The POWER of Bodyweight Exercise (How I Stopped Lifting and Got Stronger)

Not quite 20 years ago, I went through a pretty brief power-lifting phase. I wanted to get big and strong and thought it would be interesting to see how much I could transform myself. I probably wasn't nearly committed enough but I did make some pretty decent lifting gains. I think I had doubled my bench press. A co-worker of mine at the time asked if I could help him move to a new apartment one weekend and I was actually excited to do it, just to see how much different it felt to carry around boxes and furniture with my new guns. Strangely, it wasn't that different. I still struggled with the heavy stuff and my gym strength didn't seem to translate. At the time, I was pretty darn ignorant of how everything worked - I had a bigger chest and arms and everything but no core strength. I was only good at lifting perfectly-balanced things in single planes of motion, which isn't as analogous to the activities of daily life as I had assumed. I just figured, big weights, bigger muscles equaled a stronger me. There is also a whole muscular endurance component that I was completely unaware of too.

I continued lifting for years afterwards but not as consistently and not with the goal of trying to increase my single rep maximum or lifting particularly heavy in general. Instead, I became a little more rounded with the focus on other things, including cardio. I discovered that while I couldn't lift nearly as much for a small amount of reps, I felt stronger in general.

As I got more and more into boxing and with a significant weight loss goal back 10 years ago, I lifted even less consistently and my resistance training became mostly hitting a heavy bag as well as some staple bodyweight exercises. Then finally, over 2 years ago, I stopped lifting entirely, other than my own body weight. The strange thing is, I feel even stronger than ever, even at age 47.

No matter what your personal goals are, every health & fitness organization, including the CDC, recommends some resistance training for all Americans. This does not mean that we need to lift weights, push/pull bands or cables or really use any equipment at all for this training. Of course my favorite type of resistance is still punching heavy bags but really, we are all equipped for resistance training naturally. We can all make significant gains in strength and bone density simply by using our own body weight.

Now if you are looking to build lots of bulky muscle, you are going to need additional weight and a different kind of training regimen. But as mentioned earlier, this does NOT necessarily translate into strength and you would be surprised how jacked one can get from bodyweight training only. It can also be far more effective because it can be done any time, any place, sporadically as opposed to a single gym session. That being said, there are many different variables that must be tuned properly to make these exercises effective. Reps, sets, rest time, frequency, etc.

So what bodyweight exercises should you do? It depends a lot on your particular fitness goals. I did a video once showing what I think the best 5 exercises are for boxing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcYuoH128Q - but there are so many others that this list is hardly indicative. I also didn't mention core stuff here, which is not just critical for boxing but also for functional strength.

If you want to get at least a little jacked, you would be amazed what you can get out of just push-ups and pull-ups. I consider both of those the best single movement exercises there are. They are literally all I do consistently, other than hitting a heavy bag, which is also a significant contributor. Now of course there are no short cuts, nothing comes easy, and pull-ups are extremely difficult. The average person cannot even do one.  During the peak of my power lifting stage, I couldn't come anywhere close to pulling myself up either. I could increase my lift on the lat pull machine but this did not change the bottom line. Here is another video that shows how I struggled my way into doing one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrO42Sab2Ls&list=PLN0PPf0o8X6VPOZedyHhvx-h7ueGosHc3&index=1

Of course push-ups and pull-ups are focused on the upper body but you hit your legs, hips and glutes simply enough with jumping. Lunge jumps, squat jumps, split squat jumps, narrow squat jumps, broad jumps and high jumps will build that explosive strength as well as cardio. I know that jumps are not for everyone but there other good options, like just a static split squats or better yet, if you have anything elevated that you can put your foot on (like a bench or chair), the Bulgarian split squat is an amazingly effective exercise you can do with no weights at all. Then if you have a bench or stairs, just basic step-ups will work pretty well. Both front and lateral. Combining a lunch to a step-up isolating just one leg will surprise you too. Even basic walking lunges can get tough real fast!

Then there is core. Just about every core exercise is good and something everybody should do. You just want to make sure you are well-balanced, in terms of working all parts of your core and all planes of motion.

As I have said many times, not every body is the same. Not everyone responds to training the same way. And the best workout is always the one you will actually do. You have to like it, at least a little. If pumping iron really is your thing and you are getting results and not getting injured, great! But I know we can all benefit a lot from bodyweight training and build more muscle than we might think, as well as prevent/avoid injuries. You just need a comprehensive program that is going to challenge you to get results. Don't forget shadow boxing either, as a great way to improve your boxing skills and burn calories!

6 Mental Mistakes People New To Boxing Make

Boxing is truly something anybody can do. Doesn't matter how old you are, what kind of shape you're in, whether you ever want to box competitively, or whether you know anything about the sport in general, you can train like a boxer. You can also always get better at boxing too. No matter what reason you decide to train in boxing, it is a sport and a skill-based workout, which makes it different than many other exercise programs. Learning those skills is not necessarily easy but something you can absolutely pick up with time and dedication. The rewards are more than worth it. Besides the general good feelings that come with improvement, your workout benefits overall will also improve (muscles used, calories burned, cardio enhanced) and basic skills will develop too. Coordination, balance, agility, reaction time are all trainable skills that you can increase through boxing. Again though, and like most everything else worth having, it takes work. It takes practice. No one just shows up off the street and is good at boxing. No one. Here are 6 things that will help anyone new to boxing with that learning curve. Note that these aren't necessarily technique-related. More of the right mindset to have when starting up boxing. Also note that these are mistakes EVERYONE makes. I have made them all and seen countless others make them. So if you do too, don't feel bad! This is all part of the wonderful learning process that is boxing!!

1) Not Thinking About Their Hands & Wrists

We usually tell first-timers while we wrap their hands that they can forget just about everything we are about to tell them except for this: keep your wrists straight and your fists tight when you hit the bag. You could forget what an uppercut or a hook is and throw any punch you want and as long as you hit on the big knuckles with a tight fist and straight wrist, you will be okay. Of course this is easier said than done! When you're just getting started with boxing and you're wrapped up with the gloves on and the adrenaline flowing, it can be hard to know exactly what your hand is doing upon impact. You are not just getting used to the movement but the distance and feel of the bag (or mitts). But you've got to pay special attention to the hands. Start slow with your punches and even pause when you hit the bag. Now eventually, you will want to do the opposite, especially getting your hands back quickly, but it is important to make sure you are locking out that hand and hitting with the top 2 knuckles before you start thinking about speed.

2.) Not Breathing

Despite the fact that we all must breathe to live, it is incredibly natural to hold our breath when we throw punches. We're full of adrenaline and we're just trying to remember 50 other things about throwing a punch and breathing falls by the wayside. Someone may not be aware they are doing it! The universally-followed way to fix this problem is to force an exhale on every punch (or exertion in general). Most fighters make a "shh" sound but it doesn't really matter what sound you go with, so long as you exhale. If you ever want to get in the ring and fight something, try doing it without opening your mouth but any breathing is certainly better than none. It will make a HUGE difference. I believe many new folks are also nervous to really make any noise at all while they box, for fear of calling attention to themselves or being that person at the gym that let's out those loud grunts when the they lift but I, and every boxing/martial arts coach in the world, assure that this is not showing off. It is as much a part of the punch as punching is.

3.) Afraid to Step Outside of the Comfort Zone

As I mentioned previously about forced exhales, plenty of people new to boxing (or just about anything, really), fear getting outside of the comfort zone and looking silly, looking different, feeling awkward, or just generally fear of failure. Who doesn't? This is so deeply embedded into our psyches and if it were easy to fix, we'd all be a lot more well-adjusted and probably happier! With boxing, these fears can really hold us back from learning the skills. I know just about everybody has already stepped outside of their comfort zone simply by coming into the gym but to take that next step, we need to give ourselves permission to maybe look a little silly, feel a little awkward and unsure, and to try and fail. It is how progress happens!

4.) Not Training Consistently

Because boxing is such a skill-based workout, you are going to maximize your skills AND your workout by training consistently. Just doing it once in a while means you and your body will have to remember everything all over again, whereas consistent training commits these things to muscle memory. You don't have to process what throwing a hook is, you just throw a hook. Besides saving milliseconds that actually does matter, it allows you to be more explosive, more confident in your movements, and to be able to make refinements that continue your improvement.

I wrote an earlier blog post - https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2022/06/wheres-my-mojo.html - about something I see a lot from not just new boxers but people new to any exercise program. If you have real goals for your own fitness and/or boxing development, it is critical that you are able to overcome this obstacle that just about all of us run into.

5.) Quantity Over Quality

This might be something many of us know but don't always follow during a boxing workout. Then there is another percentage of people who separate the boxing from the workout and think that quality is less important to them because they are there for the exercise. As I have said hundreds of times and it will hopefully one day be written on my gravestone, quality will lead to a better workout than quantity. Learning the skills, all the skills, makes your workout better. Throwing non-stop punches at a steady clip is a LOT easier and burns LESS calories and builds LESS cardio than throwing less, explosive punches with head movement and footwork before and after. I can't get too many from this camp to believe me but it is very easy to prove. Just try it. Here are 2 examples I did for a video and I didn't even go as extreme as I could have in Example B, yet is was still much more tiring to me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAiQDxT0RWo

One more thing I will say about this is that by focusing on quality over quantity, you also raise your ceiling for workout effectiveness. Not only does it provide a better workout but gives you the chance to make it better still. Just focusing on quantity is going to provide a relatively low ceiling. You will be able to increase your punch output only to a certain point but without improving technique, your speed will never improve nor will your power. Things like Impact Wrap, what we use at our club, and punch trackers can be useful but they will never actually reflect your abilities and if you are a quantity vs quality person, your numbers will plateau, as will your workout.

6.) Thinking They've Got It!

This is kind of the flip side of #3, but they are also two sides of the same coin. Training consistently and learning the technique will take you to new levels. But that doesn't mean you've figured out boxing and got everything down. That NEVER happens. Don't let that discourage you. Let it free you! This is a beautiful thing about boxing. It never ends. You ALWAYS can get better. As mentioned above though, people who value quantity over quality or separate the workout from boxing may not be able to achieve this. This is another thing I like to repeat and will just keep on repeating it because it really is true (and philosophically in line with the concept as well), no boxer ever stops throwing the jab. No baseball player stops taking batting practice. No quarterback stops throwing the football. No basketball player stops taking jump shots. And no coaches ever stop studying. In fact, in many cases, the greatest athletes and coaches put in the most work! We should always be looking at the most basic mechanics with new eyes, looking at how we can improve. The answers won't always be evident. They may take time. But they are there. 

So keep on practicing, even if it feels like the practicing isn't helping- it is, so long as you are practicing the right things in the right ways. What are the right things and what is the right way? Ask me! I am here to help!!

How Do I Defend X???

Boxing is the only fighting system or martial art I know of that uses head movement regularly to evade punches. Everything else relies primarily on blocks and of course, just moving out of the way. These defenses work in boxing too but a nice thing about head movement is that it allows you to evade quickly, counter attack more immediately, not take damage as you might from a block and have more options in general as you are not committing a hand to defend yourself. But it carries with it some cons as well. Below is a guide to the most common defensive options boxers use with a brief explanation of those pros and cons. It is by no means meant to be exhaustive - there are so many ways to defend that I could go on and on about - but if you've ever wondered what basic defenses work for what strikes, this will give you a general idea.

Defending Straight Punches (Jabs & Crosses) To the Head

1.) Slipping to the Outside - This is moving the head just offline enough so that the straight punch does not connect. Slipping specifically to the outside means that you are turning your shoulders to the outside of your opponents hand, i.e. if they throw a straight right hand, you would slip to your left so your right shoulder is outside of their right hand.

Pros

• Very short movement
• Your head is offline and you are loaded to throw another punch to the same side that they threw their punch from, meaning their head is briefly undefended
• Fastest counter options
• Slipping to the outside means that you are temporarily safer from their other hand, as you are farthest away from it.
• Your opponent misses you entirely, which has a psychological and strategical benefit to you.

Cons

• May not be the best direction to go depending on the angle your opponent is standing it. So if they are not lined up with you and they are slightly to the left, yet throw their straight right hand, slipping outside their right hand might move you into the punch.
• Straight punches are usually the fastest punches someone could throw with less telegraph so dodging them requires very fast reaction and recognition time. 

2.) Slipping to the Inside -  This is moving the head just offline enough so that the straight punch does not connect. Slipping specifically to the inside means that you are turning your shoulders inside your opponent's hand - , i.e. if they throw a straight right hand, you would slip to your right so your left shoulder is inside of their right hand.

Pros

• Only that it may be the shortest movement to make, based on the scenario I described in "Cons' above where your opponent is not aligned with you when they throw the punch

Cons

• But it may require more movement if your opponent is lined up with you or is at an angle from the other side.
• Slipping inside means that you are now moving towards their other hand so you are set up for a punch on that side.

3.) Pulls - Pulling your head straight back, generally over towards the rear side. The front hand can be dropped to allow for more space and a punch can also be deflected by your shoulder

Pros

• Probably the most instinctual head movement.
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Puts a lot of weight on the back foot for a strong cross counter
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips or rolls.
• Can be more off-balance too
• While good for dodging one punch, not always good for dodging multiple punches or with pressure fighters in general as so much weight is on the back foot.
• No other good counter options other than the cross and reaction must be very quick

4.) Rolling Either Direction - Ducking down underneath and shifting your weight from one side to the other

Pros

• Might make for a smaller target if there are follow-up strikes

Cons

• Often too slow for straight punches. More movement than necessary
• Less time to counter too
• Rolling a jab is pretty much impossible to do effectively. It can work with a cross but is probably the least useful way to defend a straight punch.
• While good for dodging one punch, not always good for dodging multiple punches or with pressure fighters in general as so much weight is on the back foot.

5.) Catching/Front Blocking - Putting one or two hands up to catch or block the punch.

Pros

• Very natural

Cons

• You can still take damage
• Committing a hand gives you fewer counter options
• Being pushed by the punch gives you less or even no counter options
• Can block your own vision
• Opponent can use their punching hand to move yours away or manipulate in some way.
• More susceptible to feints
• Opponent still lands a strike, even if it does no damage and the judges don't score it for them.

6.) Parrying - This is where you bring your mirror-side hand slightly forward to redirect the punch to the inside, taking it off line so that it misses your head.

Pros

• You take no damage and the opponent misses
• Can give you some great counter opportunities as your parrying hand can manipulate their punching hand.
• Makes it hard for them to follow up with a punch on their other hand

Cons

• Hard to do effectively. Takes a lot of coordination and confidence.
• Brings a hand away from your face, leaving that side undefended and as such, makes you really susceptible to feints

7.) Moving Back/Away - Simply taking a step back so that your head is no longer in range for your opponent's jab or cross.

Pros

• Relatively instinctual, just moving away
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips, rolls or blocks
• May be less effective when in close.
• Takes a little less time to do as just a pure reaction
• By moving out of range, your opponent will not be able to hit you but you will unlikely be able to hit them too
• Backing straight up is good to do once but will need to angle out as an opponent charging in will overwhelm you

Defending Hook Punches to the Head

1.) Rolling Towards the Hook - Ducking down underneath and shifting your weight from one side to the other, going underneath the hooking hand.

Pros

• Providing you successfully duck down, your opponent misses and is more off-balance having thrown a hook than a straight punch
• Sets you up perfectly for multiple counters, depending on what is open.

Cons

• Gotta be very quick! Rolling is a bigger movement and takes a little more time to execute and counter off of
• Can be challenging to roll under a punch coming from the direction your weight is already shifted to. For instance, you were to throw a left hook properly and shift your weight to your right foot, and then your opponent were to throw a left hook as well, you would not be able to immediately roll right as your weight is already shifted on that foot. In a case like this, you would need to shift it back to the left before rolling to the right. Often this is done with a slip movement but this does take additional time, not always available.

2.) Pulls - Pulling your head straight back, generally over towards the rear side. The front hand can be dropped to allow for more space and a punch can also be deflected by your shoulder

Pros

• Probably the most instinctual head movement.
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Puts a lot of weight on the back foot for a strong cross counter
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips and rolls are
• Can be more off-balance too
• While good for dodging one punch, not always good for dodging multiple punches or with pressure fighters in general as so much weight is on the back foot.
• No other good counter options other than the cross and reaction must be very quick

3.) Cover Blocking/Absorption- Covering the side of your face and head so that your glove and/or forearm and/or elbow block the punch

Pros

• More natural than a roll

Cons

• You can still not only take damage but significant damage, depending on your opponent's power
• Committing a hand gives you less counter options
• Being pushed by the punch gives you less or even no counter options
• Can block your own vision
• Your body is uncovered on that side, making you susceptible for a body shot.
• More susceptible to feints
• Opponent still lands a strike, even if it does no damage and the judges don't score it for them.

4.) Moving Back/Away - Simply taking a step back so that your head is no longer in range for your opponent's hook

Pros

• Relatively instinctual, just moving away
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips, rolls or blocks
• May be less effective when in close, where hooks are usually thrown
• Takes a little less time to do as just a pure reaction
• By moving out of range, your opponent will not be able to hit you but you will unlikely be able to hit them too
• Backing straight up is good to do once but will need to angle out as an opponent charging in will overwhelm you

Defending Uppercuts to the Head

1.) Slipping to the Outside - This is moving the head just offline enough so that the punch does not connect. Slipping specifically to the outside means that you are turning your shoulders to the outside of your opponents hand, i.e. if they throw the uppercut with their right hand, you would slip to your left so your right shoulder is outside of their right hand.

Pros

• Very short movement
• Your head is offline and you are loaded to throw another punch to the same side that they threw their punch from, meaning their head is briefly undefended
• Fastest counter options
• Slipping to the outside means that you are temporarily safer from their other hand, as you are farthest away from it.
• Your opponent misses you entirely, which has a psychological and strategical benefit to you.

Cons

• The angle of their arm may not be straight and harder to dodge than a straight punch
• Uppercuts are also shorter punches and their is less time to make that distinction
• May not be the best direction to go depending on the angle your opponent is standing it. So if they are not lined up with you and they are slightly to the left, yet throw their straight right hand, slipping outside their right hand might move you into the punch.

2.) Slipping to the Inside -  This is moving the head just offline enough so that the straight punch does not connect. Slipping specifically to the inside means that you are turning your shoulders inside your opponent's hand - , i.e. if they throw a straight right hand, you would slip to your right so your left shoulder is outside of their right hand.

Pros

• Only that it may be the shortest movement to make, based on the scenario I described in "Cons' above where your opponent is not aligned with you when they throw the punch

Cons

• But it may require more movement if your opponent is lined up with you or is at an angle from the other side.
• Slipping inside means that you are now moving towards their other hand so you are set up for a punch on that side.

3.) Pulls - Pulling your head straight back, generally over towards the rear side. The front hand can be dropped to allow for more space and a punch can also be deflected by your shoulder

Pros

• Probably the most instinctual head movement.
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Puts a lot of weight on the back foot for a strong cross counter
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage
• Since uppercuts come primarily up, you usually don't have to pull your head back too far to evade

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips or rolls.
• Can be more off-balance too
• While good for dodging one punch, not always good for dodging multiple punches or with pressure fighters in general as so much weight is on the back foot.
• No other good counter options other than the cross and reaction must be very quick
• May be more movement than is necessary for countering an uppercut

4.) Catching/Front Blocking - Putting one or two hands up to catch or block the punch. In the case of uppercuts, you are usually catching by facing your palm down, almost like you were holding mitts for someone.

Pros

• Natural to put your hands out to block a punch, though not as much for uppercuts.

Cons

• You can still take damage
• Committing a hand gives you fewer counter options
• Being pushed by the punch gives you fewer or even no counter options
• Can block your own vision
• Opponent can use their punching hand to move yours away or manipulate in some way.
• More susceptible to feints
• Opponent still lands a strike, even if it does no damage and the judges don't score it for them.

5.) Parrying - This is where you bring your mirror-side hand slightly forward to redirect the punch to the inside, taking it off line so that it misses your head. In the case of uppercuts, you are usually doing this with a bent arm.

Pros

• You take no damage and the opponent misses
• Can give you some great counter opportunities as your parrying hand can manipulate their punching hand.
• Makes it hard for them to follow up with a punch on their other hand
• By keeping pressure on their arm, you have a better chance of feeling their next move(s)

Cons

• Hard to do effectively. Takes a lot of coordination and confidence.
• Brings a hand away from your face, leaving that side undefended and as such, makes you really susceptible to feints
• In the case of parrying uppercuts specifically, you have to rotate your hips a little more, which requires more recovery time.
• Timing is also more critical with parrying uppercuts, and the angle of your opponent's arm can vary more.

6.) Moving Back/Away - Simply taking a step back so that your head is no longer in range for your opponent's uppercut.

Pros

• Relatively instinctual, just moving away
• Works for any punch aimed at the head
• Even if you get hit, you are still moving away from the punch and take less damage
• In the case of uppercuts, you don't have to move very far as the punch does not have a ton of range

Cons

• Not always as quick as a reaction as slips, rolls or blocks
• May be less effective when in close.
• Takes a little less time to do as just a pure reaction
• By moving out of range, your opponent will not be able to hit you but you will unlikely be able to hit them too
• Although if you only step back far enough to avoid an uppercut, you may still be in range for other punches.
• Backing straight up is good to do once but will need to angle out as an opponent charging in will overwhelm you

Defending Body Shots

1.) Blocking/Absorption Defense - Using your elbow and arm to cover the ribs and trunk area, blocking the punch. Best practice is to do this almost like a side crunch, moving towards the punch and stuffing it, all without dropping the hand.

Pros

• Is the only consistent, reliable defense for bent-arm strikes to the body.
• Allows you to throw an immediate count uppercut with the blocking arm that has a direct, currently-unguarded path to your opponent's chin

Cons

• You still take some damage absorbing the punch
• There is a greater tendency to drop your hand, opening up your head.

2.) Moving Back/Away - Stepping back or even pulling your hips back as well to avoid the body shot.

Pros

• If you manage to actually do this, you will take no damage compared to a block

Cons

• But good luck doing it effectively. Body shots are generally thrown at close range and rarely do you have time to make this really big movement. While your head is a small target and movable, your trunk and midsection is not. Much harder to move and maneuver
• By making such a big movement, it is very unlikely that you would be in any kind of good position to counter quickly.

So which is the best defense to use? As hopefully you have surmised, there is no one answer other than "all of them." The goal is to not take significant damage from the strike (and if you do, as minimal as possible) and being as less susceptible to follow-up strikes. Better yet if it provides you the best opportunity to effectively counter. Which one fits this criteria depends on how your opponent attacks you so there can never be only one. Plus as you hopefully also noticed, some defensive options weren't even listed for particular strikes. For instance, you would almost definitely not roll an uppercut nor parry a hook. Therefore, it is critical that you get it right when defending.

But take heart, there are things you can do to make this much easier for yourself. Keeping your hands up and covering as much of your head and body as possible will leave you less open for strikes. You could block any punch if you have to, though it is not always as optimal of a defense for boxing as head movement often is. Head movement requires fast reflexes but instead of waiting for your opponent to strike and then moving your head out of the way, it is generally better to always be moving your head side-to-side, up and down, and any other way you can. This will make it easier to react quickly AND has an added benefit of often reducing the number of strikes your opponent throws as you are presenting a moving target.