Gym closed down...how to stay in boxing shape?

Hi,

My gym recently closed down :icon_cry2 and I'm wondering what to do to stay in shape until coach reopens it in a new location come April...small town so this is really the only boxing gym around me so I can't just go to another gym...

What I've been thinking is buying some pads and having a partner who's also wondering what we can do just do a lot of excessive padwork to stay sharp...the problem is I feel like maybe padwork alone won't do much. Can padwork alone keep my body fat low? I'm thinking we can do maybe 1.5 - 2 hours of padwork 4 times a week...all I can really afford to do since I have university classes to be attending...

Do you guys have suggestions.

 

Hit up some of your gym mates and schedule something. You can always find a local gym and then use the studio room or something.

 

Can you access a normal gym?

This will be a great time to work on strength and conditioning (Starting Strength as well as running 2-5km 2-3 times a week will do your body wonders).

 

Jumprope alone should keep you in nice shape (unless you overeat)

Shadowboxing will keep your form

Double end bag should help keep your timing

 

@Ian None of them really took boxing seriously...It's me and basically this one other guy I've turned into a fan...so I can't really round up anyone xD there wasn't enough demand already part of the reason it closed til a new place could be found (sometimes I was the only one who showed up...for consecutive days...)

@Mar I can access a weight room and such but...never really used weights before other than in shadow boxing and as far as getting a routine to do a full body workout that is as effective as boxing in the weight room...I am clueless...also if speed is my asset, I don't really want to go too hard on the weights...I don't think pacquiao, mayweather (other than shadowboxing), or khan really use weights...probably should go back to doing roadwork...I just don't get around to it unless I'm out of school season...I've convinced myself walking many km a day is sufficient around campus when I know it's really not...also since I used to run so much it's my upper body that needs to stay in shape...not the legs...

@Reyes Good call on the jump rope...the thing is I eat a lot of protein...like a lot...and I eat the same way I've been eating when the gym was closed...which I think if I keep doing it, all that protein that used to be building muscle might start building fat deposits since I'm not burning nearly as many calories as before...haven't been in high activity for 2 weeks...this is why I'm getting really worried. I'll try and find a place to shadow box for sure...don't have a double end bag...the boxing gym closed remember? The university gym doesn't have anything boxing related...

Any idea for the padwork how to make it high intensity...so that I can get a full body workout for it...considering if all goes well I'll be doing this for 1.5-2 hours each time...

Currently to combine all your ideas I'm thinking maybe do instead 20 minutes treadmill followed by 25 or 3 mins hard weights (whatever that means) and then 30-45 minutes padwork or something? I don't know...I didn't realize how useless I was without a boxing gym lol

 

Double end bags can be had for $29 from Title (in the U.S.) with free shipping if you google. I got one, that's how I know. (PM me if you need specific sites)

Not too hard to set up, either

 

Here is a link to a very good beginners program. It only takes 30-45 minutes per session and you only need to do 2-3 sessions per week to see results:

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

It is free. Just scroll down past the guy's yapping and you should see a table outlining the actual workout. Click on the various words within the table and you'll get taught how to do it.

When you think you have a good idea, video-tape yourself and upload it to: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/ . People will correct your form, give you encourage etc. Imo, the S & C forum is one if not the best forum Sherdog has to offer.

As for your point about speed: it is a myth as long as I am concerned. Sure, if the weight you add on is fat or you only work on one specific set of muscles (i.e. 'beach muscles') then you will be slower :icon_lol:. If its functional strength you are gaining thoughout your whole body, then that won't matter. A prime example of why you should llift is JMM vs Pac 4. Although JMM has caught (and rocked) the pacman in his last three bouts, he was unable to knock him down a single time in 36 rounds. What was difference in their fourth bout? JMM decided to hire a S & C coach while Pacman ignored his. Result? Jmm knocked Pac out.

Roadwork is a must too :icon_lol: but if you want strong legs then you have to do the squats/deadlifts imo.

 

If I understand correctly, your main concern is to stay in physical shape and not get fat, and to some extent also maintain technique?

I'm sure you can achieve this through 1-2 hour padwork sessions. But I think it would get rather boring after a while, and you'll progress more by mixing in other stuff as well.

Lifting weights is a fine supplement for boxing, but you'll probably want some good instruction before you start in order to get the most out of it and to prevent injuries.
Ideally, I wouldn't mix in heavy lifting in between two cardio sessions (other than maybe warm-up and cool-down). I believe you'll recover better and thus make more gains if you keep lifting on separate days. As for good lifting exercises, I'd keep with standard free-weight compound lifts like squats, deadlift, overhead press etc, and go for few reps with heavy weights rather than the inverse.

If I were you and had, say, four sessions a week for training, I'd probably do something like this:
1. Long-distance run. I'd go for long runs, 10 km or more, at a reasonably easy pace (10 km below 50 minutes or so would probably be a good aim).
2. Boxing technique with your friend from the gym. Do padwork, technique drills, bodyweight exercises, shadow boxing, bagwork if you have access, basically anything you normally do at the gym except heavy sparring.
3. Weight lifting if someone can show you good form. If not, I'd suggest endurance training such as swimming, or repeat session 2.
4. Repeat session 2.

 

Also, other exercises which you can do are:skipping, speed ball drills, double-end bag drills, medicine ball drills, line drills (i.e. hanging a piece of string across your garage and practicing bobbing and weave/slipping and general footwork) and shadowboxing etc

Doing some light sparring and putting on here will be a good idea but I am against padwork- especially since your friend is relatively inexperienced. Holding the mitts is an art itself and bad padwork can lead to bad habits.

 

Burpees for timed rounds for anaerobic conditioning.

Shadow boxing for 45-90 [email protected] HR of 130-150 for aerobic.

Lift some weights.

 

@Reyes Yes...but to Canada they have stupid 25.84 shipping...no point getting one...also I live in an apartment, so I can't hang a double end in my room...and my school will not let me install any form of bags there even if I buy and donate them

@Mar No doubt about S&C of marquez...but Marquez was noticeably not as fast as usual (maybe also or moreso because of age)...he was stronger...and even RJJr. commented that the muscle was good for looping overhand shots...not straights and jabs...Marquez Ko'd Pac with a looping shot...so yes that worked for him...I rarely throw overhands and I pump that jab and straight all the time...the Marquez physique would not do me any good...Thanks for the program and yes I'll be doing roadwork again i guess

@Mighty You are definitely understanding correctly...Right now my BF% is still a little high around 18% (now up to 18.1-18.2 in the last 2 weeks which is not a big gain but I feel really bloated and heavy for no reason) and I've been on a mission to get to the 12-15% that I think is deemed as really good but not unhealthy...so I don't want to get fat, put on too much bulk, just want to be really lean, with a lot of speed and technique. Note taken on not mixing the heavy lifting with cardio...and I was also thinking maybe 2 hours of padwork is too much...thats why I was thinking of doing what you just said I shouldn't do Your workout program is good and I might try and find out how to do those exercises properly considering I don't really have the money to pay the 80 dollars for 1 hour lesson fee at my school (don't understand why they think students have this kind of money). Maybe I'll subtle creep people doing such exercises and try and copy...probably won't work...but I'll see.

@Mar (again ) Don't live in a house with a garage or anything, live in an apartment with other people (obviously since its an apartment haha) but I think maybe I can definitely incorporate my skipping and shadow boxing with the padwork...very true. As for my friend, I'll defend him in the sense that he might not be as experienced as me but he knows how to hold the pads for me (the only person other than my coach who understood how to tap down the pads and hold for more than 1 punch at a time) so I really gelled with him doing pads for me...he's not as comfortable when he has the gloves on though and is hitting the pads...he even says he'll probably end up a better trainer than fighter...and I might have to agree...for now...so the padwork he does with me is quite good...and I'm quite conscious of my bad habit...the main one is making my lead leg a bit stiff and not bending it enough...I'm very mentally in tune with what I'm doing...since I know no one else in the gym will be when they do drills with me.

@LZD Good idea on the burpees...are you sure 45-90 minutes of just shadow boxing is going to burn a lot of calories? Also it kind of may get progressively worse the longer it goes because of natural boredom that sets in when no stimulus is keeping you on your guard? Also...I'm assuming HR is heart rate...which I won't be able to measure as I'm working out correct??? And finally yes I'll be checking out the weight programs mar posted and such. Cheers.

 

Guess you could make your own with a tennisball and some elastic cords or surgical tubing. Where there's a will there's a way. A floor anchor could be made with a bag of sand.

But if you aren't feeling it, then of course you don't have to

 

This sounds depressing. Where do you live anyways?

But cheer up. It's not unheard of for a guy to take a couple months off of boxing, lol. You'll be back to full form as soon as you can. I would take this time to commit to shadowboxing, and join a regular gym for a couple months and work on strength. If you're into the natural, bodyweight strength get good at the pullups, dips, pushups, bodyweight squats.
If you're going to be lifting weights I'm sure someone else can speak on that.

I bet you'll surprise yourself with the time off and how nice your shoulders will feel coming back.

 

TS, no matter what you do, your skills will deteriorate without a trainer. I personally don't think too much of padwork unless it's held by somebody who knows what he's doing. Mitt holding is another skill entire that requires knowledge and training. I don't know how much benefit a friend just holding the pads for you will provide. At least you can still train what you can (shadow box, bagwork, etc) and post vids here for input.

If being in shape is your concern, exercises mentioned here are all good. Running obviously, high intensity circuit training, rope skipping, various footwork drills etc.. In my opinion, boxing training is the best conditioning workout for boxing and everything else just augments that.

You also need to do more research on strength training. Go to the S&C forum. Check out some of the threads here on weight-lifting and boxing. Weight training doesn't make you slow or inflexible. If you do it right, you'll actually be faster and more explosive. I'd start with the good old compound weights. You need to learn good form for this but there are a lot of resources on the internet. I've learned to lift by reading stuff online and judging by my steady progress and lack of injuries, I think my form isn't shit. Olympic lifting is probably even better for boxing but I personally wouldn't try it out unless I had a coach since Oly lifts require a lot more technique and practice to do safely.

 

Thanks...I think high cardio and strength and conditioning is all I can do until a gym opens up...sucks big time but I've been trying to avoid facing that reality.