the sport, its really why you're there. If its not fun and just negative, it won't last long.

 

[shincheckin]

Due to busy schedule with my work, I can only go to the boxing gym like once or twice a week.

Would that be okay? I mean, would I still improve and develop my skills and techniques? My coach often tells me I'm a very quick learner, I think that should be a factor as well. Just to add, I have no problem with weight or anything, just training my boxing lessons for self-defense and fight knowledge.

I don't want to be Muhammed Ali, I just want to be far tougher than the average person, I basically want to feel comfortable about fighting someone random.

i have been training most of my life, but it has been on and off due to life throwing shit my way and derailing me from training......this is life and it happens to everyone. There were long periods of time I didnt train at all, looking back on it now, if I would have just done once a week even, it would have added up over time. A mountain is moved 1 stone at a time.

all that being said, I think twice a week is good enough to slowly improve. It is much better than not doing it at all.

 

[georgegreece]

It depends on how much time you spend practicing instead of jerking around like most people do.

 

[ARIZE]

It's boxing man, you could just do a training a month, and still be at a high level.
More seriously, it kind of depends on the individuals, type of training etc.

My personal opinion is:
1 training a week is not enough.
2 is just enough to stay in a decent shape, and maybe learn a couple of things.
3 is for a guy that take it's hobby seriously.
5 is for an amateurs who wants to compete.
10 (Twice a day) is for pros. (able to make a living out of it)

But it's completely based on my personal pov, others may have a totally different view about it. (They are wrong tho)

 

[dudeguyman]

Due to busy schedule with my work, I can only go to the boxing gym like once or twice a week.

Would that be okay? I mean, would I still improve and develop my skills and techniques? My coach often tells me I'm a very quick learner, I think that should be a factor as well. Just to add, I have no problem with weight or anything, just training my boxing lessons for self-defense and fight knowledge.

I don't want to be Muhammed Ali, I just want to be far tougher than the average person, I basically want to feel comfortable about fighting someone random.

You're good.

 

[never enough]

I'm in the same boat atm can only train once a week. But I go straight from a muay thai class into a boxing class.
But I try to do bag work at the gym at least 3 times a week on top of that.
I'm considering starting a new boxing gym so I can train more at different hours so I can improve at boxing. Been doing mt for a while but boxing is relatively new for me

 

[CodeBreaker]

Appreciate your comments guys! I'm trying to make a way to add up another session for my week, just to have 2 sessions per week, and just do shadow boxing and conditioning at home.

 

[JabToucher]

I was training boxing for only once a week for a while. It was fine for me seeing as I was only learning boxing for self defence. I also really can't recommend enough a certain you tube channel. If I didn't quite fully understand a thing being taught to me in class, I'd look it up and it would make sense later.

 

[shincheckin]

It's boxing man, you could just do a training a month, and still be at a high level.
More seriously, it kind of depends on the individuals, type of training etc.

My personal opinion is:
1 training a week is not enough.
2 is just enough to stay in a decent shape, and maybe learn a couple of things.
3 is for a guy that take it's hobby seriously.
5 is for an amateurs who wants to compete.
10 (Twice a day) is for pros. (able to make a living out of it)

But it's completely based on my personal pov, others may have a totally different view about it. (They are wrong tho)

2 x a day is so hard man, all you do is wake up dead tired, train, shower, eat, sleep. Wake up, train shower, eat, sleep. 2 x a day, 6 days a week is hard AF. Im sure a teen can do it, I did it last year, I can easily understand how thais retire in their 20s. The body simply cannot repair itself fast enough to keep up with the training once your youth is gone.

 

[ARIZE]

@shincheckin

Trust me man, i know... I'm kinda in the end of my career too, my body is not up to it anymore. For me, it's the second session of the day that kills me. For the morning, i'm ok mentally and physically, but for the second one...
But as you said, we are not teens anymore, and I don't know about you, but i don't have a team of doctors following me and monitoring me... And I dont keep my own fresh blood on the fridge to pump it back in the day of the fight, or use "exotic" supplements other than some basic vitamins and proteins stuffs. Nor I have the latest cryo-chamber or whatever.

But since I' am able to dictate my own training sessions, and not just following a class, I can decide when to go hard and when to go slow. So usually morning it's the classic MT session with lots of cardio, pads and heavy bag, and the afternoon is mostly shadow and light sparring.

 

[shincheckin]

@shincheckin

Trust me man, i know... I'm kinda in the end of my career too, my body is not up to it anymore. For me, it's the second session of the day that kills me. For the morning, i'm ok mentally and physically, but for the second one...
But as you said, we are not teens anymore, and I don't know about you, but i don't have a team of doctors following me and monitoring me... And I dont keep my own fresh blood on the fridge to pump it back in the day of the fight, or use "exotic" supplements other than some basic vitamins and proteins stuffs. Nor I have the latest cryo-chamber or whatever.

But since I' am able to dictate my own training sessions, and not just following a class, I can decide when to go hard and when to go slow. So usually morning it's the classic MT session with lots of cardio, pads and heavy bag, and the afternoon is mostly shadow and light sparring.

im in the same boat but i flip flop it in regards to my morning session is light, some bag and shadow and stretching, and go hard in the evening. I am not much of a morning person. Waking up at 8am is no problem, but being somewhere by 8am is a bitch for me lol. Even with that schedule I would get burnt quickly so I play it by ear as far as when I decided to do 2 x a day vs 1 x a day. The biggest motivator to really push is when you have a fight of course. I dont think 2 x a day 6 days a week consistantly is possible. Maybe 2-3 weeks before a fight to peak.

 

[ARIZE]

Man... reading and writing in this thread makes me realize how near the end i am. As you said, what keeps me still going , is the fight itself. But I used to love training. Now, it's just a mean for me to still have fun during the fight. I used to want to learn new stuff, try them during sparring, train to be better each day. Now I just train to not fall back, to keep my level. Every pause i make, like for injuries, take me so many step backs in the conditioning department, its not even funny.

For morning vs afternoon. The morning I have more energy in general, and there is no excuse for not training hard. You just woke up, you train... Thats it. And if you had a good day, you can still go hard at the second session. But for the afternoon, there are so many things that can happen during the day and fakup your session.
And in general, i feel a lot more tired by then. Energy drops.

 

[Blue_Lou]

Better than nothing. If you can afford it why not. But if real life self defense is part of your goal, try taking off the gloves once in a while and hit the heavy bag bare knuckled. Don’t overdo it, but it makes sense to get used to that feel.

 

[j123]

im in the same boat but i flip flop it in regards to my morning session is light, some bag and shadow and stretching, and go hard in the evening. I am not much of a morning person. Waking up at 8am is no problem, but being somewhere by 8am is a bitch for me lol. Even with that schedule I would get burnt quickly so I play it by ear as far as when I decided to do 2 x a day vs 1 x a day. The biggest motivator to really push is when you have a fight of course. I dont think 2 x a day 6 days a week consistantly is possible. Maybe 2-3 weeks before a fight to peak.

Man... reading and writing in this thread makes me realize how near the end i am. As you said, what keeps me still going , is the fight itself. But I used to love training. Now, it's just a mean for me to still have fun during the fight. I used to want to learn new stuff, try them during sparring, train to be better each day. Now I just train to not fall back, to keep my level. Every pause i make, like for injuries, take me so many step backs in the conditioning department, its not even funny.

For morning vs afternoon. The morning I have more energy in general, and there is no excuse for not training hard. You just woke up, you train... Thats it. And if you had a good day, you can still go hard at the second session. But for the afternoon, there are so many things that can happen in the day and fakup your session.
And in general, i feel a lot more tired then. Energy drops.

I'm not that old, but for some reason this year I'm really feeling the dig. Between 2015 - 2017 I was training 6 days a week, 4 of those days being twice a day . I had no problems with recovery, hell I slept about 6-7h on average and still did it fine.

Fast forward to 2018 and I can't do that, I'm lucky to even get 2x a day once a week, I end up just doing regular 6 days. Its weird, at times I think maybe I taxed my body too much and now I'm paying back for it. Back then if I missed even 1 training session I felt like the world was ending and I'd get fucked up due to me being lazy. now I end up missing sessions more frequent due to work and I don't even bat an eye. wtf

Maybe if I had an competitive athletic background as a toddler it might not happen.

 

[shincheckin]

I'm not that old, but for some reason this year I'm really feeling the dig. Between 2015 - 2017 I was training 6 days a week, 4 of those days being twice a day . I had no problems with recovery, hell I slept about 6-7h on average and still did it fine.

Fast forward to 2018 and I can't do that, I'm lucky to even get 2x a day once a week, I end up just doing regular 6 days. Its weird, at times I think maybe I taxed my body too much and now I'm paying back for it. Back then if I missed even 1 training session I felt like the world was ending and I'd get fucked up due to me being lazy. now I end up missing sessions more frequent due to work and I don't even bat an eye. wtf

Maybe if I had an competitive athletic background as a toddler it might not happen.

8-5 plus training is very hard no matter what age you are lol

 

[j123]

8-5 plus training is very hard no matter what age you are lol

It is, but it was fine before, all of a sudden since mid jan its felt much more taxing

 

[shincheckin]

It is, but it was fine before, all of a sudden since mid jan its felt much more taxing

i lost alot of jobs that way, focusing on training rather than work. I would always get to work just a bit late from waking up dead tired and sore, dragging my ass into work, etc. I have decided not to do it anymore. part time work plus training is much more manageable. getting off topic but if you look into how humans existed for 1000s of years compared to that of the last few 100 years, you will find a very different lifestyle in regards to working hours and leisure time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

 

[georgegreece]

i lost alot of jobs that way, focusing on training rather than work. I would always get to work just a bit late from waking up dead tired and sore, dragging my ass into work, etc. I have decided not to do it anymore. part time work plus training is much more manageable. getting off topic but if you look into how humans existed for 1000s of years compared to that of the last few 100 years, you will find a very different lifestyle in regards to working hours and leisure time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

spacetime part trois...