Rest day. I’m tired and feel slightly like I’m falling to bits; my left knee, right foot, right ankle, lower back, both hands and neck are all somehow painful.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts, sugar
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, apple
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, apple
Dinner: 3 fish-fingers on bread, 5 nuggets with tomato sauce
Snack: Large fat-free smoothie with lots of berries
Dinner of champions. I fancied a treat and it was awesome.
Exercise
None
I needed a day off. Had some thoughts on this…
Because of the short time-frame and the naturally competitive and comparative nature of boxing, its normal to wonder if you’re improving as quickly as your fellow competitors, and to therefore push yourself particularly hard in training. This is a great thing when it motivates you to do that extra set, or to put in an hour at the gym when you really don’t feel like it; but it can also make you go too hard, too fast. I’m pretty certain this is the cause of the majority of the little injuries we’re all suffering.
Even ignoring true injuries, I’ve certainly had sessions where I’ve only been able to give 70% or so because I was still feeling the effects of a previous workout. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure 2 sessions at 90% is a great deal better than a 110%/70%.
or maybe I’m just a wuss.
p.s. Did some clothes shopping in the evening. I’ve lost 5 inches off my waist since I started. Not bad huh?
44 days to go…
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
February 24th
Average day. More sparring at Vanda and a bit of bad news.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and a bit of sugar
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, apple
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: couple of chicken nuggets with low-fat mayo. Just wasn’t hungry
Good day really. Remember that the nuggets are only 6% or so because they’re healthier oven versions!
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping. Not sure how long we did this for, seemed like about 6 minutes. Foot hurt a little.
Parry/Jab Work: In twos, one attacks and the other defends with parries and blocks. I tried to do what Alexis was telling me and kept my arms lower and more relaxed. Worked well when I was attacking but made parrying slightly harder.
Heavy bag: Various exercises in sets of 1 minute. Jabs, rights, quick punchouts.
Sparring: As before, 2 rounds of 2 minutes with a longish break in between. I fought Chris and Steve.
Did below average at the sparring, I’d give myself about a 4/10. I did manage to step in and land some good combinations, but I also got hit often, and I’m still not defending very well against flurries.
I wasn’t helped by the fact that my head-guard didn’t fit properly, so whenever I got hit on the side of the head, even on my guard, it shifted by a few inches. This meant I had to back away as quickly as possible, half stop and readjust it; didn’t fancy taking another hit with my ear screwed into a ball and the chin guard up by my nose. I’ll buy my own headguard next time I’m at the gym, could save me some pain.
As before, its hard to judge from inside the ring, so I’ll list some of the comments I got from the guys watching (paraphrased)
1. I was all attack and no defence – Fair comment I think, I was trying to stay aggressive and come forward as often as possible to try to land combinations. In doing so I sometimes forgot the parry/counterpunch side of things. I’ll remember this for next time.
2. When I moved in it was slow and obvious – Again, I take the point. I was getting frequently getting counterpunched on the way in, even if I often managed to avoid taking the full force of the hit. The guy who told me this recommended mixing things up more; coming in throwing 2 punches one time, trying 4 punches another time, or just moving in, throwing a quick jab and moving out. Variation is important.
3. Guard was weak against central punches – This was from Steve, who said that I wasn’t doing a good job of blocking punches aimed between my gloves, eg. right at my nose. I know this is true since he got me like that a fair few times. I need to either parry or move out of the way.
4. Too many single punches – This was from our trainer Andy. He’s spot on, but I’m working on it. I think that often I’m jabbing too frequently, instead of just holding back, waiting for an opportunity and landing 2-4 quick hits. Its hard to line up a combination like that if you’re throwing jab after jab after jab, which I have a tendency to do.
5. Pulling my hand back after my jab was too slow – Very good point, and I really need to work on this. In point 2 above, I was moving in behind my jab and getting counterpunched with right hands. If I can get my left hand back quicker I can block that punch and hopefully be move effective and take less damage.
If that all sounds negative, I got some positive comments as well, but only constructive feedback like the above is going to make me a better fighter, so I welcome any criticism I can get. There’s no point trying to figure out everything on your own when you’ve got 18 pairs of eyes watching and analysing every second of your fight.
Only other things to note are that I was less nervous going into the ring today; I was really apprehensive on Monday, but I think that’s only natural and by April 10th it’ll just be exciting to step through the ropes.
Nick from Vanda spoke to me after the session and explained that I have to take up full membership of the gym in order to have personal training sessions. That’s a blow from my point of view, but I see where they’re coming from and at the end of the day it’s their gym and they make the rules. I’ll just have to work harder at home.
Injuries are pretty minimal; my foot hurts slightly, and my nose might hurt a little tomorrow, but that’s about it. I’ll miss the next 2 gym sessions because I’m on holiday, and I think the rest might do me more good than training, been exhausted recently.
45 days to go…
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and a bit of sugar
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, apple
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: couple of chicken nuggets with low-fat mayo. Just wasn’t hungry
Good day really. Remember that the nuggets are only 6% or so because they’re healthier oven versions!
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping. Not sure how long we did this for, seemed like about 6 minutes. Foot hurt a little.
Parry/Jab Work: In twos, one attacks and the other defends with parries and blocks. I tried to do what Alexis was telling me and kept my arms lower and more relaxed. Worked well when I was attacking but made parrying slightly harder.
Heavy bag: Various exercises in sets of 1 minute. Jabs, rights, quick punchouts.
Sparring: As before, 2 rounds of 2 minutes with a longish break in between. I fought Chris and Steve.
Did below average at the sparring, I’d give myself about a 4/10. I did manage to step in and land some good combinations, but I also got hit often, and I’m still not defending very well against flurries.
I wasn’t helped by the fact that my head-guard didn’t fit properly, so whenever I got hit on the side of the head, even on my guard, it shifted by a few inches. This meant I had to back away as quickly as possible, half stop and readjust it; didn’t fancy taking another hit with my ear screwed into a ball and the chin guard up by my nose. I’ll buy my own headguard next time I’m at the gym, could save me some pain.
As before, its hard to judge from inside the ring, so I’ll list some of the comments I got from the guys watching (paraphrased)
1. I was all attack and no defence – Fair comment I think, I was trying to stay aggressive and come forward as often as possible to try to land combinations. In doing so I sometimes forgot the parry/counterpunch side of things. I’ll remember this for next time.
2. When I moved in it was slow and obvious – Again, I take the point. I was getting frequently getting counterpunched on the way in, even if I often managed to avoid taking the full force of the hit. The guy who told me this recommended mixing things up more; coming in throwing 2 punches one time, trying 4 punches another time, or just moving in, throwing a quick jab and moving out. Variation is important.
3. Guard was weak against central punches – This was from Steve, who said that I wasn’t doing a good job of blocking punches aimed between my gloves, eg. right at my nose. I know this is true since he got me like that a fair few times. I need to either parry or move out of the way.
4. Too many single punches – This was from our trainer Andy. He’s spot on, but I’m working on it. I think that often I’m jabbing too frequently, instead of just holding back, waiting for an opportunity and landing 2-4 quick hits. Its hard to line up a combination like that if you’re throwing jab after jab after jab, which I have a tendency to do.
5. Pulling my hand back after my jab was too slow – Very good point, and I really need to work on this. In point 2 above, I was moving in behind my jab and getting counterpunched with right hands. If I can get my left hand back quicker I can block that punch and hopefully be move effective and take less damage.
If that all sounds negative, I got some positive comments as well, but only constructive feedback like the above is going to make me a better fighter, so I welcome any criticism I can get. There’s no point trying to figure out everything on your own when you’ve got 18 pairs of eyes watching and analysing every second of your fight.
Only other things to note are that I was less nervous going into the ring today; I was really apprehensive on Monday, but I think that’s only natural and by April 10th it’ll just be exciting to step through the ropes.
Nick from Vanda spoke to me after the session and explained that I have to take up full membership of the gym in order to have personal training sessions. That’s a blow from my point of view, but I see where they’re coming from and at the end of the day it’s their gym and they make the rules. I’ll just have to work harder at home.
Injuries are pretty minimal; my foot hurts slightly, and my nose might hurt a little tomorrow, but that’s about it. I’ll miss the next 2 gym sessions because I’m on holiday, and I think the rest might do me more good than training, been exhausted recently.
45 days to go…
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
February 23rd
Good day today. Had a personal training session booked with Alexis. I wanted the opportunity to get individual feedback on my technique and faults that’s just not possible in a group of nearly 20. First impressions are that it’ll really help.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and sugar
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg
Post-workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Grilled ½ chicken with veg and potatoes
Good food. Went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant and managed to find reasonably healthy chicken on the menu. Glazed with Tequila apparently, and delicious as hell.
Exercise
Shadowing: I must have done 6-7 rounds of 2 minutes with Alexis giving me directions on my posture, footwork and punching technique. Among other things we worked on:
Focus pads: Several rounds of focus pad work, including the elements from the shadowing work; 4-punch combinations, power jabs and pivots. Also briefly worked on how to counter punch.
Speed bag: A few rounds working on speed and reactions.
Wall bag: Basically a big block of foam mounted on the wall. Alexis had me throwing punches and moving around it while he criticised my technique.
Very hard session, pretty much no let up for the full hour. I think I’ll get a lot of benefit and be more effective in the ring as a result. I’m planning to have 6-7 training sessions, once a week from now until the big night.
In between times I’m going to try to practice what I’ve learnt so I can progress as quickly as possible. Step 1 of this is getting my punching bag mounted so I can practice my strikes properly.
46 days to go…
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and sugar
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg
Post-workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Grilled ½ chicken with veg and potatoes
Good food. Went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant and managed to find reasonably healthy chicken on the menu. Glazed with Tequila apparently, and delicious as hell.
Exercise
Shadowing: I must have done 6-7 rounds of 2 minutes with Alexis giving me directions on my posture, footwork and punching technique. Among other things we worked on:
- Relaxing. My guard was high and slightly away from my face and body, which made me very tense. This is bad for movement and endurance as well as punching technique. Alexis wants me to guard a little lower, with my arms relaxed, and only to move my hands up to cover my face when blocking punches.
- Footwork. I have a tendency to turn my right foot sideways, which hinders my movement and hip rotation when I throw a right hand.
- Jab and move. Standard movement when throwing a jab is to move right slightly, away from your opponents powerful right hand. I was too static.
- Power Jab: Alexis highlighted the difference between a normal jab (snap out the left hand as quickly as possible) and the power jab (similar, but with a weight transfer in the direction of the punch for more power) and when to use each one.
- Movement after punching: Worked on pivoting to the right after throwing a right hand, and practicing throwing a 4-punch combination then moving backwards and to the side. I sounds so basic, but I wasn’t doing it naturally and in a fight that just means getting hit.
Focus pads: Several rounds of focus pad work, including the elements from the shadowing work; 4-punch combinations, power jabs and pivots. Also briefly worked on how to counter punch.
Speed bag: A few rounds working on speed and reactions.
Wall bag: Basically a big block of foam mounted on the wall. Alexis had me throwing punches and moving around it while he criticised my technique.
Very hard session, pretty much no let up for the full hour. I think I’ll get a lot of benefit and be more effective in the ring as a result. I’m planning to have 6-7 training sessions, once a week from now until the big night.
In between times I’m going to try to practice what I’ve learnt so I can progress as quickly as possible. Step 1 of this is getting my punching bag mounted so I can practice my strikes properly.
Only slight area of concern is my right hand which hurts a little. I'll take extra care wrapping it at my next session.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
February 22nd
Good day in some ways, frustrating in others…
Diet
Normal. Back at work so back to eating properly. Had chilli for lunch and grilled chicken in the evening.
Exercise
Warmup: Stretches, speedbag
Sparring: Similar as before, 2 rounds of 2 minutes with a longish break between. We were told to go at 50% and concentrate on footwork, movement and technique. I think everyone tried to slow it down a bit, but the punches seemed just as fast and hard as before!
Set 1: 10 pressups, 10 crunches, 10 Russian twists, 10 squat thrusts, 10 burpees, 10 ring jumps. Repeat.
Sparring went well. I concentrated really hard on keeping calm, not overreaching with my jab, and maintaining my guard. I think I improved on all 3 over my first outing, and asking around afterwards the guys said I looked a lot better and more in control. Really pleased with the compliments, but then again, they're far too polite to say "You were shit." :)
The guys I fought, Simon and Sparky, were quick and powerful, and landed some good shots on me. I got in some solid hits of my own though; a neat double jab on Sparky’s nose, and a good right to the body on Simon. I fought Simon last time as well, when he caught me with some wicked combinations. This time though I defended a lot better, got my guard up quickly, and blocked his flurry while moving out of reach.
On the negative side, I still didn’t land many combinations. I need to get into the habit of following a good connecting jab with a hard right and stepping close to throw a flurry. As it is I’m hitting with a jab and often already moving away. That sort of thing has a place in a fight, but I should be able to mix it up.
We didn’t get much feedback from the trainers on the session, mainly because Andy was taking the class on his own, and had more than enough to do refereeing the sparring and organising the non-fighters. Not his fault and he did a great job, it just would have been nice to get some pointers on where I went wrong during my rounds.
When I got back from the gym I tried to put my punching bag up, but either the wall is too hard or the masonry bit I bought is the wrong type, and it didn’t work very well. I’m going to buy a new drill-bit and try again. Failing that I’ll stump up 70 bucks for the installation service, it cheaper than a new powertool.
47 days to go… (this number seems to have suddenly started falling extremely quickly!)
Diet
Normal. Back at work so back to eating properly. Had chilli for lunch and grilled chicken in the evening.
Exercise
Warmup: Stretches, speedbag
Sparring: Similar as before, 2 rounds of 2 minutes with a longish break between. We were told to go at 50% and concentrate on footwork, movement and technique. I think everyone tried to slow it down a bit, but the punches seemed just as fast and hard as before!
Set 1: 10 pressups, 10 crunches, 10 Russian twists, 10 squat thrusts, 10 burpees, 10 ring jumps. Repeat.
Sparring went well. I concentrated really hard on keeping calm, not overreaching with my jab, and maintaining my guard. I think I improved on all 3 over my first outing, and asking around afterwards the guys said I looked a lot better and more in control. Really pleased with the compliments, but then again, they're far too polite to say "You were shit." :)
The guys I fought, Simon and Sparky, were quick and powerful, and landed some good shots on me. I got in some solid hits of my own though; a neat double jab on Sparky’s nose, and a good right to the body on Simon. I fought Simon last time as well, when he caught me with some wicked combinations. This time though I defended a lot better, got my guard up quickly, and blocked his flurry while moving out of reach.
On the negative side, I still didn’t land many combinations. I need to get into the habit of following a good connecting jab with a hard right and stepping close to throw a flurry. As it is I’m hitting with a jab and often already moving away. That sort of thing has a place in a fight, but I should be able to mix it up.
We didn’t get much feedback from the trainers on the session, mainly because Andy was taking the class on his own, and had more than enough to do refereeing the sparring and organising the non-fighters. Not his fault and he did a great job, it just would have been nice to get some pointers on where I went wrong during my rounds.
When I got back from the gym I tried to put my punching bag up, but either the wall is too hard or the masonry bit I bought is the wrong type, and it didn’t work very well. I’m going to buy a new drill-bit and try again. Failing that I’ll stump up 70 bucks for the installation service, it cheaper than a new powertool.
47 days to go… (this number seems to have suddenly started falling extremely quickly!)
Monday, February 22, 2010
February 21st
My foot was killing me this morning, so I decided to rest it up and not do anything like skipping or running. Hopefully it’ll be okay for Monday, since I’m pretty sure we’ll be back in the ring doing some sparring.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and honey
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, baked beans on a tortilla
Lunch: Chicken nuggets
Dinner: 1 satay stick, Tom Yum noodles with seafood
Not a good diet day, but weekends never seem to be.
Exercise
Warmup: 1 km rowing, stretches
Set 1: Medicine ball 200 workout
Set 2: Planks, 1 minute front, 1 minute side, rest 1 minute. Repeat 4 times.
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand. 2 minutes, 1 minute rest. Repeat 4 times.
Set 4: 100 crunches
Set 5: 100 squats
Stretches
I decided against the burpees because of my foot, and I tried doing the usual 100 pressups, but got nowhere. I think because I did the weights sets on Saturday evening, by Sunday morning I’m still recovering.
Not a great day overall. I wasn’t really ‘with it’ for the exercising, so the whole thing was less intense that I’d have liked. Looking back through my blog I’ve been skimping on my cardio recently, need to get back on that. If I can’t run then cycling or rowing.
I picked up some gloves today as well, Everlast Protex2. They’re 10oz, so a little lighter than what I’ll be using for the fight, but should be perfect for bag work. They’ve got great padding and fit really well.
48 days to go…
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and honey
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, baked beans on a tortilla
Lunch: Chicken nuggets
Dinner: 1 satay stick, Tom Yum noodles with seafood
Not a good diet day, but weekends never seem to be.
Exercise
Warmup: 1 km rowing, stretches
Set 1: Medicine ball 200 workout
Set 2: Planks, 1 minute front, 1 minute side, rest 1 minute. Repeat 4 times.
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand. 2 minutes, 1 minute rest. Repeat 4 times.
Set 4: 100 crunches
Set 5: 100 squats
Stretches
I decided against the burpees because of my foot, and I tried doing the usual 100 pressups, but got nowhere. I think because I did the weights sets on Saturday evening, by Sunday morning I’m still recovering.
Not a great day overall. I wasn’t really ‘with it’ for the exercising, so the whole thing was less intense that I’d have liked. Looking back through my blog I’ve been skimping on my cardio recently, need to get back on that. If I can’t run then cycling or rowing.
I picked up some gloves today as well, Everlast Protex2. They’re 10oz, so a little lighter than what I’ll be using for the fight, but should be perfect for bag work. They’ve got great padding and fit really well.
48 days to go…
Sunday, February 21, 2010
February 20th
Strange day today; Vanda had organised a filming day, so we spent a lot of the morning session staging shots, taking photos and doing interviews rather than actually training.
Fun though!
I worked out later on at home to make up for it.
Diet
Breakfast: Half an oat bar
Post-workout: Strawberry milk
Lunch: Chicken biriyani
Dinner: 2 fish flllets with tomato sauce on wholemeal bread
Bit of a crappy diet day, but not too bad. The biriyani is reasonably heathly, dry rice with chicken, no sauce or anything really bad.
Exercise at the gym
Bit of jogging, skipping, bit of heavy bag work, nothing too strenuous
Exercise at the condo
Warmup: 5 minutes on the crosstrainer, stretches
Weights Set 1:
Weights Set 2: Same as above
I don't know what I did to my foot, it just started really hurting. Worrying and something to keep a close eye on.
I also picked up my own heavy bag yesterday. Lugging it through Marina Bay shopping mall was entertaining for onlookers, but I eventually got it home. I'll mount it on its bracket tomorrow and hopefully post some pictures. Its a 31 kg bag, just shy of 70 lbs, which is slightly on the light side perhaps, but close enough to the reccommended "half your body-weight" measure. Its also got a hook on the bottom which I'll use as a tie to stop it swinging too much when struck.
49 days to go...
Fun though!
I worked out later on at home to make up for it.
Diet
Breakfast: Half an oat bar
Post-workout: Strawberry milk
Lunch: Chicken biriyani
Dinner: 2 fish flllets with tomato sauce on wholemeal bread
Bit of a crappy diet day, but not too bad. The biriyani is reasonably heathly, dry rice with chicken, no sauce or anything really bad.
Exercise at the gym
Bit of jogging, skipping, bit of heavy bag work, nothing too strenuous
Exercise at the condo
Warmup: 5 minutes on the crosstrainer, stretches
Weights Set 1:
- Free-weight chest press, 15 kg each hand, 3 x8
- Lat pulldown, 46.7 kg, 3 x8
- Shoulder press, 52.2 kg, 3 x8
- Machine chest press, 56.7 kg
- Lateral raises, 2.5 kg, 3 x8
- Bicep curls, 7.5 kg, 3 x8
Weights Set 2: Same as above
I don't know what I did to my foot, it just started really hurting. Worrying and something to keep a close eye on.
I also picked up my own heavy bag yesterday. Lugging it through Marina Bay shopping mall was entertaining for onlookers, but I eventually got it home. I'll mount it on its bracket tomorrow and hopefully post some pictures. Its a 31 kg bag, just shy of 70 lbs, which is slightly on the light side perhaps, but close enough to the reccommended "half your body-weight" measure. Its also got a hook on the bottom which I'll use as a tie to stop it swinging too much when struck.
49 days to go...
Saturday, February 20, 2010
February 19th
Rest day, so little to report.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Dinner: Lots and lots of meat. We went out to a Brazilian restaurant with an all-you-can-eat meat buffet.
Exercise
None
50 days to go...
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid-morning: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, apple, boiled egg
Dinner: Lots and lots of meat. We went out to a Brazilian restaurant with an all-you-can-eat meat buffet.
Exercise
None
50 days to go...
Friday, February 19, 2010
February 18th
Splitting headache this morning, I suppose that’s normal. I took some painkillers and it cleared up by lunchtime. My neck feels like I’ve got mild whiplash (I obviously haven't though), and various parts of my face and head feel painful to the touch.
Overall though, I don’t feel too bad, and apart from the cuts and bruises on my arms, don’t look too bad either.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Snack: Peanuts
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: 2 cartons of strawberry milk, 6 chicken nuggets with ketchup
Average diet really. Bad dinner again because I didn’t finish my workout until 10, and wanted to get to bed.
Exercise
Skipping: 4 x2 minutes, 1 minute break between reps
Set 1: Medicine ball core workout
Rest 1 minute
Set 2: 4 x2 minutes plank, (front 60 seconds, side 60 seconds) 1 minute between reps
Rest 1 minute
Set 3: 4 x2 minutes punching with 1 kg in each hand.
Rest 1 minute
Skipping: 4 x2 minutes, 1 minute break between reps
Rest 1 minute
Set 4: 100 pressups (raggedly, do as many as possible, rest ~15 seconds, repeat)
Set 5: 100 crunches (2 sets of 50, ~20 seconds break between sets)
Set 6: 100 burpees (5 sets of 20, ~30 seconds break between sets)
Stretches
Worked hard. Stuck rigidly to the short breaks between sets to make sure the workout was intense all the way through. The planks are getting easier, albeit slowly, so are the burpees. I’m pretty respectable at skipping now as well; I was usually doing the whole 2 minutes in 2-3 tries.
Damage
Grazes and bruises on my arms
Right foot hurts slightly
Back pain slightly reduced
Jaw fine
Cheek fine
51 days to go...
Overall though, I don’t feel too bad, and apart from the cuts and bruises on my arms, don’t look too bad either.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Snack: Peanuts
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: 2 cartons of strawberry milk, 6 chicken nuggets with ketchup
Average diet really. Bad dinner again because I didn’t finish my workout until 10, and wanted to get to bed.
Exercise
Skipping: 4 x2 minutes, 1 minute break between reps
Set 1: Medicine ball core workout
Rest 1 minute
Set 2: 4 x2 minutes plank, (front 60 seconds, side 60 seconds) 1 minute between reps
Rest 1 minute
Set 3: 4 x2 minutes punching with 1 kg in each hand.
Rest 1 minute
Skipping: 4 x2 minutes, 1 minute break between reps
Rest 1 minute
Set 4: 100 pressups (raggedly, do as many as possible, rest ~15 seconds, repeat)
Set 5: 100 crunches (2 sets of 50, ~20 seconds break between sets)
Set 6: 100 burpees (5 sets of 20, ~30 seconds break between sets)
Stretches
Worked hard. Stuck rigidly to the short breaks between sets to make sure the workout was intense all the way through. The planks are getting easier, albeit slowly, so are the burpees. I’m pretty respectable at skipping now as well; I was usually doing the whole 2 minutes in 2-3 tries.
Damage
Grazes and bruises on my arms
Right foot hurts slightly
Back pain slightly reduced
Jaw fine
Cheek fine
51 days to go...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
February 17th
Big day today, we started sparring. Its so different from the rest of our training; Imagine practising golf by swinging a club but never hitting a ball, and the difference between that and 18 holes of matchplay. Also imagine that whenever you mess up a shot you get punched in the face.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Snack: 4 chicken nuggets
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Snack: 4 chicken nuggets
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: Ikea currypuff, strawberry milk
Won’t be having the nuggets again, they’re horrible cold. Dinner was crap because I went straight to Ikea after the gym and didn’t have time for anything better. Also chewing was difficult after getting punched.
Exercise
Warmup: Bit of skipping, stretching, bit of jab and parry practice.
Sparring: We were split us into two groups, small guys (including me) went first. Eight guys in the ring at once, two fighting, the others waited in the corners with gloves, headguards and mouthpieces in and ready to go. The first guys fight for 60 seconds, then Alexis swaps one of them out for one of the guys in the corners. Another 60 seconds, and swap again. So each person fights for 2 minutes before being swapped out. That matches what we’ll be doing on the night, except that during sparring we got a longer break between rounds.
Circuit: 15 pressups, 15 burpees, 15 squats, 15 crunches. Repeat.
The sparring session was incredibly intense. Everything happens very quickly, and for most of us, things like footwork and proper punching technique went straight out of the window after the first few hits. By contrast the guys with some sparring experience kept their form during the rounds, looked far more in control, landed a lot more punches and got hit much less.
What I learnt: Relax and don’t rush; throw punches and move like we’ve been shown; If you take a few hits, get your guard up and move away.
I came out of the ring pretty demoralised; I felt like I didn’t land a punch, and my opponents hit me every time. Speaking to the guys afterwards, a lot of them felt the same way about their fights, and the guys I fought told me I caught them with some good shots. I spoke to the guys watching, and they reckoned I was about even in the rounds, moved well, and landed about as many punches as I took.
What I learnt: From inside the ring its almost impossible to tell how well/badly you’re doing, or what your tactics should be. Someone honest on the outside to break things down for you is essential.
For my weight/group, I’m quite tall. This means that I have more reach than some of the other guys, but I’m less muscular and powerful. Because of this, Alexis’ advice was to use my jab as much as possible; hit and move away. In my rounds I often found myself leaning forward with my jab, going off balance, and getting counter-punched hard. A few times I ended up on the receiving end of a 4 punch combination for the error of missing one punch. Sometimes though, things went right and I’d land 4-5 unopposed jabs in a row and the guy wouldn’t get close.
What I learnt: Don’t over-reach with punches; stay balanced all the time. Being off balance means you’ve got less power, your guard is open, and your movement will be compromised.
Even with over 5 minutes break between rounds, by the third set of 2 minutes almost everyone was showing signs of serious fatigue, and I was no exception. My guard was shabby, I was moving more slowly, everything was just poor. Seems to me that on the night, with 60 seconds between rounds, conditioning is going to play a HUGE part in the outcome of the match.
What I learnt: Fighting technique will improve through sparring, which I guess we’ll be doing 3 times a week from now on. However, conditioning work at Vanda has all but stopped, and is going to come down how much effort each fighter puts in between sparring sessions. I need to build up stamina in my arms, and my cardio in general, so in the final round I’m still moving well and throwing hard, accurate punches.
Damage (new section!)
Grazes and bruises on both forearms from taking punches on my guard
Painful jaw (took a cracking punch from Lee in my first round; everything went slightly green/grey)
Slight graze on my right cheek.
Right foot slightly painful, but feeling better
Back still aching
52 days to go…
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Snack: 4 chicken nuggets
Lunch: Butterbean stew, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, ricecake, boiled egg, apple
Snack: 4 chicken nuggets
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: Ikea currypuff, strawberry milk
Won’t be having the nuggets again, they’re horrible cold. Dinner was crap because I went straight to Ikea after the gym and didn’t have time for anything better. Also chewing was difficult after getting punched.
Exercise
Warmup: Bit of skipping, stretching, bit of jab and parry practice.
Sparring: We were split us into two groups, small guys (including me) went first. Eight guys in the ring at once, two fighting, the others waited in the corners with gloves, headguards and mouthpieces in and ready to go. The first guys fight for 60 seconds, then Alexis swaps one of them out for one of the guys in the corners. Another 60 seconds, and swap again. So each person fights for 2 minutes before being swapped out. That matches what we’ll be doing on the night, except that during sparring we got a longer break between rounds.
Circuit: 15 pressups, 15 burpees, 15 squats, 15 crunches. Repeat.
The sparring session was incredibly intense. Everything happens very quickly, and for most of us, things like footwork and proper punching technique went straight out of the window after the first few hits. By contrast the guys with some sparring experience kept their form during the rounds, looked far more in control, landed a lot more punches and got hit much less.
What I learnt: Relax and don’t rush; throw punches and move like we’ve been shown; If you take a few hits, get your guard up and move away.
I came out of the ring pretty demoralised; I felt like I didn’t land a punch, and my opponents hit me every time. Speaking to the guys afterwards, a lot of them felt the same way about their fights, and the guys I fought told me I caught them with some good shots. I spoke to the guys watching, and they reckoned I was about even in the rounds, moved well, and landed about as many punches as I took.
What I learnt: From inside the ring its almost impossible to tell how well/badly you’re doing, or what your tactics should be. Someone honest on the outside to break things down for you is essential.
For my weight/group, I’m quite tall. This means that I have more reach than some of the other guys, but I’m less muscular and powerful. Because of this, Alexis’ advice was to use my jab as much as possible; hit and move away. In my rounds I often found myself leaning forward with my jab, going off balance, and getting counter-punched hard. A few times I ended up on the receiving end of a 4 punch combination for the error of missing one punch. Sometimes though, things went right and I’d land 4-5 unopposed jabs in a row and the guy wouldn’t get close.
What I learnt: Don’t over-reach with punches; stay balanced all the time. Being off balance means you’ve got less power, your guard is open, and your movement will be compromised.
Even with over 5 minutes break between rounds, by the third set of 2 minutes almost everyone was showing signs of serious fatigue, and I was no exception. My guard was shabby, I was moving more slowly, everything was just poor. Seems to me that on the night, with 60 seconds between rounds, conditioning is going to play a HUGE part in the outcome of the match.
What I learnt: Fighting technique will improve through sparring, which I guess we’ll be doing 3 times a week from now on. However, conditioning work at Vanda has all but stopped, and is going to come down how much effort each fighter puts in between sparring sessions. I need to build up stamina in my arms, and my cardio in general, so in the final round I’m still moving well and throwing hard, accurate punches.
Damage (new section!)
Grazes and bruises on both forearms from taking punches on my guard
Painful jaw (took a cracking punch from Lee in my first round; everything went slightly green/grey)
Slight graze on my right cheek.
Right foot slightly painful, but feeling better
Back still aching
52 days to go…
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
February 16th
Last day of the Chinese new year holiday, and I went shopping for a punching bag. I bought the wall bracket, concrete anchors and ordered the bag online. Really looking forward to getting it.
Diet
Breakfast: Chicken, flatbread, cous-cous with chickpeas, sultanas, dried apricots.
Lunch: Espresso
Dinner: Mutton biryani, cabbage and raita
Post-workout: Strawberry milk, 2 tuna wraps
Not a great day for the diet! Oh well, the biryani was bloody delicious.
Exercise
Warmup: Crosstrainer, 5 minutes
Weights 1:
Weights 2: Same as above
Stretches
It was getting late, so I didn't do the usual interval cycling at the end of the session. Good workout though. My ankle/top of foot feels a bit better, I think I just need to limit the amount of skipping I do, build up slowly.
Vanda tomorrow, potentially some sparring. Probably going to buy my own gloves.
53 days to go..
Diet
Breakfast: Chicken, flatbread, cous-cous with chickpeas, sultanas, dried apricots.
Lunch: Espresso
Dinner: Mutton biryani, cabbage and raita
Post-workout: Strawberry milk, 2 tuna wraps
Not a great day for the diet! Oh well, the biryani was bloody delicious.
Exercise
Warmup: Crosstrainer, 5 minutes
Weights 1:
- Free weight chest press, 15 kg each hand, 3 x8
- Lat pulldown, 47.6 kg, 3 x8
- Shoulder press, 47.6 kg, 3 x8
- Chest press, 56.7 kg, 3 x8
- Lateral raises, 2.5 kg each hand, 3 x10
Weights 2: Same as above
Stretches
It was getting late, so I didn't do the usual interval cycling at the end of the session. Good workout though. My ankle/top of foot feels a bit better, I think I just need to limit the amount of skipping I do, build up slowly.
Vanda tomorrow, potentially some sparring. Probably going to buy my own gloves.
53 days to go..
Monday, February 15, 2010
February 15th
Another day, another workout :)
Diet
Breakfast: Big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and honey
Post workout/Lunch: Carton of chocolate milk, 2 fish fillets, tomato sauce.
Dinner: Roast chicken, homemade flatbread, Moroccan cous-cous, yoghurt with onion and cucumber. Then later on I had more...
Good food day, mainly due to it all being delicious.
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 1: Medicine ball 200 (same as yesterday)
Set 2: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand, 4 x2 minutes
Set 4: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 5: Planks, 4 x2 minutes, split between reps of 1 minute front or side.
Set 6: 100 pressups
Set 7: 100 crunches
Set 8: 100 burpees
Same as yesterday, but with extra crunches. Very hard, very intense; I take about 60 seconds break between sets. After all the skipping my right ankle hurts just slightly. Its okay though, it mimics the sort of movement I'll be doing in the ring, so strengthening up my muscles is a good thing.
As an experiment I went for a Thaibrutal beating massage, where they manipulated, stretched and cracked me for an hour. I sort of feel better for it now, but I'll report back tomorrow on whether they can cure the aches and pains of boxing training.
Tomorrow I'm not at Vanda because of Chinese new year. No work either, so I'll be hitting the gym at the condo.
54 days to go...
Diet
Breakfast: Big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and honey
Post workout/Lunch: Carton of chocolate milk, 2 fish fillets, tomato sauce.
Dinner: Roast chicken, homemade flatbread, Moroccan cous-cous, yoghurt with onion and cucumber. Then later on I had more...
Good food day, mainly due to it all being delicious.
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 1: Medicine ball 200 (same as yesterday)
Set 2: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand, 4 x2 minutes
Set 4: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 5: Planks, 4 x2 minutes, split between reps of 1 minute front or side.
Set 6: 100 pressups
Set 7: 100 crunches
Set 8: 100 burpees
Same as yesterday, but with extra crunches. Very hard, very intense; I take about 60 seconds break between sets. After all the skipping my right ankle hurts just slightly. Its okay though, it mimics the sort of movement I'll be doing in the ring, so strengthening up my muscles is a good thing.
As an experiment I went for a Thai
Tomorrow I'm not at Vanda because of Chinese new year. No work either, so I'll be hitting the gym at the condo.
54 days to go...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
February 14th
Valentine's day, still got to work out though.
Diet
Breakfast: Big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and honey
Lunch: Thai chicken, rice, loads of red chilli
Post workout: 2 cartons of chocolate milk
Dinner: Big fillet steak, roasted pepper and sweet potato wedges
Good food day. I like steak.
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes. Have decided that I can't go my entire boxing "career" without learning to do this.
Set 1: The medicine ball workout I linked to the other day, 3 kg ball.
Set 2: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand, 4 x2 minutes
Set 4: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 5: Planks, 4 x2 minutes, split between reps of 1 minute front or side.
Set 6: 100 pressups. Not continuous, just get through 100 as quickly as possible. I didn't time it, but I started out taking a break every 20, by the end every 10. Very hard work.
Set 7: 100 burpees. Same as above. I did 5 sets of 20 with about 30-40 seconds break between sets. Hard hard hard.
Good workout at home, certainly one I'll be repeating. In my new boxing boots the skipping didn't hurt my ankles, and I'm getting better at it. The rest of the workout was really intense, just what I need.
Only other thing to add is that I weighed 77 kg this morning, so I'm still losing weight. Dropped 5 kg since I started, and I'm probably one of the lightest in the group at this point.
55 days to go...
Diet
Breakfast: Big bowl of oatmeal with nuts and honey
Lunch: Thai chicken, rice, loads of red chilli
Post workout: 2 cartons of chocolate milk
Dinner: Big fillet steak, roasted pepper and sweet potato wedges
Good food day. I like steak.
Exercise
Warmup: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes. Have decided that I can't go my entire boxing "career" without learning to do this.
Set 1: The medicine ball workout I linked to the other day, 3 kg ball.
Set 2: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 3: Weighted punches, 1 kg each hand, 4 x2 minutes
Set 4: Skipping, 4 x2 minutes
Set 5: Planks, 4 x2 minutes, split between reps of 1 minute front or side.
Set 6: 100 pressups. Not continuous, just get through 100 as quickly as possible. I didn't time it, but I started out taking a break every 20, by the end every 10. Very hard work.
Set 7: 100 burpees. Same as above. I did 5 sets of 20 with about 30-40 seconds break between sets. Hard hard hard.
Good workout at home, certainly one I'll be repeating. In my new boxing boots the skipping didn't hurt my ankles, and I'm getting better at it. The rest of the workout was really intense, just what I need.
Only other thing to add is that I weighed 77 kg this morning, so I'm still losing weight. Dropped 5 kg since I started, and I'm probably one of the lightest in the group at this point.
55 days to go...
February 13th
At Vanda today, had a good session, lots of work on technique.
Diet
Breakfast: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, fish fillet
Lunch: Salmon, boiled potatoes, broccoli, hollandaise sauce
Dinner: Egg fried rice (homemade, very healthy actually) fish fillet
For a weekend, I'm very happy with that! The fish fillets are frozen halal things and very low fat and low carb. I can just get one out of the freezer, chuck it in the oven and 20 minutes later I've got a tasty chunk of protein on my plate.
Exercise
Warmup: 10 minute run. Shortened this week so we could do more punching
Warmup 2: Shadowing, 4 x2 minutes
Circuit 1: Heavy bag, 4 x2 minutes. 1 minute rest between sets
Circuit 2: Work in twos. Jabs, parrys, right hands, blocking, etc.
Circuit 3: Shadowing and focus pad work with Alexis. I wasn't so good at this, either dropping my right hand guard when I jabbed, or overreaching with my right cross. I need to work on both
Circuit 5: 20 pressups, 20 crunches, 20 squats, 20 squat thrusts. No repeats this time.
Circuit 4: Pressups with transfer onto one arm, then twist. I'd love to find a video of this, but its potentially something Alexis just made up...
And finally we did some work bobbing and weaving underneath a string. I was shit at this. Seriously, there's not other way to put it.
Good work on technique today. I've got a lot of things to work on, on the conditioning side, I especially need to work on endurance in my arms.
56 days to go...
Diet
Breakfast: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, fish fillet
Lunch: Salmon, boiled potatoes, broccoli, hollandaise sauce
Dinner: Egg fried rice (homemade, very healthy actually) fish fillet
For a weekend, I'm very happy with that! The fish fillets are frozen halal things and very low fat and low carb. I can just get one out of the freezer, chuck it in the oven and 20 minutes later I've got a tasty chunk of protein on my plate.
Exercise
Warmup: 10 minute run. Shortened this week so we could do more punching
Warmup 2: Shadowing, 4 x2 minutes
Circuit 1: Heavy bag, 4 x2 minutes. 1 minute rest between sets
Circuit 2: Work in twos. Jabs, parrys, right hands, blocking, etc.
Circuit 3: Shadowing and focus pad work with Alexis. I wasn't so good at this, either dropping my right hand guard when I jabbed, or overreaching with my right cross. I need to work on both
Circuit 5: 20 pressups, 20 crunches, 20 squats, 20 squat thrusts. No repeats this time.
Circuit 4: Pressups with transfer onto one arm, then twist. I'd love to find a video of this, but its potentially something Alexis just made up...
And finally we did some work bobbing and weaving underneath a string. I was shit at this. Seriously, there's not other way to put it.
Good work on technique today. I've got a lot of things to work on, on the conditioning side, I especially need to work on endurance in my arms.
56 days to go...
Saturday, February 13, 2010
February 12th
Another rest day. I still wasn't feeling fully recovered, and have normal Vanda training on Saturday morning.
Diet
Normal. Had leftover chicken instead of my usual eggs, and chickpea curry in the evening.
Exercise
None.
Nothing else to say really, I still feel exhausted.
57 days to go...
Diet
Normal. Had leftover chicken instead of my usual eggs, and chickpea curry in the evening.
Exercise
None.
Nothing else to say really, I still feel exhausted.
57 days to go...
Friday, February 12, 2010
February 11th
Rest day today. When you feel as crap as I did on Wednesday, your body is trying to tell you something. In this case, it was “stop for a second while I recover”
Diet
Normal. Managed not to screw up the eggs for during the day, and had chickpea curry with a little rice in the evening.
Exercise
Watching “Law Abiding Citizen” from my armchair.
I've been doing more reading about boxing training and fighting styles, and have come to the conclusion that doing weight training 2-3 times a week is a bad idea. I'd be better off training my arms for speed and endurance rather than strength. With that in mind I'm going to rethink my training regime slightly from Friday onwards.
In other (extremely boring) news, I found some frozen chicken nuggets which are 15% protein and only 3% fat. Entirely reasonable, so I'll be having a bunch of those every day at work.
I also found what looks like an excellent medicine ball core workout to try.
58 days to go...
Diet
Normal. Managed not to screw up the eggs for during the day, and had chickpea curry with a little rice in the evening.
Exercise
Watching “Law Abiding Citizen” from my armchair.
I've been doing more reading about boxing training and fighting styles, and have come to the conclusion that doing weight training 2-3 times a week is a bad idea. I'd be better off training my arms for speed and endurance rather than strength. With that in mind I'm going to rethink my training regime slightly from Friday onwards.
In other (extremely boring) news, I found some frozen chicken nuggets which are 15% protein and only 3% fat. Entirely reasonable, so I'll be having a bunch of those every day at work.
I also found what looks like an excellent medicine ball core workout to try.
58 days to go...
Thursday, February 11, 2010
February 10th
Urgh, bad day. The diet wasn’t great, and I had no energy when I hit the gym.
Diet
Normal. I screwed up my boiled eggs, so was hungry during the day. Had grilled chicken with pasta in the evening. Kirsty’s cooking and general looking-after-me continues to be awesome!
Exercise
Warmup: None
Shadowing: 4 sets of 2 minutes shadow boxing individually. Andy walked round taking us through focus pad drills.
Heavy bag: 4 sets of 2 minutes throwing punches, moving around the bag.
Parrying: Work with a partner, parrying jabs and catching right hands. I was working with Chris, who’s a lot better at this than me it seems.
Circuit 1: 10 pressups, 10 crunches, 10 squat thrusts, 10 burpees, 10 ring jumps (hopping two-footed onto the side of the ring, about 18 inches or so off the ground, then hopping back down), repeat from the pressups.
So essentially just lots and lots of punching. As we were told before, the training will move towards this and away from fitness.
However, today I was just crap. I had no energy, no snap to my punches, no bounce in my legs. All round rubbish. I think I need a rest day.
59 days to go…
Diet
Normal. I screwed up my boiled eggs, so was hungry during the day. Had grilled chicken with pasta in the evening. Kirsty’s cooking and general looking-after-me continues to be awesome!
Exercise
Warmup: None
Shadowing: 4 sets of 2 minutes shadow boxing individually. Andy walked round taking us through focus pad drills.
Heavy bag: 4 sets of 2 minutes throwing punches, moving around the bag.
Parrying: Work with a partner, parrying jabs and catching right hands. I was working with Chris, who’s a lot better at this than me it seems.
Circuit 1: 10 pressups, 10 crunches, 10 squat thrusts, 10 burpees, 10 ring jumps (hopping two-footed onto the side of the ring, about 18 inches or so off the ground, then hopping back down), repeat from the pressups.
So essentially just lots and lots of punching. As we were told before, the training will move towards this and away from fitness.
However, today I was just crap. I had no energy, no snap to my punches, no bounce in my legs. All round rubbish. I think I need a rest day.
59 days to go…
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
February 9th
Working out at the condo gym today. Got on the case and really pushed myself.
Diet
Standard. Had 2 boiled eggs during the day and grilled chicken wraps in the evening.
I did a long-overdue calculation, and figured that my normal diet provides between 80 and 90 grams of protein per day. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on how much I should be getting; I’ve read numbers ranging from 1.1g/kg bodyweight to 2g/kg bodyweight, but it does seem like I should be getting more than I am.
I’d rather not start having protein shakes, so I’ll get on the lookout for a solution.
Exercise
Warmup: 5 minutes crosstrainer, stretches
Weight Circuit 1:
Weight Circuit 2:
Cycling: 16 minutes interval programme, lvl 6. Again, readings mean very little, but I worked damn hard, thighs were burning afterwards.
Stretches
Worked hard, increases again in weights and reps. Got to keep pushing along.
Overall a good day. I need to make that change to my diet sooner rather than later, but apart from that, happy with my progress. My back is feeling a lot better. I still get the occasional twinge, but it seems like I’m on the mend.
Diet
Standard. Had 2 boiled eggs during the day and grilled chicken wraps in the evening.
I did a long-overdue calculation, and figured that my normal diet provides between 80 and 90 grams of protein per day. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on how much I should be getting; I’ve read numbers ranging from 1.1g/kg bodyweight to 2g/kg bodyweight, but it does seem like I should be getting more than I am.
I’d rather not start having protein shakes, so I’ll get on the lookout for a solution.
Exercise
Warmup: 5 minutes crosstrainer, stretches
Weight Circuit 1:
- Lat pulldowns, 47.6 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Shoulder press, 47.6 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Chest press, 52.2 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Incline situps – 2 sets of 50
- Lateral raises, 2.5kg per hand – 3 sets of 12
Weight Circuit 2:
- Lat pulldowns, 47.6 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Shoulder press, 47.6 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Chest press, 52.2 kg – 3 sets of 8
- Lateral raises, 2.5kg per hand – 3 sets of 12
Cycling: 16 minutes interval programme, lvl 6. Again, readings mean very little, but I worked damn hard, thighs were burning afterwards.
Stretches
Worked hard, increases again in weights and reps. Got to keep pushing along.
Overall a good day. I need to make that change to my diet sooner rather than later, but apart from that, happy with my progress. My back is feeling a lot better. I still get the occasional twinge, but it seems like I’m on the mend.
60 days to go...
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February 8th
Good standard day.
Diet
Normal. Dinner was thai stir-fry beef with rice.
Exercise
Warmup: Jogging on the spot, jumping jacks etc. with weights in each hand.
Circuit 1: 15 seconds pressups, 15 seconds burpees, 15 seconds crunches, 15 seconds squat thrusts, repeat, then rest 1 minute = 1 set. 3 sets.
Circuit 2: Punching drills. Various movement and punching sets. 4 sets of 2 minutes or so.
Circuit 3: Heavy bag. Jabs, crosses and combinations. sets of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest. 4 minutes total.
Circuit 4: Planks. Normal stuff.
I did 2 sets of 30 incline situps in between circuits.
I hesitate to say it, but that was quite a tame session by usual standards, or maybe I'm getting fitter. That seems unlikely though!
Andy sent round the "Boxer Profile" I've got to fill in, which means I've got to choose my nickname and entrance music really soon. I'm taking suggestions!
61 days to go...
Diet
Normal. Dinner was thai stir-fry beef with rice.
Exercise
Warmup: Jogging on the spot, jumping jacks etc. with weights in each hand.
Circuit 1: 15 seconds pressups, 15 seconds burpees, 15 seconds crunches, 15 seconds squat thrusts, repeat, then rest 1 minute = 1 set. 3 sets.
Circuit 2: Punching drills. Various movement and punching sets. 4 sets of 2 minutes or so.
Circuit 3: Heavy bag. Jabs, crosses and combinations. sets of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest. 4 minutes total.
Circuit 4: Planks. Normal stuff.
I did 2 sets of 30 incline situps in between circuits.
I hesitate to say it, but that was quite a tame session by usual standards, or maybe I'm getting fitter. That seems unlikely though!
Andy sent round the "Boxer Profile" I've got to fill in, which means I've got to choose my nickname and entrance music really soon. I'm taking suggestions!
61 days to go...
Monday, February 8, 2010
February 7th
Yesterday at the gym we received our mouthguards, which was an interesting moment really. As a fellow competitor put it: “This shit just got REAL” Yup, you need a plastic wedge between your teeth because you’re going to get punched in the face. Real indeed. Scary even, looking around at a room full of large men who you’ve seem pummelling a heavy bag like it slept with their mother.
With that in mind I made today’s training a tough one. Aching legs from the Saturday’s sprinting be damned; I’d rather have lactic acid pain than broken nose pain.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with seeds and honey
Lunch: Turkish ‘pide’ bread with humus, chickpeas with dill and lemon, Iskander (Lamb kofe with yogurt and a tomato sauce on more toasted pide)
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: Chocolate milk, Grilled chicken, cous-cous (with cumin, coriander, paprika, dried fruit and chickpeas), yoghurt with red onion, cucumber and coriander.
Day of feasting on extremely tasty and averagely healthy foods. I really enjoyed lunch, and the dinner (made by Kirsty) is fast becoming one of my favourite meals. Dieting isn’t so bad when you can still eat this sort of thing.
Exercise
Wamup: 5 minutes on the crosstrainer, lots of stretches.
Weights set 1:
Weights set 2: As above, substituting the weighted punches for 80 incline situps (2 sets of 40)
Cycling: 16 minutes, intervals at level 6.
At the end of the second set of weights I could barely lift my arms, and after the cycling my thighs were killing me. Of course this is a good thing, shows I’m working hard.
Final note, I bought some boxing boots today, which should help with the ankle support. Also found a wall mount for a heavy bag so I might install one at home.
62 days to go…
With that in mind I made today’s training a tough one. Aching legs from the Saturday’s sprinting be damned; I’d rather have lactic acid pain than broken nose pain.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with seeds and honey
Lunch: Turkish ‘pide’ bread with humus, chickpeas with dill and lemon, Iskander (Lamb kofe with yogurt and a tomato sauce on more toasted pide)
Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post workout: Chocolate milk, Grilled chicken, cous-cous (with cumin, coriander, paprika, dried fruit and chickpeas), yoghurt with red onion, cucumber and coriander.
Day of feasting on extremely tasty and averagely healthy foods. I really enjoyed lunch, and the dinner (made by Kirsty) is fast becoming one of my favourite meals. Dieting isn’t so bad when you can still eat this sort of thing.
Exercise
Wamup: 5 minutes on the crosstrainer, lots of stretches.
Weights set 1:
- Free weight bench press – 15 kg each hand, 3 sets of 8
- Lat pulldown – 47.5 kg, 3 sets of 8 (increase of 3.5 kg)
- Shoulder press – 47.5 kg, 3 sets of 8 (increase of 3.5 kg)
- Chest press – 47.5 kg, 3 sets of 8 (increase of 3.5 kg)
- Weighted punches – 1.25 kg each hand, 3 sets of 2 minutes, 1 minute between sets
- Lateral raises – 2.5 kg each hand, 3 sets of 8
Weights set 2: As above, substituting the weighted punches for 80 incline situps (2 sets of 40)
Cycling: 16 minutes, intervals at level 6.
At the end of the second set of weights I could barely lift my arms, and after the cycling my thighs were killing me. Of course this is a good thing, shows I’m working hard.
Final note, I bought some boxing boots today, which should help with the ankle support. Also found a wall mount for a heavy bag so I might install one at home.
62 days to go…
Sunday, February 7, 2010
February 6th
Back at Vanda today, so hard work. I ended up in bed at about 6pm, just exhausted!
Diet
Breakfast/Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, noodles, 1 tin of tuna and 2 tortillas
And that was about it! After the workout and the very large lunch we did a bit of shopping and I went to bed.
Exercise
Warmup: 4 km run. I wasn't as bad this week, I kept up with the pack at least.
Sprints: Shuttle runs, which I'm pretty comfortable with. Exhausting, but I was one of the quicker ones over a short distance.
Circuit 1: One leg squats, pressups with 1 arm balance, weights. Simple circuit, quite easy going overall.
Planks: Modified planks, same as the other day where you work up from forearms to hands and back again.
One of the easy gym sessions I'd say. After the session Alexis (our main trainer) told us that from next week the focus will move away from fitness, and we'll be split into groups for sparring. I'm very interested to see who else will be in my group, because its pretty likely that my eventual opponent will be in there somewhere...
63 days to go... (fight 9 weeks today)
Diet
Breakfast/Pre-workout: Oat bar
Post-workout: Chocolate milk, noodles, 1 tin of tuna and 2 tortillas
And that was about it! After the workout and the very large lunch we did a bit of shopping and I went to bed.
Exercise
Warmup: 4 km run. I wasn't as bad this week, I kept up with the pack at least.
Sprints: Shuttle runs, which I'm pretty comfortable with. Exhausting, but I was one of the quicker ones over a short distance.
Circuit 1: One leg squats, pressups with 1 arm balance, weights. Simple circuit, quite easy going overall.
Planks: Modified planks, same as the other day where you work up from forearms to hands and back again.
One of the easy gym sessions I'd say. After the session Alexis (our main trainer) told us that from next week the focus will move away from fitness, and we'll be split into groups for sparring. I'm very interested to see who else will be in my group, because its pretty likely that my eventual opponent will be in there somewhere...
63 days to go... (fight 9 weeks today)
Friday, February 5, 2010
February 5th
I knew I wouldn't work out today, got a work thing in the evening so won't have time.
The main thing that happened today was getting an e-mail from Vanda saying that the tables are up for grabs. I sent round an e-mail at work and filled a 10 person table right away, with others still considering. I reckon I'll end up with 2 tables at the event, which would be fantastic support.
Plus even better news, Neal (my brother) rang about 30 minutes ago to tell me that him and Kate are booking flights and coming to watch the fight! Awesome stuff, so made up about it :)
Diet
Normal, except I added 2 boiled eggs during the day to stop me snacking. Dinner was Thai pineapple rice with sliced chicken at the work do.
Exercise
None
I'm fine with not working out on Friday nights in general since Saturday is an early start; come 8 am I'll be on a 5 km run...
However, selling tickets for the event has got me apprehensive. 9 weeks tomorrow is the big night, I need to step up the effort.
64 days to go...
The main thing that happened today was getting an e-mail from Vanda saying that the tables are up for grabs. I sent round an e-mail at work and filled a 10 person table right away, with others still considering. I reckon I'll end up with 2 tables at the event, which would be fantastic support.
Plus even better news, Neal (my brother) rang about 30 minutes ago to tell me that him and Kate are booking flights and coming to watch the fight! Awesome stuff, so made up about it :)
Diet
Normal, except I added 2 boiled eggs during the day to stop me snacking. Dinner was Thai pineapple rice with sliced chicken at the work do.
Exercise
None
I'm fine with not working out on Friday nights in general since Saturday is an early start; come 8 am I'll be on a 5 km run...
However, selling tickets for the event has got me apprehensive. 9 weeks tomorrow is the big night, I need to step up the effort.
64 days to go...
February 4th
Bit late with this entry, busy at work.
Diet
Normal. Had pork with apple for dinner which was really good. Good lean meat pork, if you buy a fillet. Makes a nice change from chicken.
Exercise
None.
I was feeling really run down all day. As I said its been busy at work recently and I just had no energy when workout time rolled round. Sometimes I guess your body just tells you it needs a rest.
65 days to go...
Diet
Normal. Had pork with apple for dinner which was really good. Good lean meat pork, if you buy a fillet. Makes a nice change from chicken.
Exercise
None.
I was feeling really run down all day. As I said its been busy at work recently and I just had no energy when workout time rolled round. Sometimes I guess your body just tells you it needs a rest.
65 days to go...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
February 3rd
Another good day. Standard diet, hard work at the gym.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid-morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Snack: 3 cream crackers
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Pre-workout: Weetabix and a handful of raisins
Post workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Small bowl of soup and an oat bar
Only bad bits here were the snack crackers (I was just starving hungry) and the crappy dinner. I really need to start taking more food to work for the mornings and afternoons. I eat mid morning at 9.30, and by 10 I’m hungry again. My metabolism must be through the roof, and I’m still losing weight. Down to 12 stone 1 (77 kg) this morning.
Exercise
Warmup: Jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, shuffles etc.
Circuit 1: 10 pressups, 10 squat thrusts, 10 crunches, 10 burpees, repeat 3 times then rest 1 minute = 1 set. Do 3 sets. This pretty much killed my legs for the rest of the session.
Circuit 2: Skipping. 8 minutes or so. Made my ankle hurt, and coming right after the circuit above, I was tripping and stumbling all over the place. Screw skipping, seriously. Stupid damn exercise.
Circuit 3: Heavy bag: 30 seconds continuous jabbing, rest 30, repeat twice. Same again with right hands and combinations. Much more to my taste! I’d rather do an hour of this than skip.
Circuit 4: Focus work: Throwing 1,2,3 or 4 punch combinations against a partner’s gloves. Really enjoyed this. Was working with Thomas today, and he was quite complimentary of my punching. meant a lot because he’s been boxing for a while and knows what he’s doing.
Circuit 5: Modified planks: Start in a normal plank position, resting on your forearms, then move each arm in turn so that you’re propped on your hands in a pressup position, then move back to the forearms. That’s 1 rep. We did 20, rest, 20, rest, 25.
Stretching. (Made sure I had a really good 10 minute stretch)
Really hard work, I seem to struggle more than the others with the burpees and other leg work. Can’t explain why really, since my cardio when punching is as good as anyone in the group. My best guess is that they all do sports like rugby, football and tennis, and simply have stronger legs than me.
I got some really bad cramps in my legs this evening, despite the stretching, but I can’t be too worried about that. The bruising on my right hand knuckles was worse after this session so I got the ice out. I’ll make sure my hand-wraps protect the area properly on Saturday.
66 days to go…
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts and honey
Mid-morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Chilli with rice and steamed veg
Snack: 3 cream crackers
Mid-afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Pre-workout: Weetabix and a handful of raisins
Post workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Small bowl of soup and an oat bar
Only bad bits here were the snack crackers (I was just starving hungry) and the crappy dinner. I really need to start taking more food to work for the mornings and afternoons. I eat mid morning at 9.30, and by 10 I’m hungry again. My metabolism must be through the roof, and I’m still losing weight. Down to 12 stone 1 (77 kg) this morning.
Exercise
Warmup: Jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, shuffles etc.
Circuit 1: 10 pressups, 10 squat thrusts, 10 crunches, 10 burpees, repeat 3 times then rest 1 minute = 1 set. Do 3 sets. This pretty much killed my legs for the rest of the session.
Circuit 2: Skipping. 8 minutes or so. Made my ankle hurt, and coming right after the circuit above, I was tripping and stumbling all over the place. Screw skipping, seriously. Stupid damn exercise.
Circuit 3: Heavy bag: 30 seconds continuous jabbing, rest 30, repeat twice. Same again with right hands and combinations. Much more to my taste! I’d rather do an hour of this than skip.
Circuit 4: Focus work: Throwing 1,2,3 or 4 punch combinations against a partner’s gloves. Really enjoyed this. Was working with Thomas today, and he was quite complimentary of my punching. meant a lot because he’s been boxing for a while and knows what he’s doing.
Circuit 5: Modified planks: Start in a normal plank position, resting on your forearms, then move each arm in turn so that you’re propped on your hands in a pressup position, then move back to the forearms. That’s 1 rep. We did 20, rest, 20, rest, 25.
Stretching. (Made sure I had a really good 10 minute stretch)
Really hard work, I seem to struggle more than the others with the burpees and other leg work. Can’t explain why really, since my cardio when punching is as good as anyone in the group. My best guess is that they all do sports like rugby, football and tennis, and simply have stronger legs than me.
I got some really bad cramps in my legs this evening, despite the stretching, but I can’t be too worried about that. The bruising on my right hand knuckles was worse after this session so I got the ice out. I’ll make sure my hand-wraps protect the area properly on Saturday.
66 days to go…
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
February 2nd
Good day which left me feeling really upbeat. Ate well, great workout.
Only issue is some really light bruising on my right hand around the little-finger knuckle. Nothing major by any means, and I doubt it’ll affect my punching.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts, honey
Mid morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Chilli, rice, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Pre-workout: small portion of oatmeal
Post-workout: Strawberry milk
Dinner: Chickpea curry with tortillas
Very standard. Sometimes I was a little hungry, but not too bad.
Exercise
Warmup: 5 minutes crosstrainer
Weights circuit 1:
Weights circuit 2: As above. I struggled towards the end of some of the sets, so they were often more like 8,8,6. But working to failure is good.
Running: 20 minutes @ 10.1 Kph
Cooldown walk, stretches
I was really happy with how this went. The cycling and running are good for my leg muscles, which will hopefully help with the burpees, as well as being excellent cardio. I’m especially happy with the running; there is NO WAY I’d have been able to do that 6 weeks ago. It’s always really encouraging to see real, quantifiable improvements. The weights work is good but I think I need to work more core exercises in there. I’m sticking away from the rowing machine for a while to try and help my back.
Also, I'm down a 3rd belt notch, so the belly is still trimming down.
67 days to go...
Only issue is some really light bruising on my right hand around the little-finger knuckle. Nothing major by any means, and I doubt it’ll affect my punching.
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal, nuts, honey
Mid morning: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Lunch: Chilli, rice, steamed veg
Mid afternoon: Tuna, rice-cake, apple
Pre-workout: small portion of oatmeal
Post-workout: Strawberry milk
Dinner: Chickpea curry with tortillas
Very standard. Sometimes I was a little hungry, but not too bad.
Exercise
Warmup: 5 minutes crosstrainer
Weights circuit 1:
- Freeweights bench press, 15 kg each hand, 3 x8
- Lateral raises, 2.5 kg each hand, 3 x8
- Lat pulldowns (machine), 43.5 kg, 3 x8
- Shoulder press (machine), 43.5 kg, 3 x8
Weights circuit 2: As above. I struggled towards the end of some of the sets, so they were often more like 8,8,6. But working to failure is good.
Running: 20 minutes @ 10.1 Kph
Cooldown walk, stretches
I was really happy with how this went. The cycling and running are good for my leg muscles, which will hopefully help with the burpees, as well as being excellent cardio. I’m especially happy with the running; there is NO WAY I’d have been able to do that 6 weeks ago. It’s always really encouraging to see real, quantifiable improvements. The weights work is good but I think I need to work more core exercises in there. I’m sticking away from the rowing machine for a while to try and help my back.
Also, I'm down a 3rd belt notch, so the belly is still trimming down.
67 days to go...
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
February 1st
My body is not used to cycling! Legs ached like hell all day, and I was dreading gym training. Once I got there I loosened up and got into it though. Had a good session.
Back pain is ever present, and becoming annoying to even mention. Just assume that it hurts until I say ‘stop’
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts, seeds and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, ricecake and apple
Lunch: Disgusting lamb stew I made. Nigel Slater has let me down and I couldn’t finish it, so I went hungry. Had 2 cream crackers to tide me over.
Mid afternoon: Tuna, ricecake and apple
Pre-workout: Pack of raisins
Post workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Delicious Indian-style wraps with lettuce, red onion, raita and marinated chicken. Kirsty had these waiting when I got back from the gym and they were AWESOME. Very healthy too.
Good diet, except the crappy stew. It was supposed to be ‘Aromatic Italian Lamb’, and I concede that it smelled good, but it tasted like lamb in mulled wine.
Exercise
Warmup: Increased pace jogging on the spot, high knees, jumping jacks, sprinting on the spot etc.
Circuit 1: Shadowing. 2 minutes x4 sets. Good workout, I was able to keep going at a really quick pace with full speed punching the whole time, so I must be getting fitter.
Circuit 2: Skipping. I gave this another go, but stopped about 2 minutes in when my ankle started to twinge. For the rest of the time I did knuckle pressups and crunches.
Circuit 3: Bag work: 2 minutes x4 sets. Alternated between moving while throwing combinations and stationary punch-outs.
Circuit 4: Not sure what you’d call this, but I’d look at it as a intermediate step between shadowing and sparring. With a partner, you circle about throwing light punches against his guard. It a good exercise to get used to punching range. 2 minutes x3 sets, swapping between hitting and getting hit.
Circuit 5: Focus drill. With a partner, throw a left-right combination against his extended gloves, He then swings a left arm which you weave underneath, and come up with a hard right cross. It’s a basic focus-pad drill, great for movement and aim. Really enjoyed this one. Hopefully more of this in future.
Circuit 6: 10 pressups/10 squats/10 crunches/10 burpees. Repeat 3 times, rest for 1 minute = 1 set. Do 3 sets. Easily the hardest thing we’ve done so far. I was exhausted after 1 set, almost collapsing after 3. I think I was the last to finish all 3 sets, but I completed every single rep, so I can be proud of that.
Circuit 7: Planks, 3 x1 minute. Harder after the crunches, but still easy enough to hold a comfortable conversation while doing them. It seems weird that 1 minute is nothing now, and a month ago 30 seconds was a challenge.
Overall I’m very happy with the day. The workout was really tough, but the harder the better. I also found out today that I’m not the only one carrying a few injuries. A few other guys are also having issues, strangely it’s their ankles and backs that are suffering too.
Only other slight issue is my shoes, I picked up some blisters today, stupid and preventable, and the last thing I want to worry about. I got a good lead on a martial-arts shop in Marina Square, so I’m going to head over there on Saturday in search of some boxing boots.
68 days to go…
Back pain is ever present, and becoming annoying to even mention. Just assume that it hurts until I say ‘stop’
Diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with nuts, seeds and honey
Mid morning: Tuna, ricecake and apple
Lunch: Disgusting lamb stew I made. Nigel Slater has let me down and I couldn’t finish it, so I went hungry. Had 2 cream crackers to tide me over.
Mid afternoon: Tuna, ricecake and apple
Pre-workout: Pack of raisins
Post workout: Chocolate milk
Dinner: Delicious Indian-style wraps with lettuce, red onion, raita and marinated chicken. Kirsty had these waiting when I got back from the gym and they were AWESOME. Very healthy too.
Good diet, except the crappy stew. It was supposed to be ‘Aromatic Italian Lamb’, and I concede that it smelled good, but it tasted like lamb in mulled wine.
Exercise
Warmup: Increased pace jogging on the spot, high knees, jumping jacks, sprinting on the spot etc.
Circuit 1: Shadowing. 2 minutes x4 sets. Good workout, I was able to keep going at a really quick pace with full speed punching the whole time, so I must be getting fitter.
Circuit 2: Skipping. I gave this another go, but stopped about 2 minutes in when my ankle started to twinge. For the rest of the time I did knuckle pressups and crunches.
Circuit 3: Bag work: 2 minutes x4 sets. Alternated between moving while throwing combinations and stationary punch-outs.
Circuit 4: Not sure what you’d call this, but I’d look at it as a intermediate step between shadowing and sparring. With a partner, you circle about throwing light punches against his guard. It a good exercise to get used to punching range. 2 minutes x3 sets, swapping between hitting and getting hit.
Circuit 5: Focus drill. With a partner, throw a left-right combination against his extended gloves, He then swings a left arm which you weave underneath, and come up with a hard right cross. It’s a basic focus-pad drill, great for movement and aim. Really enjoyed this one. Hopefully more of this in future.
Circuit 6: 10 pressups/10 squats/10 crunches/10 burpees. Repeat 3 times, rest for 1 minute = 1 set. Do 3 sets. Easily the hardest thing we’ve done so far. I was exhausted after 1 set, almost collapsing after 3. I think I was the last to finish all 3 sets, but I completed every single rep, so I can be proud of that.
Circuit 7: Planks, 3 x1 minute. Harder after the crunches, but still easy enough to hold a comfortable conversation while doing them. It seems weird that 1 minute is nothing now, and a month ago 30 seconds was a challenge.
Overall I’m very happy with the day. The workout was really tough, but the harder the better. I also found out today that I’m not the only one carrying a few injuries. A few other guys are also having issues, strangely it’s their ankles and backs that are suffering too.
Only other slight issue is my shoes, I picked up some blisters today, stupid and preventable, and the last thing I want to worry about. I got a good lead on a martial-arts shop in Marina Square, so I’m going to head over there on Saturday in search of some boxing boots.
68 days to go…
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