The Theory of the Sweet Science
The Theory of the Sweet Science
Train to the very best of your ability on every training session. That could mean any of the following and more, on any particular day;
Fluids are very important, simply being a little dehydrated can reduce your performance by 20%. Eating and drinking properly before, during and after a training session means that about 1 hour before you train you eat something with carbohydrates in it e.g. Cereal, bananas, mixed fruit and about 20-30 minutes before you train, you drink about 300-400ml of water. Forget about sports drinks as they make it much harder to control your diet and you don't need the complications. Then you consume about 300ml of fluids per hour of training then have the same amount after training.
Within 30-45 minutes of finishing training, eat something with carbohydrate in it, 1 banana will suffice. Then within 90 minutes of finishing training eat or drink something with protein in it, a small milk shake, tuna or red meat.
In short eat carbohydrates before training and protein after training.
The key thing to remember is that whether you have protein or carbs, you'll need less of them than you might think. It's so easy to stuff this up by consuming too many calories. It's just a matter of initially learning how much the food you eat contains in sugar, fat, protein etc then you'll be able to make a much more informed decision.
To learn what foods contain what see The Kelpisoft Food File, it's the best free resource I know of.
When it comes to sparring or pad work you need optimum fitness levels in order to stay in the ring and get the most out of each training session. If you're not fit enough you will have to retire from your training sessions much earlier than if you had otherwise been fit. Inevitably, poor fitness means less pad work and less sparring session’s which means you miss out on honing your skills. Simply put, poor fitness can rob you of important skills training and experience.
Boxing is all about foot work and to be good at it, you need to be fit. See point 3.
When you are working the heavy bag it’s all too easy to slip into the bad habit of dropping your hands and making use of bad form, but whatever activity you perform in the boxing gym whether its bag work, pad work or sparring always practice good form. Simply put, just don’t allow yourself to do it any other way but the right way. Remember that what is done in the darkness will be seen in the light of day, you will end up fighting just like you train, so take it seriously. This relates back to point 1.
It’s worse than spending money you don’t have. Don’t do it or you'll regret it. Over training can be a very serious problem and it’s very wide spread. It affects mood, energy levels, motivation for other activities outside your training, bodily functions and a host of other things. Knowing how far you can go without crossing the line is a matter of trial and error, but when you finally see the line, make sure you don’t cross it. It might sound trite, but remember if you're becoming addicted to training, that those who can't let go, can't hold on. Learn to develop other interests outside of training. See Overtraining & Fatigue (Part 1) for further reading.
Don’t expect to perform at your best every time you train or compete. Some days you'll be feeling quite good and on others you won't, it's a part of the game. You will increase your chances of feeling your best more times than not by adhering to proper nutrition and getting adequate amounts of sleep and rest.
Speaking of sleep make sure you get a proper dose of it, all the research, but more importantly, the common sense is out there pointing toward the absolute need for this often overlooked part of your training and program. If for some reason, over short periods, you can’t get enough sleep then the next best thing is a “power nap” that’s 15-30 minutes of sleep – don’t underestimate the good this 15-30 minutes can do you! The next best thing after that is simply rest; you can read a book or something if you feel like it
Now I’ll keep this simple because it ought not to be complicated, but when it comes to sleeping, particularly throughout the day, it’s very important to block out all light that enters the room or the place you are sleeping in, too much light has a lot to do with interrupting the pineal gland AKA the ‘third eye’. If you’ve got to - buy some ear plugs as well because between irritating birds, lawnmowers, trucks using Jake brakes, hoons with V8's, mongrel dogs barking and any other noises that go on throughout a normal day, you’ll find it really hard to doze off. I used to buy ear plugs by the bag load from a hardware store, they're really cheap in bulk and you'll thank me. Room temperature is another important factor. If you’re too hot or too cold you won’t get to sleep either or if you do then the quality of your sleep will be lessened. Get a ceiling fan on or a pedestal fan or crank the air-con up - 21C is a good temp to set it to. Also if you can plan it - don’t drink too much water or other fluids before sleeping/resting otherwise you’ll be interrupted by having to relieve yourself.
The main thing is take your sleep as seriously as a heart attack, because a lack of it is one of the greatest causes of training disasters not to mention some pretty major world events like the Chernobyl disaster and Space Shuttle Challenger explosion both in 1986 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and a host of others.
Becoming good at anything requires an amount of dedication and perseverance. Work through even when you don’t feel you are making progress. Think marathon not sprint, all good things take time, just chip away at it.
Slow road work is very good for fitness and is what you should work up to when beginning any fitness campaign. Taking it a step further when you advance at a later date is being able to run as fast as you can, over a distance of 2 miles. It will improve your fitness levels out of sight. They say in boxing that the fight should start a long time before you enter the ring. Hard running will be a part of that fight and will help to condition your mind and body to pain. For a really informative read about 2 mile runs and boxing in general, take a look at the Iceman's (John Scully) article that he wrote for Saddoboxing.
I wrote the 30 second guide to high intensity interval training in 2010 and it's not only an excellent way to lose excess body fat, but an excellent training protocol for boxers as it engages the body's same energy systems as boxing.
