Expert: Jack Rose - 12/5/2007

Question
Hi Jackson,

This is a long question so sorry in advance. I've just turned 20 years old and i'm 6 feet 3 inches and about 195 lbs.

I live in England and I’m planning on joining a gym in 5/6 weeks time once my uni exams are done. In the meantime is there anything you would suggest I can do on my own to help get into good physical condition so that I maximize my progress when i first start out at a gym. Over the past month I’ve already taken to running around 7-9km 4/5 times a week on the treadmill which has allowed me to get significantly fitter and lose most of the excess weight I was previously carrying. I also did a bit of weights to increase muscle definition (slightly vain, yes I know), and increase my strength.  I mean, it can't hurt to try and get myself as well prepared as I can manage right?


I can’t emphasize enough just how out of shape you can get after 5 years of slacking. I was never seriously over-weight but I was really unfit, not athletic and not at all strong given my size.  I also had my growth spurt pretty late at 17 and grew about 5 inches over 1 summer so I think physically I’m only just beginning to properly adapt to my size. Up until a few months ago I’d done pretty much no regular intense physical activity in the last 8 years, (at least it means I’ve never been hurt I guess). Do you think this would be a serious disadvantage, not having years of physical activity and conditioning behind me? I’m 20 but physically it’s as though I’m a 14 year old only just starting to work out seriously.

Regards

Andrew

Answer
Hi Andrew,  You are young enough that your lack of physical activity over the past few years can be overcome for boxing. You have the right plan. There is not a lot for me to add to it. Keep up the running and the lifting, they are both valuable especially the running. You might also try some swimming as it is great for your breathing in the ring. Go ahead and start tightening up your abs too. Get some crunches in 4 or 5 days a week. The better shape you are when you get to the gym the more you can focus on technique and strategy. For boxing your fat level is more important than overall weight as far as choosing a division to fight in. At 6'3, 195 is not that bad if your bodyfat is low. It should be between 8 and 13% ideally. If you turn open it needs to be closer to the 8% as you fight better comp.
If your carrying a lot of muscle you should fight at that weight unless you still have excessive fat. Once you get your bodyfat down, your body will tell you to stop losing weight by making it hard to do so.

Keep it up....your on the right track...

best of luck,

jackson