Expert: Jack Rose - 1/24/2008

Question
I'm 19 years old and have had traing in Ju-jitsu, and various other forms of martial arts.I have recently spoken to a man about recieving personal training as a boxer. Coming from a martial arts background i am essentially a ground fighter, but im ready to convert, as i have always loved the sport of boxing. In the next few days i will be going to the gym to recieve personal training from one of the best trainers in the state, and what i need to know is, what kind of things would i be able to do before going to the gym, what kind of excersises can i do to get myself mentally and physically ready for undoubtedly what will be the long road ahead of me? I know alot about the sport in general, so should i start out with shadow boxing or what would get me ready?

Answer
Hi Steve, He is probably going to tweak the way you punch somewhat right off the bat so I would hold off on the shadowboxing or bag work until he gets a hold of you. I would run. Yep, I said run :)  Not a technical answer but the truth. You are going to find that boxing creates a totally different kind of exhaustion in the ring. You get zapped. You can go from feeling pretty darn good too exhaustion in 20 seconds. It's kind of like being in the middle of a marathon and then somebody makes you run a 50 yard dash every now and then.
Condition your body with high rep weight training, run  2 or 3 miles 3 or 4 days a week and you'll be ready. Get some 50 yard sprints in too on your runs... about 5.

best of luck,

Jackson