Improving nutrition

I’ve known for a while now that if I wanted to take this thing seriously then I’d have to take a long, hard look at my diet.

This was a pretty difficult decision to make, given that  I’ve always had a penchant for cream, cheese and tiramasu.

The more I talk to people about this though, the more they’ve reinforced how important your diet is. Without it, you can render your training pretty much useless.

So I’ve kicked into touch:

• Oven pizzas
• Sweets and chocolate
• Rich, creamy pastas
• Low quality red meats
• Bacon and sausage sandwiches (alas)
• Big portions

I’ve replaced these with:

• Porridge
• Berries
• Nuts
• Chicken
• More chicken
• Fish
• Wheat pasta and brown vice
• Vegetables

I use to cover all my meals in mayonnaise. Unfortunately, this has had to go  as well, so I’m now lacing all my food in this stuff

What I will say though is, although I’ve only been at this for a couple of weeks now, I’ve feel a lot healthier because of it.

I used to think feeling bloated and tired after meals was a normal experience; now I realise it’s because of what I was eating.

I’ve also found that my concentration levels have  improved and I’m less tired, especially in that awful after lunch period.

Hopefully I’ll be able to report on a marked improvement in my gym performance over the next couple of weeks.

Chances are I’ll slip up on the food front but, I’ve made a positive start now and I’m determined to continue with it.

Running in Berlin

First off an explanation as to why it’s been so long since my last post.

It’s been a busy six weeks, I went to Berlin for a bit and then Imoved flats, which left me without internet access for a few weeks.

I’ve let-up on the blogging, but, thank god, not on the training. Even in Berlin, I still managed to get out and run, which was pretty nice.

I went for a jog around Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg and, although I kept stopping to check I wasn’t lost, I completed my 10 rounds and scaled these steps:

It wasn’t all work and training though, I managed to squeeze a bit of record shopping in as well…

I’ve been keeping up my two sessions a week at Tigers as well. I’m coming up to the four month mark now, since I started. It feels like a lot longer to be honest.

I’m still exhausted after every session but I feel more powerful than ever. Whereas two months ago I’d lose a lot of power after 30 minutes, now I can sustain it a lot longer.

I know I keep saying it but I’m going to get some videos up on here soon, it’s just finding the right time to film it…

Other than that I’m making a feel conscious effort with nutrition at the moment. I’m going to blog about that in more detail next week though.

The joys of spring and my return from injury

Reluctantly, I’ve had to take the last week and a half off training because of a knee injury which has progressively got worse.

I hurt my left knee about 4 weeks ago but, as it was only a niggle, I buried my head in the sand and carried on training.

Each week it felt okay to train on but felt stiffer and stiffer after and began to cause me quite a lot of pain.

Last week I bit the bullet and went to the physio who gave it a thorough rub and a full stretch out.

It’s still a bit sore but is okay now okay to train lightly on.

Sunday morning runs

That means I’ve able to go out on my usual weekend jogs, although I’ve been refraining from going hell for leather.

Weather-wise, this weekend was the perfect time to get back in the habit as well…

I also did some light pad work at Tigers on Thursday night. I was worried about feeling rusty, but it wasn’t too bad.

At the moment though, it feels like there is so much to thing about in terms of technique, that as I hone down on one element, I neglect other parts of it.

I suppose this is normal though and it takes time to internalise technique and programme your body so it becomes second nature.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to really focus on pivoting as I hook and cross.

I’m still planning on getting some video footage soon, it’s just getting in the right situation to film it…

A review of Expert Boxing’s e-books and videos

My print out of the e-book

Since I started boxing in January, I’ve met lots of good people (both online and off) who have gone out of their way to try help me and keep pushing me in the right direction.

Of all these, the best resource I’ve come across is the site expertboxing.com and its owner Johnny Nguyen.

After spending a few days getting through the quality free advice on the site, it’s really not a difficult decision to invest in the e-books and training videos.

($77 – which in the grand scheme of what you get out of it, really isn’t a lot of money.)

Content-wise, its ideal for absolute beginners like myself as Johnny does a really good job of explaining the funamental techniques of boxing.

The day-by-day workbook also gives you a solid framework to actually go away and practice the techniques explained.

It’s all digital, so need to count the days until it arrives in the post. Personally, I recommending printing off the books and binding them, just because I don’t like reading off computer screens.

It’s also really nice to have the written material supplemented with instructional videos, which makes everything a bit easier to understand.

Like with anything, you’re going to get out of these books and videos what you put into them and there’s no substitute for getting in the gym.

As Vince Lombardi once said though:

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

So its definitely worth taking a step back sometimes and really refining the way you practice. If you’re learning to box, there’s no better way to do this than with all of expertboxing.com’s content.

The only thing I’d like to see is having the videos broken down into sections, so I can have them on hand on my phone in the gym – apart from that, absolutely no complaints.

March update

I missed my first session so far this week thanks to my car breaking down. I made up for it by squeezing in an extra run, but I still felt a bit rusty on Thursday.

My current focus when I’m punching is pushing my weight downwards as opposed to shifting it forwards (a nice tip from the e-book!).

This is pretty difficult to master but definitely helps with staying balanced.

Working on my hook

I finally boxed with appropriate gloves and wrapped hands this week, which made a huge difference (especially the wraps).

(As a rule, when people tell you how important wrapped hands are, listen to them!)

For the first time since I started, my knuckles and wrists came out relatively unscathed from my two sessions this week.

I’ll write up a review of the gloves once I’ve properly worn them in next week – they’re still a bit stiff!

The Hook

I’ve been putting a lot of thought and practice into the technique of both my left and right hook this week.

When I first started it felt completely unnatural but, with a bit of practice, it’s becoming one of my favourite punches to throw and especially to finish combinations with.

I got my lesson here from probably the best in the business, Freddie Roach:

 

I’m still struggling to get the hang of the foot pivot at the end but, imagining you’re squashing a cigarette, at Roach says, is a good starting point.

It definitely helps here to get up close to the pads and drive through with the elbow – although it can be a little bit disconcerting for whoever you’re training with!

I’m going to try get a video up here so it’s easier to compare my progress a few months down the line.

Apart from that I went for a run this morning and, although I only lasted 6 rounds, my pace was quicker than last week. Next week’s target is 7 rounds.

Onwards and upwards this week then. Circuit training Tuesday and then back on the pads on Thursday

Confused about Tyson and Cus D’Amato

For a long time, Mike Tyson was my favourite heavyweight of all time and Cus D’Amato my favourite trainer. 

I can’t think of many other fighters who can match the explosive speed, power and accuracy he possessed in his pre-prison pomp.

In terms of boxing technique and style, he is still my favourite boxer to watch (which is, of course, thanks to D’Amato).

Everything Tyson did was intimidating; from his lifestyle outside the ring, to the way he’d enter without a robe, dripping with sweat and deadly focussed.

In contrast, Cus D’Amato was a scholar of the sport, obsessed with the psychology of fear and how it could be harnessed.

Where I get confused with Tyson though, is with him as a person, his history and the role D’Amato played here.

The documentary Tyson portrays Iron Mike to have been a victim of circumstance his whole life, rescued from the mean streets of Brooklyn by Cus D’Amato.

D’Amato recognised Tyson’s potential and, under his tutorship, civilised him and laid the foundations for his career.

Tyson was devastated when he died and lost one of the few positive figures to enter his life.

This story is easy to buy into and makes Tyson’s behaviour during his reign a lot more palatable.

The loss of the main influence for good in Tyson’s life is used to explain how he went so far off the rails when he did find success. With no one left to guide him, his irresponsible actions after becoming champion are easier to justify.

If you read Teddy Atlas’ account (one of Tyson’s former trainers with Cus), you’ll be painted an entirely different picture, one in which D’Amato’s influence on Tyson is viewed as somewhat malign.

Atlas felt D’Amato spoiled Tyson.

He says Cus let him get away with murder in his early years, not to save Tyson from himself, but for the prestige of training another heavyweight champion, the youngest that ever existed.

Had he been harder on Tyson, he may have instilled a sense of discipline that would help him handle the pressure of being the champion.

This begs the question as what would have happened had Cus D’Amato lived to guide Tyson through his years as a champion and whether or not he would have saved him from himself?

There is no doubt that Cus D’Amato helped Tyson, as he did countless other. It is not, however, as black and white as it is sometimes portrayed.

It’s very possible that the nature of Tyson’s boxing style meant his career would always be short-lived, but that’s another debate entirely.

That’s how I feel about Mike Tyson anyway. My new gloves arrived today so I’m looking forward to putting them through their paces on the bag tomorrow night.

Bruised fingers, bruised wrists

Just finished my Thursday night pads session and I’m looking forward to my gloves arriving now more than ever.

I’ve been borrowing the light gym gloves without wraps up until now and it’s really been taking it’s toll on my wrists and fingers.

Sometimes it hurts so much I struggle to  push myself up out of the bath after the session and, if I have bruised something, I’m not really giving it sufficient time to recover.

Anyway, I ordered a pair of gloves this week which hopefully will arrive next week. Hopefully they’ll offer a bit more support and padding to my brittle bones and tender muscles.

I wasn’t too bothered about what pair I bought, except that I wanted them to be leather, so they last. Ended up going with these Adidas ones, so I’ll report how I get on with them.

More importantly though…

The session itself:

I felt like I could have gone another half an hour tonight which, of course, is a good sign.

My technique is definitely improving and I can feel a bit more power in my punches. That said, my guard does slip so sometimes I guess I need to just slow down.

I’m itching to get back in the gym on Tuesday but, until then, I will have to make do with my cardio work on Saturday.

Either way, I think my hand’s have got a long before they’ll start to compare to Evander Holyfield’s…

Running on the beach

I’m up in Aberdeen at the moment, which is the (second) most northern city in the UK and a cool six hours on the train from Leeds:

I didn’t want to let this disrupt my training schedule, so I made sure I packed my running gear.

(Although I did have to borrow a pair of my girlfriend’s dad’s shorts.)

I also figured I’d take advantage of being on the coast and go all Rocky 3 by taking my training to the beach.

Running on the actual sand itself proved too much hard work and I was getting no where fast, so we had to retreat onto the path that ran by its side.

Lisa Creech gave me some good advice about structuring my running/cardio sessions so they’re more in-tune with the work I’m doing on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

Instead of just setting off and seeing how far and how fast I can run for, I’m now running in three minute bursts with 30 second rest periods. (This, of course, reflects the structure of a boxing match and my boxing training.)

I found it a lot easier to push myself inside a set structure and the training felt 100x better than last Saturday’s aimless (but fun) run.

This was also helped by using the Boxing Timer iPhone app. This easy-to-use app let me carry on training to my favourite music and discipline my work to the timings I’d set.

That’s it for this week anyway. Back to my normal Leeds surroundings for circuit training at Tiger’s on Tuesday.

Hoping to actually pick up a pair of beginner pad gloves this week so any recommendations and advice would be much appreciated!

Why I love Jack Dempsey

“It’s more fun fighting your way up the hill than it is standing on the top and defending it.”

Out of all the fighters, promoters and other characters who’ve existed in-and-around the Fight Game since it’s emergence, Jack Dempsey is probably my favourite.

The reason I like Jack Dempsey most is not simply because of his sheer ferociousness in the ring.

There are a lot of inspiring stories of boxers coming up the hard way and the ‘nothing to everything’ tale is now almost beyond cliché.

For me, Dempsey’s story captures the imagination most.

In Dempsey’s early career, he was a hobo.

He would cling underneath trains (‘ridin the rods’) to get from city to city and from fight to fight.

The night before he fought John Lester Johnson, he slept in Central Park.

True or not, the idea of Dempsey looking up at the stars in Central Park and dreaming of being heavyweight champion is a nice image, especially considering how far he came.

_____________________

Aside from thinking a lot about Jack Dempsey, tonight was circuit training.

I tried to focus on throwing punches from and bringing them back to the guard tonight, as opposed to looking for just speed and power.

 It took a bit longer before I began to feel physically exhausted tonight, which is hopefully a sign I’m getting fitter (or that I’m not working hard enough).

Either way, looking forward to getting back on the pads on Thursday.

In the meantime, here’s Dempsey destroying Jess Willard to become the heavyweight champion.

On the run

Yesterday was the first Saturday morning run of the new routine.

Needless to say, there were a few hiccups before we got going. Of course, we picked the coldest day of the  year to start, meaning we were venturing out in minus temperatures and in light snowfall.

I also managed to forget my trainers and my work shoes weren’t really suitable, especially given the conditions. (See below.)

We didn’t let this stop us though and I managed to pick up a substitute pair from ‘Shoezone’ in Meanwood, for only £4.00. Not the coolest trainers I’ve ever seen but still, they did the job.

In terms of the run itself, there was a lot of stopping and starting and it lacked structure in terms of where and how long we were running for.

Still, we got out there, got our heart rates up and worked up a bit of a sweat.

Next week, I’m going to try out Nike’s iPhone app and set goals and some structure to the exercise. Hopefully then I can work towards improvement.