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 lot of times boxing training feels like a physical and mental marathon. How hard can you push your mind and body compared to your opponent? Certainly one of the biggest setbacks to training (outside real injury), is significant muscle soreness.

What causes soreness? Generally the theories are small muscle tears, torn capillaries and waste products left in the muscles. The remedies and preventative measures generally involve increasing blood flow to the area, and ensuring a proper blood flow after exercise to cleanup the waste products.

My 5 Tips to Eliminate Muscle Soreness

Based on my experience I’m listing these in reverse order of effectiveness:

5. Massage - I might rank massage higher if I had a professional sports oriented masseuse doing my massages, but so far the effects haven’ been as pronounced as the other 4 tips.

4. Stretching - I can’t emphasize how important this is. I was never into stretching, but I’ve only been able to manage the intense workouts I’ve done in boxing with regular stretching.

3. Hot Baths - These work well and feel great, though I’ve had even more luck with the dreaded ice bath.

2. Ice - Ice baths are a regular part of my training. Fill the tub with the coldest water that comes out of the faucet. For treating your legs use just enough water to submerse your legs. Then throw in 3 medium sized bags of ice. Wait till the ice almost melts and get in for 8-20 minutes.

I’m not going to lie, the first 3 minutes of pre-numbness are pretty rough. The first time is like torture, the second is not so pleasant either, but you get used to it. But to quote the now celebrity CEO of the UFC, Dana White, “Do you wanna be a (bleeping) fighter?”

1. Light Exercise - This is a great way to get the blood flowing into the sore muscles. If you have sore thigh muscles, you can do 10 light minutes on the exercise bike. Calf muscle soreness can be a real annoyance, try a half round of jump rope (or maybe less if you’re just starting out). It sounds counter intuitive, but because it floods blood to the area it works amazingly well.

My physical therapy is going well and it’s finally feeling better. I think I’ve said it before but I’m a big fan of physical therapy. I’ve been easing back into my training routine and tomorrow night I’ll be back in the gym with my trainer.

I’m really looking forward to strengthening a weak link in my chain with these ankle exercises. Ankles are so important in boxing. Obviously we work on extending the ankle to raise oneself on our toes, but lateral rotation is really important too. That lateral ankle motion can give you those little explosive steps in any direction.

If you can get to the point in your footwork where one foot is always pushing and the other is always pulling, you’ll be amazed at the increase in “foot speed” and explosivity. One of my trainers pushed me to develop this skill earlier in the year and I’ve been very pleased with the results.

This is the second installment 0f Hiding Injuries from White Collar Jobs. In all likelihood you won’t need this particular type of boxing tips often, but they make an excellent insurance policy.

Learning the Art of Cover Up

I once had my nose busted and two black eyes from sparring (long story). At my current job this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but at that time I worked as a spokesperson for an good sized software company. I often took interviews with the media, once even being interviewed on CNN. Needless to say, I risked being fired if I didn’t handle it carefully.

Let’s just say sometimes you may have to swallow your manly pride and buy some makeup. This sounds complicated, but it’s not. Go to the beauty dept of the applicable store near you and explain your predicament to the women who works there. She’ll probably laugh at you, but then she’ll help you pick out the makeup and explain how to apply it.

Practice Makes Perfect

Don’t let the morning of work be the first time you breakout the Preparation H and makeup and attempt to rest your old pair of glasses on that fat sausage of a swollen nose. Run through your routine the night before. After spending a week managing one black eye, you’ll develop the skills that would make even a mortician proud. My wife will tell you, she is in awe of my skills.

Nose Issues

Fortunately your nose toughens up a bit. Swelling and bleeding are most common when you first start sparring. Nose injuries tend to cause numbness and are not very painful (I don’t consider them painful at all), but they are kind of annoying.

Really swollen noses are tough to breath through. Fortunately most people don’t realize this and won’t associate your temporarily nasal voice with boxing.

The day after I busted my nose boxing, the president of my company called me into her office and had me read something off a document (just my luck). At the end she squinted at me and asked, “Do you have a cold?” I replied, “Nah, my nose is just stuffed up” Heh, heh, heh…

If your nose bled a lot the night before, you’ve got some scabs holding the internal cuts together. Bleeding can start again if you rub, wiggle or bump it. You might consider avoiding a white shirt.

Using Do-It-Yourself Coagulants 
There are some over-the-counter products that act as blood coagulants and can prevent or stop a nose bleed.

Disclaimer:

Ask your doctor about this next tip before attempting it. The Nerd of Steel is not a doctor, doesn’t give medical advice, and writes this blog for entertainment purposes only.

Anyway Neosporin is a blood coagulant. If nose bleeds are a big issue apply some in your nostril using a q-tip.

Summary

• Don’t worry, people are unobservant regarding changes to appearance.
• Don’t put your attention on your facial bruise while talking to others.
• Use Preparation H to manage swelling.
• Wear glasses to hide black eyes.
• If you’re desperate, and very comfortable with your masculinity, use makeup. Practice applying the night before.
• Avoid white shirts in case of spontaneous nose bleeding.
• Neosporin is a useful coagulant.

All of these tips make white collar boxing sound more dangerous to your face than it really is. Put this post in perspective, these are remedies for the rare worse case scenarios.

I rarely get my face marked up from sparring. That said there have been a couple of times where I looked in the mirror after sparring and thought, “I’m going to be fired or disciplined at work.” Other boxers don’t get this, but to white collar boxers this is probably the biggest fear. But fear not, I get away with boxing injuries and you will too.

Being a fair skinned guy with a long and still somewhat thin nose, I’m prone to getting visible bruises, swelling, abrasions and once even a cut. Yet I’ve never been “busted” at work. Before I give some basic remedies, there are 4 points to keep in mind if you’re looking in the mirror and stressing:

1. People Are Remarkably Unobservant - You surely are familiar with the phenomena of girls changing their hair color from blonde to red only to have no one notice. People miss changes in appearance, even striking ones.

2. It Always Looks Worse to You - This is really just an extension of the last point. Don’t look in the mirror and worry, ask somebody else if it’s noticeable.

3. People Notice What You’re Self Conscious About - If you’re worried about the shape of your nose and all of your attention is on your nose, it draws other people’s attention to your nose. On the flip side if it’s the last thing on your mind and your body language remains the norm, people are less likely to be tipped off.

4. People Do Notice Bruises On Boxer’s Faces - I have found this to be true so many times. If they don’t know I box, they either don’t notice small changes to my face or they don’t associate them with getting punched. Once I tell a coworker that I box, they notice every little abrasion.

So if you can help it, don’t tell them you box. Additionally if you do have a job where coming in with a black eye is a potential firing offense, keeping your little hobby quiet opens up a wider range of explanations.

Prevention

You should be wearing headgear to spar, so cuts should be very rare or non-existent. Abrasions are cause by the gloves “catching” on your skin and are the most common thing you’ll deal with. Using Vaseline on your nose, around the eyes, on your headgear, and if possible, on your opponents gloves can make the punches slide off.

Preparation H: Not Just for Hemroidal Swelling

Swelling is the easiest thing to fix, thanks to the over the counter miracle drug: Preparation H. Yes, your fellow boxers might call you buttface, but you’ll be amazed how much of the swelling disappears. The effects last about 4 hours.

Glasses Hid Superman, They Hide Black Eyes Too

Superman’s Clark Kent disguise always seemed stupid, but you’ll be amazed how few people notice bruises behind glasses. If you are vision impaired, wear glasses instead of contacts. I wouldn’t recommend wearing sunglasses all day, it looks suspicious.

Stay tuned for Part II of this article!

Go to a doctor! I might be a big nerd, but I’m not a doctor. This post is based on research I’ve done on the net and is for educational purposes only.

Ok, I got the disclaimer out of the way. I hope you find this information useful. So far it’s been a great help with my sprained ankle.

Sprained Ankle Basics

Ankle sprains are one of the most common sports injuries.

Your ankle is held together by elastic ligaments. Sprains occur when these ligaments stretch past their limits. This might also involve tears to, or in, the ligaments.

The most common sprain is cause by damage to the Talofibula ligament shown in the picture above. A bad sprain may also affect the Calcaneofibula ligament on the bottom.

Types of Sprains

You should have a doctor diagnose your sprain. But in a few words, here are the basic types of sprains.

• Grade I - Slight stretching and some ligament damage. You may not even see any swelling on a Grade I sprain.
• Grade II - Partial tearing of ligaments. May cause some joint “looseness.” A Grade II sprain would involve lots of swelling and difficulty in walking.
• Grade III - Complete tear of the ligament which takes many weeks to heal

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has a nice chart laying out details on the different types of sprains.

The First 48 Hours Are Key

Once the swelling and inflammation goes down you’ll probably regain a good bit of mobility, and hopefully loose your limp. In the first 48 hours make sure you RICE your ankle! In case you’ve lived in a cave for the past 10 years, R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression (wrapping it) and Elevation.

Moving your ankle and regaining your range of motion are also key.

Rehabilitation
If you don’t make your ankle strong again you face re-spraining it. To begin this re-strengthening program you can do range of motion excercises:

Alphabet Writing - Write all of the letters of the alphabet with your foot.

Achilles Stretches - A familiar stretch for boxers, I need not elaborate.

Most of the strengthening exercises are also common to boxing. Toe raises or jump rope, cutting drills, running in a figure 8, etc.

Balance is heavily dependent on ankle strength and sprains can leave a lasting affect to your balance. Proprioception is the body providing feedback to the brain. Ankle proprioception can be damaged following a sprain, leading to problems controlling ankle movements. Range of motion and balancing drills such as standing on one foot can re-develop these.

For more information on ankle rehabilitation, checkout articles on About.com and the Orthopedic Association of Portland.

Prevention

Besides strengthening your ankle you want to avoid reinjuring it as the ligaments continue to heal. Go buy some tape and wrap your ankle before working out.

If you’ve never wrapped an ankle before, I found an excellent video on the eHow.com.

Good luck and happy rehabbing!

During my Saturday weigh in ritual, I was quite shocked and disappointed to see I gained 5.4 lbs! I didn’t think I ate that much!

Besides a little cheating on the ol’ diet, I think there was an additional cause. See I sprained my ankle sparring last week and missed half a week of working out. At my level of training, my workouts burn a lot of calories and cause me to drop a lot of water weight. Without the intense excercise I needed to reduce my caloric intake, but didn’t pay attention.

Lesson learned.

This will be the first of the more informative posts which I’m going to focus on in this blog.

How much does boxing sparring hurt? …Well, it really depends on what level of training you’re involved in.

Hobbyists, Weekend Warriors, White Collar Folks
I spent years in a Muay Thai and boxing as a hobbyist. I definitely trained at reputable gyms that had reputations for producing top amateur and professional fighters, but I never expressed an interest in competing and only sparred so I could develop some proficiency.

During this period of training I would have said, “No, it doesn’t hurt that much.” The adrenalin is pumping, you’re wearing protective gear, there is a kind of a gentleman’s agreement not to kill each other, etc.

In this period of my training I did accrue some bruises, even got a black eye here or there. But overall, despite the excitement, it was pretty tame.
Competitive Boxing
Once you express a desire to compete in the amateur ranks, your training and sparring becomes more intense. You spar longer and with a better class of fighters. These guys/girls are much harder to hit and hit back a lot harder.

Getting a broken or swollen nose, black eyes, bruised or broken ribs is more common in this type of sparring. Also sparring with body punchers is more common (beginners rarely have developed body punches). The types of dings I listed don’t happen all the time, but are more common. Additionally as you develop your defensive game, it gets easier.

Really with the adrenalin pumping you often don’t feel head punches when they occur, you feel them afterwards. But body punches can hurt a lot, even with well developed abs. Taking your first liver shot is quite an experience.

I will say that sometimes there is no distinction between the sparring for the hobbyists and the real boxers. Some gyms put the hobbyists through the school of hard knocks too. However with so many hobbyists, women and yuppies flocking to even the most hardcore inner city boxing gyms, there generally are two type of sparring going on.

I got back to training today. Did 30 mins of cardio, a little weight lifting, shadow boxing and shoulder rehab.

I’ve been dogged by rotator cuff issues for years and the situation has just been slowly deteriorating over time. My left shoulder always feels “loose” as if there is extra play in the joint. I haven’t gotten insurance clearance to see a physical therapist yet but I’ve been doing the exercises I found on the internet each day. I was pleased to see that my shoulder joint felt “tighter” today. If it keeps improving I am going to be a real happy guy.

Uhhhh, I have to go. My wife just walked out in a sexy outfit…

I’m still getting over a cold. So tonight I’m just going to stretch, do my rehab exercises, drink water and take vitamin C. I haven’t vegged out on a weeknight in a long time, might be fun.

After a weekend of dedicated icing and my first two days of doing the rotator cuff exercises, my shoulders feel real good. It’s hard to test them out until I get back to training, but I’m very optimistic.