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:

• 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.

Body movement: Moving forwards and backwards across the ring while ducking underneath a rope at about shoulder height. The idea here was to keep your body in normal guard from the waist up and move from side-to-side underneath the rope using quick footwork and bending the legs. I was pretty poor at this. Sometimes I got it and moved well, but too often I would be ducking my head or bending from the waist. Both of these errors earned me a deserved shouting at from Alexis while I started again. Its an important skill that I need to practice… I’ll get there eventually.
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.

 

46 days to go…