Nerdcore Boxing

I’m a busy guy I want to get right into my workout, finish, then go home. Unfortunately this can cause me to skip some of the less glamorous portions of my workout. Even though they’re not fun, I find these workout rituals can go a long way in preventing muscle soreness and preventing injury.

1. The Cooldown Period - When you engage in extreme workouts, and certainly boxing qualifies in this category, one can get chills after the session is done. This is cause by the blood leaving your muscles too rapidly. It’s a bad thing. Some trainers believe you can lose up to 30% of the value of your workout by cooling down too fast.

I always carry a light jacket, sweat pants and a beanie in my bag of equipment. Beanies are great because you lose so much heat from your head. Make sure you bundle up for 15 minutes after your workout. This will eliminate the chills and improve recovery time.

2. The Warmup - A good warmup prevents injury and can prevent muscle soreness. Everybody knows this, but we still skip it. Before slacking on the warm up you should really ponder how much time you lose to muscle soreness and the occasional injury.

3. The Stretch - After getting the blood flowing, stretch out. Then when you’re done stretch again. Besides eliminating soreness and injuries, flexibility can help you move better and even goes hand in hand with muscle strength.

I’ve found that if I want to push my training to a high level I need to add these to my workout. If I skip them I see a pronounced increase in muscle soreness and recovery time.

A few days ago I went to another gym to watch one of my sparring partners spar with a few pro boxers and some very experience amateurs. We weren’t the only ones there and I had the fortune to watch a number of very talented pro and am boxers step in the ring.

When bringing a fighter to another gym, it’s not a real fight, but it’s definitely a different experience than watching two “sparring partners” go at it. A couple of the boxers looked initially surprised at their opponents whaling away, as was I. As expected, the pros that had less to prove weren’t the ones dishing out most of the punishment, it was the amateur boxers trying to make a name for themselves.

A few guys were “hurt” and needed the equivalent of standing 8’s, and some blood was split. But for me, it was a good lesson learned.