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KingGheedora workout log

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Sunday

Workout:

7-7-7-8 pull-ups
5x5x135lbs squat
5x5x80lbs OH press
3x10 BW inverted rows
28 minutes on stationary bike, 145-153bpm, 8.3miles
25-25-20 decline sit-ups
stretch

Also biked about 4 miles round trip trying to find a gym that wasn't closing early due to Easter. A little disappointed about regressing on pull-ups, I felt weaker than usual doing them. It may have been because I was at a gym I usually don't go to, and the grip was a little different so that might account for it.

Edit: oops, i got my schedule mixed up. was supposed to train yesterday and rest today. Oh well, this entire weekend I've had the worst DOMS ever in my calves from the lateral movement exercises I did with my trainer on Friday.
 
Tuesday

Workout
5x5x135 squat
8-8-8-7 pull-ups
5x5x100 dead lift
5x shadow box
4x heavy bag
30 minute HIIT on bike (1min. HI, 2min. low). 9.22 miles
stretch
 
Thursday

Workout
2x jump rope
3x shadow box
2x heavy bag
4x sparring
20 minutes HIIT on stationary bike


It went pretty well. They put me up against this guy who's a little older, maybe a half inch or an inch shorter, but probably has 15 lbs. on me. Since it was my first time the first round they had us throw only jabs to the body, second round was jabs and straight rights to the body, and 3rd and 4th rounds were any type of punch to the body. It was crazy. The guy was definitely more experienced and in better condition. It was SUPER tiring. I think I landed around 85% as many shots as the other guy did, mainly because at times my legs got so tired that after going in for a combo I couldn't move away or throw punches so I had to try to stand there and cover up for a few seconds until I could move again. I still stayed in it for all four rounds, and when I got tired I would dance around side to side to avoid him coming in at me. He was also pretty wily and would wait for me to throw punches and try to counter me. After I realized what he was up to I started throwing fakes to try to get him to commit to a counter punch and confuse him on when I would actually really hit him. I got in a lot of pretty good shots, a few times he covered up immediately after I hit him in the solar plexus or ribs and slowed down his tempo for a while. He did the same to me though. Getting hit in the solar plexus sucks!!

He also kept hitting me in the face even though we were supposed to do body shots only, it was pretty frustrating because he did it at least 6 or 7 times and I couldn't hit him back in the face. I started hitting him with harder shots whenever he would do it (you're not really supposed to be going that hard in sparring) cause I was getting pissed, and the head trainer kept telling him to cut it out. I thought there was no reason for him to do it so many times, i managed to not hit him in the face at all. I found out after we fought that he's been training with the head coach for years, so that made me feel a lot better about getting hit as much as I did.

So after the four rounds they all talked while I was getting water and taking off my gear. Then my trainer and I went to stretch and said "they think you're great!", and the head trainer said I had natural talent and he'd be willing to train me for a fight if I was willing to commit to working hard, like training five days a week. I talked to him after that and he said basically the same thing, that he'd train me for a year with the goal being for me to fight in the golden gloves, and that normally it's a pretty short amount of time for a newbie to do that but I had a pretty decent base to work with from what he saw today. So for now I'm gonna keep on sparring to see how it goes and then maybe after a while decide if I want to commit to all that -- everyone kept on stressing on how much hard work it would be.

I'm sparring the same guy again next week.
 
Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Thursday

Workout
2x jump rope
3x shadow box
2x heavy bag
4x sparring
20 minutes HIIT on stationary bike


It went pretty well. They put me up against this guy who's a little older, maybe a half inch or an inch shorter, but probably has 15 lbs. on me. Since it was my first time the first round they had us throw only jabs to the body, second round was jabs and straight rights to the body, and 3rd and 4th rounds were any type of punch to the body. It was crazy. The guy was definitely more experienced and in better condition. It was SUPER tiring. I think I landed around 85% as many shots as the other guy did, mainly because at times my legs got so tired that after going in for a combo I couldn't move away or throw punches so I had to try to stand there and cover up for a few seconds until I could move again. I still stayed in it for all four rounds, and when I got tired I would dance around side to side to avoid him coming in at me. He was also pretty wily and would wait for me to throw punches and try to counter me. After I realized what he was up to I started throwing fakes to try to get him to commit to a counter punch and confuse him on when I would actually really hit him. I got in a lot of pretty good shots, a few times he covered up immediately after I hit him in the solar plexus or ribs and slowed down his tempo for a while. He did the same to me though. Getting hit in the solar plexus sucks!!

He also kept hitting me in the face even though we were supposed to do body shots only, it was pretty frustrating because he did it at least 6 or 7 times and I couldn't hit him back in the face. I started hitting him with harder shots whenever he would do it (you're not really supposed to be going that hard in sparring) cause I was getting pissed, and the head trainer kept telling him to cut it out. I thought there was no reason for him to do it so many times, i managed to not hit him in the face at all. I found out after we fought that he's been training with the head coach for years, so that made me feel a lot better about getting hit as much as I did.

So after the four rounds they all talked while I was getting water and taking off my gear. Then my trainer and I went to stretch and said "they think you're great!", and the head trainer said I had natural talent and he'd be willing to train me for a fight if I was willing to commit to working hard, like training five days a week. I talked to him after that and he said basically the same thing, that he'd train me for a year with the goal being for me to fight in the golden gloves, and that normally it's a pretty short amount of time for a newbie to do that but I had a pretty decent base to work with from what he saw today. So for now I'm gonna keep on sparring to see how it goes and then maybe after a while decide if I want to commit to all that -- everyone kept on stressing on how much hard work it would be.

I'm sparring the same guy again next week.
Click to expand...

Nice work dude. The fitness level of fighters is incredible, so if you enjoy it, it's a great thing to stick with.
 
Originally posted by: brikis98
Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Click to expand...

Nice work dude. The fitness level of fighters is incredible, so if you enjoy it, it's a great thing to stick with.
Click to expand...

Thanks dude. I talked with my trainer and confirmed I need to work on leg strength and endurance. My conditioning otherwise was pretty decent (didn't get gassed). I might have to dip into some crossfit to help with this.

Trainer mentioned doing leg weights: squats, dl's, hamstring curls, calve leg raises, and leg extentions, then plyometrics like box jumps, sprints and jump rope.
Any other suggestions? I want to work on this at least a couple times between now and next Thursday's sparring session.

 
Originally posted by: KingGheedora
I might have to dip into some crossfit to help with this.
Click to expand...
Give it a shot. A lot of fighters use CF for conditioning and the CF messageboards have a "Crosspit" forum to discuss mixing CF with martial arts.

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Trainer mentioned doing leg weights: squats, dl's, hamstring curls, calve leg raises, and leg extentions, then plyometrics like box jumps, sprints and jump rope.
Any other suggestions? I want to work on this at least a couple times between now and next Thursday's sparring session.
Click to expand...
Not to contradict the trainer, but I'd avoid anything that involves machines and isolation exercises: ie, hamstring curls, leg extensions, calf raises. It's not that these don't do anything, but rather there are SO many leg exercises that are a far more effective use of your time. I'd recommend:

* Squats: the king of exercises. Will make everything in your body stronger, including your legs.
* Deadlift: close runner up to squats. Amazing for strengthening the posterior chain.
* Clean & jerk and/or snatch: the olympic lifts would be INCREDIBLY useful for a fighter, as they developer power (the ability to deliver maximal force in minimal time) rather than strength (the ability to deliver maximal force). That is, they improve speed, agility, balance, make your shots faster, teach you to open your hips explosively and so on. They are tough to learn, but the benefits for any athletic endeavor are enormous.
* Plyometrics: a great complement to o-lifts as these help build power & explosiveness using primarily your bodyweight.

Worth noting is that crossfit includes all of these.
 
Saturday

Workout
2x jump rope
5x shadow box
4x speed bag
4x heavy bag
20-20 lying on back, legs raised just off the ground, arms extended holding medicine ball on ground behind my head, raise ball and one leg till they touch in the air (leg ends up perpendicular to ground), lower and then do other leg.
20-13 push-ups alternating medicine ball under one hand each time
25 minutes HIIT on stationary bike, about 6 miles

More good news. On the weekends I workout at a gym near my house as opposed to one near my work, where I meet with my trainer. Today there was a boxing instructor teaching two people, having them spar while I was shadow boxing and hitting the bag. Obviously since this isn't a boxing gym it's not that common for people to be boxing there, so the instructor talked to me after his clients left, said I was looking decent and asked if I sparred. I told him my training situation and that I was interested in sparring, so he took my number and will set up some weekly sparring sessions with some guys he's training, and he's not gonna charge me or anything. He'll be giving guidance to all of us while sparring so this is pretty sweet. He gave me some pointers today, mainly obvious stuff about bringing my hands back to guard right away.

My own trainer said the things i need to work on most are doubling up the jab, turning the straight right over, and pivoting + lateral movement out of the way after punching, so that's what I worked on today. It's hard to focus one thing without someone hawking over me telling me what I'm doing wrong, sometimes I lose concentration, zone out, and fall into patterns of throwing combos I've memorized instead of working on what I'm supposed to be working on. I definitely corrected myself a lot but I wish I would stop doing that.
 
Monday

Workout
8-8-8-8 pull-ups
5x5x140lbs squat
5x5x105lbs DL
2x jump rope
4x speed bag
4x shadow box
4x heavy bag


Worked on double jab, and turning over the 2. Also worked on Timing of the jabs so I can move in with it from out of my opponent's range.
 
Tuesday

Workout
35 minutes easy, constant pace (level 8) on bike. 9.5 miles
4x shadow box
6x speed bag
4x heavy bag
10-10-10 hanging leg raises
15-15 squatting side bends

Resting tomorrow, sparring again on Thursday. I worked on the double jab today, but kept losing concentration and not working on spinning out after combos. Next time I train alone I'm going to work on that exclusively.
 
Was wondering if you'd give some recommendations for bag work. I have access only to a heavy bag and work MT kicks every week with several rounds of punching (undisciplined). Do you have any suggestions for a stricter or more structured workout? Combos, etc.

I was also wondering how hard punches thrown at the bag should be. Should focus be on speed? Power?

Thanks in advance!
 
You don't want to hit the bag too hard, maybe 50-75% strength, varying by punch just as you would in a fight or sparring, and don't push your fist through the bag. All the punches should be snappy, and you should try to make the bag shudder when you hit it rather than make it swing around. So you are going for speed and technique. This is what I was taught and maybe some people do try to hit the bag hard for valid reasons but I was told not to.

The way I work it, it's like an extension of shadow boxing, I pretend the bag is an opponent and I hit it with random jabs, i fake, I slip after throwing punches, and constantly move laterally to avoid getting hit (by imaginary opponent).

Sometimes I am purely focusing on certain things, like a double jab, or a specific combo, and I will only work on that one thing, but still incorporate all the defensive movements I mentioned above. The key is not to get into the bad habit of just standing in one place so you want to perfect these defensive movements. When i was first starting, I taped up a list of combos my trainer emailed me, and I practiced each combo about 6-7 times before moving onto the next one. I first did that while shadow boxing, and then did the same thing on the heavy bag.

EDIT: Basically, you don't hit the bag, you spar against it. Hit it with the same strength you'd use while sparring a friend, and use the same movements, don't stand in the same place all the time, etc.
 
Thursday

Workout
2x jump rope
2x shadow box
2x heavy bag
8x 2 minute rounds of sparring
8-8 pull-ups
20 minutes HIIT stationary bike

Round 1: jabs to the body only
Round 2: Jabs to the head and body
Round 3 & 4: jabs to the head, jabs & straight rights to the body
Round 5-8: all punches only to the body

Sparred the same guy. He's maybe in his 40's, but in really good shape, and has been training for at least the past five years. I did better this time, and we went 8 rounds. I didn't even realize how many rounds we did until after we were all done, my trainer was impressed with my fitness level to be able to last that long. These were alll pretty action packed rounds except for maybe the last half of round 8, when I got kind of tired, but at the 30 second mark I still managed to force myself to throw a bunch of punches to the body (while other guy did the same, not sure how tired he was).

I got hit with a few jabs to the head, i need to keep my hands higher. I do always keep them up, but I was told it wasn't high enough, these hits basically landed on my forehead, where the headgear is so it didn't really hurt me but they did snap my head back.

Last week I got hit with easily over a dozen body shots, this time only two... but one of them was a solid straight right, right to my solar plexus, and everyone was like "ooooohhh...". Luckily that was towards the end of the round so I was able to dance around and throw jabs until the round ended, and I was back to normal by the start of the next one.

I threw more combos, and was more aggressive this time. I didn't want the guy to think he could have his way with me, so I had him on the defensive a lot, even though it was easy for him to cover up from almost all of my shots (since we were only going to body some of the rounds, he didn't have to worry about protecting his head. It's easy to cover up and protect your whole body). It was still a psychological advantage to have him backed up in a corner protecting himself. And, even with the high work rate during those flurries (around 6-10 punches at a time) I think I surprised him by still having enough energy to move around, defend myself and throw punches afterwards.

Most of the jabs he landed were when I was throwing a jab myself, the guy likes to counter punch. If I wait around to try to counter him, i actually got in a few hits to his head and body that way myself, but my trainer would yell out "be the first to hit".

Very satisfying, but I still need to work on rotating and laterally moving out of the way after punching.

One thing I did well was slip to my left, and throw hooks and uppercuts. I feel like the dude is throwing harder than I am, because when I see openings I'm more trying to tag him quickly to prove that I am able to hit him, and I only throw harder when he is covered up since it's hitting his arms anyways while I look for openings. I was worried that if I threw too hard he would throw hard, which might become an issue when we start doing all punches to the head. I'll commit more to the punches from now on.

So much fun. So happy to find out about doing 8 rounds. The amateurs fights are like 3 3 minute rounds I think. I pretty much owe it all to the sprints and the HIIT sessions on the bike. There is no way I would be able to last 8 rounds in my second session from just constant pace distance running.

We're gonna do a couple more sessions like this. These have been taking place in a corner of the gym, that's just roped off from the rest of the gym, right next to a bunch of cardio machines. So the people working out around us get a free show. I noticed a couple of people just standing there watching us, not even working out. After that we'll be meeting at a gym downtown with a real ring, and I think more serious training will begin.
 
Sunday

Workout
5x5x145lbs squat
5x5x110lbs DL
4x speed bag

Strapped for time and also have a bit of flu. My jaw a little sore from being hit during sparring last Thursday.
 
Monday

Workout
35 minute interval session on pre-core
5x5x45lbs dumbell shoulder raises
20-20 decline sit-ups
1x shadow box

lame workout, in hotel's lame ass gym. I've been eating like complete garbage really the past 4 weeks and need to get back on track, this weekend and trip to Boston has been the pinnacle of it all. I feel horrible right now. Going clean starting tomorrow. No more sodas, no more fast food, chips, or ice cream.

Most disappointing as that I haven't had time to practice on some things i need to work on before Thursday's sparring. So I'm gonna have to work out tomorrow (normally would want to rest the day before sparring).
 
Random question since I notice you do bag training. When you hit the heavy bag, is it supposed to swing around? Because of how popular MMA is now, there is ALWAYS a group of 18-21 year old kids working the bags at my gym and they appear to have no idea what they are doing, and the bag is swinging all over the place, that isn't right is it? They also wear full tap-out gear, tape their hands/ankles. I just want to know if I can make fun of them or not 🙂
 
Well the bag will swing through an accumulation of punches, but no single punch should make the bag swing. Especially the jab and straight right, those should snap. Typical newbie mistake is to try to make the bag move as much as possible with each punch. If you see them putting full power into each punch, they are doing it wrong. This is from a boxing perspective, perhaps MMA fighters train differently.

They should be wrapping their hands to hit the bag. I guess taping works too, but I've never seen someone tape their hands for training on a heavy bag. I guess MMA fighters might tape their ankles too, i dunno.
 
MMA fighters, or people who train for it, wrap their hands and use sleeves on their ankles like normal people. Taping yourself makes you look tough, along with color coordinated Tapout gear. I like Tapout, they're a great company, but their customers tend to be losers.

For boxing and muay thai we were taught to dent the bag, not send it swinging. Bring your hand or leg back from the bag twice as fast as you sent it there. There's no glory in punching or kicking through the bag unless you're in a movie. It helps if someone holds the bag too, but then you can't show off to your douchebag friends.

Gramboh, you should make fun of them, they deserve it, but be aware of the meathead effect.

 
Wednesday

Workout
3x jump rope (3 minute rounds)
7x shadow box
4x heavy bag
stretch
foam roller on my back


Worked on bringing my hands back to guard as fast as possible after each punch, and keeping my hands up higher (was getting jabbed in the forehead last session, didn't think the guy could hit me in the forehead but he did).

Back is ache-y, sucks that I had to workout the day before sparring. Hopefully i don't feel sore or stiff tomorrow. If so I'll takee Ibuprofen an hour before sparring.
 
Thanks for the info. Not worried about meathead factor, one kid looked about a buck twenty. I won't be an ass and say something, just wanted to confirm they are looking the part without knowing what they are doing.

Edit: some good might come of this, since the gym spent money to hang a couple heavy bags for newbs who aren't even training properly, maybe I can get them to buy a set of bumper plates, rings etc.
 
Thursday

Workout
8x 3-minute rounds of sparring
stretch

this time we did 3 minute rounds instead of 8. I was tired by the second half of 8th round. Did much better, my sparring partner commented that I did a much better keeping my hands up, so he wasn't able to jab me in the forehead. I didn't take any heavy hits, though I still ate a bunch of counter-jabs. Got a few drops of blood coming out of my nose. Also his right hand bounced off my glove and hit my lip, so the inside of my lip is a little cut.

I got in way more jabs this time, especially when I was aggressive, and threw them unpredictably, in batches of more than 3. Alternating between to the head and to the body worked well. Once that guy is on the defensive, if I can be aggressive and alternate with different angles it's easy to get him (but in the later rounds when we do all punches to the body only it's harder since it's easy to seal up the body if you don't have to protect the head. So the only time we can hit to the face are rounds of either jabs to the face + body, or jabs to the face + jabs and straight rights to the body).

I got in a lot of body shots this time, especially right hands to the body -- I would jab and then throw to the body, or feint a jab and then throw to the body. Only got away with that the first 3-4 times I did it. I did a little worse this week on the clinch exchanges. I could not for the life of me throw any punches with my left hand while inside. Trainer pointed that out to me, so I will work on that. I also felt a little like I was getting smothered, and that the angle we were at wasn't really giving me a chance to get a punch off with my left. I think my trainer mentioned something about the angles and moving towards my left during the clinch to get that off, I now realize what she was talking about.

I did do well with the left uppercut, and while I was getting water my sparring partner told the trainers that my left uppercut was pretty nice (strong). They told me and he was like "don't tell him that!", lol. I pulled of a nice combo of coming in from outside with fake jabs and then dipping to my left while stepping in close, and firing off double left uppercuts into his body.

I controlled the center of the ring pretty much the whole time, but the downside of that is that I wasn't moving much sometimes, so I was a sitting duck for him to hit. The plus is that I blocked pretty much most of those shots. The jabs I ate were almost all counter shots. He was doing this thing (which his trainer was telling him to do while we were fighting), where he would slip my double jabs, and then while coming up from the second slip, throw a jab, and that was catching me.

Need to somehow work on the endurance, and power of the whole chain of muscles involved in throwing left hooks and uppercuts. No idea what would be suitable for this though. If anyone knows I'd like to hear some suggestions on that.


 
The kinetic chain for left hooks and uppercuts really depends on having good hips so maybe doing some hip work with things such as power cleans and kettlebell work will help. Also, I would talk to a trainer about checking your form on them and seeing maybe if he could comment on things you could work on. I don't know about uppercuts in boxing, but in Muay Thai you almost connect your elbow to your hip for optimal use of the power of the kinetic chain. Power is strongest at the hips so take advantage of that. Other than that, I don't have much experience with pure boxing. I really think explosive lifts like power cleans will really help most of your punches though.
 
I'd start with rossboxing.com, rosstraining.com and his article on strength training for fighters. The guy has tons of awesome workouts to build speed, power and endurance, even if you're limited on equipment. I'd also again recommend that you look into Crossfit, as it's used by numerous fighters (there's a "Crosspit" section on the CF messageboards), as well as military, police, firefighters, etc. Although I imagine most of the power of a punch comes from the technique used to throw it, you can help that along by doing exercises that develop power. These are primarily the olympic lifts (clean, snatch, jerk, and all variations) and plyometrics. Crossfit contains both, as does the stuff recommended in rosstraining.
 
Friday

Workout
5x5 BW pull-ups
20 minutes very light stationary bike
3x shadow boxing, mostly jabs
6x speed bag
3x heavy bag - jabs
3x heavy bag - left hooks
10-10 needs to elbows
16-12 mountain climber push-ups
stretch

Things to work on:
Keep hands up high
always bring hands right back to guard
move/spin out after punching
left hooks, for clinches
faster, snappier jab
don't telegraph
conditioning

working out SSu, resting MTu, light workout W, and then sparring Th.

EDIT: Forgot to list the pull-ups the first time around.
 
Saturday

Workout
2x jump rope
2x speed bag
5x shadow box, mainly jabs
5x heavy bag, mostly jabs, last 2 rounds were mostly left hooks
Then, this circuit workout I got from rosstraining.com (with a 25lb. dumbbell):
* 5 Dumbbell Snatches Per Arm
* 5 Dumbbell Swings Per Arm
* 10 Burpees
* Rest 60 seconds and repeat


That circuit as crazy, barely finished it and I couldn't ride my bike bck home. Had to put it in the easiest gear, and stop and eat some halal street cart food on the way home so I could give my legs a chance to recover and be able to pedal.
 
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