How often do you spar?

[ProfessorX]

I was at the gym this morning sparring with my buddy and at the end of our last round the coach/owner of the place told me that he saw me sparring monday, wednesday, thursday and now today. He told me that it was a bad thing to do sparring this often cause it'll drain me mentally and physically and that I don't get enough time to rest between all those punches I eat.

Personally, as far as physical and mental go, I'm pretty sure I'm fine, I eat all day as if I was a bodybuilder, I'm sore physically when I train but I feel top notch other than that, my sleep is really good and mentally I feel fine, I'm actually asking for more...
But it kinda made sense tho.

According to him I should only have 1 to 2 good sparring session a week, true?
Should I cut back or keep going at it? I really wanna compete sometime soon so I figured sparring would be the closest thing to the real deal. If I do need to cut back, how should one prepare to fighting without sparring? bag? shadow boxing? How can I get better in the ring from the outside

 

[Bay Area]

no way man. Spar everyday with different people. The more times you try, the better you will be at fighting. But make adjustments if you need to. Dont keep running into the same brick wall. Switch stuff up

 

[DrBdan]

Do you mix up the intensity when sparring? If you are always going hard I can see him telling you to only spar 1-2 times/week but if you are mixing it up between light/medium/hard you should be fine sparring more often.

 

[ProfessorX]

well I think it's definitely higher intensity than just light, but much less than heavy I'd say medium.

Given, we're only been there for like a month and a half and we only started sparring like last week, we're just feeling each other more than anything at this point

 

[ProfessorX]

I'd love to show you a video of us but I don't have any as of now

 

[SAAMAG]

Well, if you prescribe to the Thai methods--you spar lightly most the time working on tehnique, timing, speed, etc. Reserving power shots to pad and bag work.

The only thing about that is Thais have their fights on weekends though so if youre not competing I'd say go light mostly and have a good, full contact spar 1-2x a week. That way you get constant input without as much wear and tear.

Others will say to listen to your body and adjust accordingly. Feeling beat up? Slow it down. Feeling good--keep going. There are many times my group would spar intending it to be light and it naturally ramps up. So be careful of that too.

 

[ProfessorX]

Thanks for the replies


I was meaning to start a new thread for a new question but I figure I'll just post it here,

In this video at 6;12 you can see carwin removing his bandages, he wears 2 set of hand wraps, is that common to use double wraps?

 

[Zedy44]

Sparring as often as possible is a good thing when you take into consideration the different effort levels you should be varying when doing your sparring sessions.

If you spar 75%+ every time you spar then you probably aren't going to mentally let yourself try new things. Your footwork and combinations might develop a little slower because your focused on avoiding that counter coming at you with 75%+ power behind it.

We start easy...15-20%. Almost like a really light jog. Work your stances and get warmed up. Then increase to 30-35%. Warm up a bit more etc...start to work head movement and feints. Again increase to 50-60%...

You get the idea. I think if you vary your tempo with your sparring partners you'll develop skills that require a slower tempo, faster, and same goes for those skills which require a faster tempo.

 

[TeTe]

I spar twice a week at 100 percent. But I only box. For me at the amatuer level, it's sufficient enough since I'm working cardio and lifting a lot too. If I had some grand plan to try to go pro, Id be sparring at least five days a week.

 

[Polarity]

Thanks for the replies


I was meaning to start a new thread for a new question but I figure I'll just post it here,

In this video at 6;12 you can see carwin removing his bandages, he wears 2 set of hand wraps, is that common to use double wraps?

Carwin has huge fucking hands, he uses something like XXXXL gloves when he fights

 

[Paradigm]

i spar 3-5x per week...then again, im not usually sparring over 50-60% so its not that bad. my legs take the worst of it usually...its usually the limiting factor, not the head shots.

i try to spar after every session if i can.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I spar twice a week at near full contact. Tuesday boxing, Friday is kick boxing.

The rest of the week we work technique, form, footwork, mitt work, combinations, etc.

We'll trade combinations and do sParring drills, but actual sparring is twice a week.

The teams developed well under this schedule and coaching theory, so this is what I follow

 

[Sinister]

I spar twice a week at 100 percent. But I only box. For me at the amatuer level, it's sufficient enough since I'm working cardio and lifting a lot too. If I had some grand plan to try to go pro, Id be sparring at least five days a week.

No you wouldn't. No trainer would put a guy in that many days a week, or at least, not one who is any good. 2-3 days per week tops, but you'd have longer sessions. Usually 4-8 rounds.

 

[Minowafanatic]

Thanks for the replies


I was meaning to start a new thread for a new question but I figure I'll just post it here,

In this video at 6;12 you can see carwin removing his bandages, he wears 2 set of hand wraps, is that common to use double wraps?

usually I use 180" wraps but sometimes though Ill double up on 130" wraps and always with Winning knuckle guards underneath

 

[TeTe]

No you wouldn't. No trainer would put a guy in that many days a week, or at least, not one who is any good. 2-3 days per week tops, but you'd have longer sessions. Usually 4-8 rounds.

Well I believe you, but didn't Tyson spar 10 rounds, every day?

I usually spar about 7-8 rounds when I go as well. I shouldn't say I always go 100 percent, sometimes if I get put in with a guy much smaller than me or is just starting, I may only go about 75 percent.

 

[Sinister]

Well I believe you, but didn't Tyson spar 10 rounds, every day?

I usually spar about 7-8 rounds when I go as well. I shouldn't say I always go 100 percent, sometimes if I get put in with a guy much smaller than me or is just starting, I may only go about 75 percent.

I would doubt that, maybe he did that for one week out of a camp. But normally you don't go that many rounds in successive days. That being said, Tyson isn't that great of an example, his prime was relatively short and his trainer died before he was doing 10-rounders.

Fighters get used up in the Gym, not in fights. Poor sparring habits is one of the reasons for this.

 

[Ryukyu Damashi]

I spar twice a week at 100 percent. But I only box. For me at the amatuer level, it's sufficient enough since I'm working cardio and lifting a lot too. If I had some grand plan to try to go pro, Id be sparring at least five days a week.

You can't spar at 100 percent. People don't even fight at 100 percent all the time.

 

[SAAMAG]

^^^Exxxactly.

 

[TeTe]

You can't spar at 100 percent. People don't even fight at 100 percent all the time.

Well, let me put it to like this.. I go as hard as I can.. usually.

 

[TeTe]

I would doubt that, maybe he did that for one week out of a camp. But normally you don't go that many rounds in successive days. That being said, Tyson isn't that great of an example, his prime was relatively short and his trainer died before he was doing 10-rounders.

Fighters get used up in the Gym, not in fights. Poor sparring habits is one of the reasons for this.

So let me ask you this, since you run a gym. I'm obviously not looking to go anywhere fast by the way of boxing.. but I've been training for a year and a half have two more golden gloves before the age cutoff.

So, what do you think someone like myself should be doing weekly? I workout four or five days a week, intensely all the time, whether doing cardio, lifting, drilling and sparring. Is sparring twice a week enough all things considered? Or would push someone harder in your place even if they are content at the amateur level?