Reply With QuoteWhat no conditioning? That's a dumb idea. Just learn how to box and do your SS shit. As long as you get enough rest and fuel (food), you'll be fine.
This should be common sense.
Member
Boxing on Starting Strength
Hey Mark, I have never lifted before and I have decided to start SS. I am not a boxer, but I was planning on boxing 2 days a week on Tuesday and Thursday just one on one with a trainer. I am going to talk to him before I start boxing, but I basically just want to learn basic punching techniques without all the conditioning. Do you think this will affect my progress on SS? I am trying to gain muscle mass too so I don't want to be doing an extensive amount of cardio.
Member
What no conditioning? That's a dumb idea. Just learn how to box and do your SS shit. As long as you get enough rest and fuel (food), you'll be fine.
This should be common sense.
Member
yeah but if he does alot of conditioning on the side it will affect his recovery, and that should be common sense. I have personally found that gp conditioning is great but boxing and doing mitt drills should be plenty. set a good strength goal go for it, make sure you work your technique the whole time and then do a maintenance program for the strength once you get there then get into conditioning. the conditioning for 3-4 rounds which is what amatuers in the u.s. do doesnt take very long to develop especially once you get your strength up a little. you may lose a little strength once you get heavy into conditioning and dropping to fighting weight but dont sweat it as long as you made significant gains from doing the program right you will still be strong enough to handle business and at least avoid being crushed. dont try to get everything at once like the last guy suggests thats a fast way to failure.Originally Posted by the dio
Member
Unless he is over 40 or gets 5 hours of sleep a night, it won't affect his recovery.
Member
I know what sorts of conditioning work you are referring to but you should bear the following in mind:
Conditioning doesn’t have to only mean all the skipping, push-ups, sit-up, burpees, running, etc etc. A lot depends on the actual training that you will be doing, and that can vary a lot in the same way that saying “doing weights” can mean quite different things.
If the boxing training you will be doing is restricted to technique work (footwork, punches, defence, theory etc) then its conditioning effect will have a pretty low impact on your strength training though it will have some effect for sure. It will condition your body because you can’t throw punches slowly like you can’t effectively practice the technique of squatting slowly- so your body will have to respond to these new stresses and adapt (you WILL have a little soreness after your first sessions and be tired)- therefore your body is being conditioned in a sport specific way towards boxing and this will have an integral, low-level cardio component. Therefore, to an extent, you are asking your body for different adaptations at the same time if you are doing strength training also. If nothing else you are adding physical work on two days where you would normally rest.
Just boxing twice a week won’t be an issue if you get sleep and food, above and beyond the already increased levels that SS will require of you, it’ll actually get you in pretty damn good shape. But- Drink that milk!
However, a lot of coaches will just give you a quick run-through of all the punches and stick you on a punchbag and/or hitting pads. This is not at all necessary and make no mistake about it IS conditioning work, particularly the bag, but also the pads unless your coach is really taking the time to use them purely for technique and even then the punch impacts have a genuine effect which needs to be adapted to. The primary purpose and effect of bagwork is specialised physical preparation for boxers, ie. boxing conditioning, and is definitely cardio too. You shouldn’t be doing bagwork anyway until you have got the punching and footwork techniques pretty well refined or you’ll simply “learn” bad habits and engrain them into your boxing.
Once you get settled into both your boxing and strength training you’ll be more attuned to what affects what, and what is viable and productive to do.
Main thing for now is have a good chat with your trainer and arrange for them to focus on pure technique work until you feel like the added work would be manageable without affecting your SS, and that will probably coincide roughly with your technique getting to a decent level anyway so it will be productive to do. And remember- there is a large difference between learning boxing and boxing training though both affect your body. Learn to box then train to be a boxer.
I don’t know anything about your athletic history, height/weight, age, gender, goals etc. and they may all play a role but the above info should hopefully help you get going productively with both types of training.
Good luck with it!
Member
It isn't dumb at all. They want to do SS and learn to box, pretty good idea and good basic plan for achieving it. Adding in full-on "conditioning work" would make the combination of the boxing/SS pretty non-viable for someone starting out on those two paths at the same time unless they are already very well conditioned with a physique and genetics conducive to both.
Even if they want to compete in boxing it will take a good while for the technique to come along to a suitable level, by which time they will probably be intermediate as a lifter and pretty fit anyway, as well as being clear about goals which will have no doubt shaped their training regime.
The rest of that paragraph you wrote I agree with fully, with the added points I made before about what the boxing training actually includes.
Member
I agree that they would want to initially focus on technique. I'm gonna wager that OP's idea of "all that conditioning" is probably not the same as ours
Member
Yeah, I think that approach is crucial for the boxing, but also the way way to fit it in with SS for someone new to both. You're probably right as well about the idea of conditioning, which is why I thought it useful to go into a bit of depth (too much probably!) so that despite being new to boxing they'll have a decent understanding of how that combination might affect progress on SS.
Wasn't meaning to rubbish your comment so sorry if it came across that way at all, just think that for the benefit of the OP it's good to give a full explanation.
Member
:-)
Posting Permissions