I did it for a year, like 5 years ago, hahah. Maybe a bit longer. Loved it, life got in the way, and I didn’t want to compete so I dropped it. I still don’t think I want to compete, since I’m going back to school and don’t really want to get hit in the head more than I already have in my lifetime, but I may want to do a one-off, just as a challenge for myself.
Mostly it’s the conditioning aspect. I’ve been scorned for saying this, but I still think pro boxers are the most well conditioned athletes in the world, bar none.
I love combat sport training for conditioning. Glad to hear you’re keeping the sparring at a zero-to-minimum level - though I wouldn’t blame you if you got the “bug” and wanted to chase that one-off.
I’m almost in the same boat. Never really picked it up seriously until I was in my late 20s. Don’t want to compete but would love the challenge of a single fight to train for. All the coaches at my gym have been pushing me for years but I’m too old to pursue boxing and I don’t want to mash my brain and I already have a deviated septum to fix because of it. Bought some new custom gloves just in time for Covid to lock everything down.
Most well conditioned or close to it. I also find nothing keeps my bf levels lower and my appetite higher.
What… ignorant person would think pro boxers/combat athletes aren’t the best-conditioned athletes?! I can see someone arguing Tour de France cyclists or Iron Man athletes as top contenders, but still.
Counter-point to that argument is that cyclists and Iron Man athletes are better conditioned from a cardio, oxygen efficiency point-of-view. They usually look like complete shit, and are probably also physically weak. But boxers also have strength, explosive speed, and a fantastic aesthetic. Boxers win that one hands down, IMO.
Yep, because boxers and other world-class combat athletes have superlative conditioning of all energy systems, I think flap’s assessment is correct. The only maybe comparable-ish athletes I could think of were Tour cyclists with their endurance and hill-climbing sttegth and Iron Man competitors who have full-body endurance, but not in all energy pathways.
And what about top-level CrossFitters? Really, really.
@alex44938 agreed. Also, I have a friend who did pro (show) wrestling in the UK and after him chronicling his training, looked into what goes into being a WWE superstar, and the conditioning there is surprisingly difficult too.
@cyrrex yeah, pro cyclists and Ironman athletes are insane, but that’s where my cardio/conditioning separation comes into play - Ironman and cycling is all about smooth, controlled motions, where as bouncing, bobbing, weaving, slipping, ducking, and the violent motions of punching with impact, and all combined with the fact that you yourself are getting punched the entire time, makes it a whole different game.
@TriednTrue agreed, and would still put a 12-round boxing March as a bigger hurdle than a championship MMA fight in terms of endurance, as evidenced by Mcgregor who admittedly wasn’t a boxer but was fantastically conditioned and couldn’t keep the pace with Mayweather. And also, as much as we all hate to admit it, yeah, the top CrossFitters have made themselves into contenders for most in-shape people in the world.
Also, crew. The Olympic rowing guys are apparently there training long after even the gymnasts go home.
The funny thing about CF and why they are the constant butt of jokes is actually because most of the CF we see done in real life is absolute nonsense shit.
But on the other hand, most of the weightlifting I see in real life is also absolute nonsense shit.
So really I just rag on CF because it amuses me to do so. There are some beasts that do it and do it well.
Ironman, cycling, boxing are all fit. But I would also add, now this is going to sound stupid, motocross riders to the list especially those who do enduro racing. The physical demands of handling a 200+lb machine for many hours across a desert takes serious conditioning.
Yeah, CF is easy to tag on if you ignore the Rich Fronings, hahah. Those guys are just next level strong and can keep going when I’d be puking everywhere. They also have some of the best physiques, IMO.
I generally don’t like making excuses, but I feel like there’s some genetic voodoo going on there considering quite a few at the top were either high level athletes before cf or rose incredibly quickly once getting started
Highly doubt it’s gear either since the girl who beats the entire gym in her first workout despite never touching a barbell in her life is 99.999% likely not receiving pharmaceutical help
Most good athletes are mentally strong and able to push themselves. This ability alone can make someone appear more conditioned / in better shape. The thing with boxing (and other combat sports) is that whether or not you’re mentally strong, you still need to push yourself. Its a sport that forces you to push harder than you normally would. Your hands need to stay up (sounds easy but there comes a point where it’s not), your head and feet need to keep moving, and you need to throw some punches, if you stop doing those thing you will literally get beat up.
The other argument is that you can’t pace yourself boxing in the same manner that you can with typical endurance activities. If all that matters is distance and time, you can pace yourself as needed to maximize your score/result. Even though you’re competing against other people in those sports, really everyone is competing against the clock. In boxing you need to be able to match your opponents output. It’s difficult to train for something like that because you don’t know what energies systems will be most important, you don’t know how long the fight will last or at what speed it will unfold.
I don’t think you can argue boxing requires the most well conditioned athletes, “conditioning” is too broad of a term. The above are just some things I’ve noticed with boxing compared to other sports.
This was pretty tough, usually aren’t concerned with rest times but my incline was definitely shakey.
Today:
Did some arm stuff to warmup, and then did 12 rounds of 3 minutes on, 45 seconds rest shadowboxing. Not easy. Finished with 250 crunches and 100 reps of neck extensions with a 10 lb plate behind my head.
Have taken 3 walks today already too, 2 just with the dog and 1 with the boys and the dog on an extra long route. It’s like 100 degrees, I made the boys carry their water jugs on the way, they complained at first and for the second half spend most of the time dumping water on their heads and panting, haha.
IIRC top level CF athletes don’t train dum like stereotypical CF bullshit. They train to develop skills/qualities e.g. weightlifting and conditioning of various energy systems. Drugs too lel but CF is like the sport of being decent across athletic attributes which is pretty cool considering all the interference effects going
