too. This does not mean, however, using less energy in general. In fact, you could even use more energy, but by using it more effectively and efficiently, you will be able to perform at significantly higher levels. Here are several different ways I recommend to maximize your work during boxing training sessions and one way that I DON'T recommend for training. First, the do's:
Breathing
Most people relatively new to boxing, as well as plenty who have boxed for a while, don't actually breathe properly when they punch stuff. Sure, we all know how to breathe, we are even doing it right now, but that is steady state breathing. Meaning, your body automatically breathes in a certain, mostly-uninterrupted rhythm. And even if you are doing physical activity like jogging or biking or lifting, you can still keep this steady state breathing pattern, just maybe at a higher rate and/or deeper inhale-exhale. But this is not how we breathe when we box, as boxing is not a steady state activity. It is a series of constantly changing rhythms, patterns and exertions. Steady state breathing will not work well here.
As insult to injury, what many people naturally do when they punch (or exert themselves in any sudden way), is hold their breath. This is a pretty natural human reaction that does not serve us when we box. Instead we have to teach ourselves to do the opposite: every time you punch or perform any exertion, force a quick exhale. To make sure you are doing this, it should be audible too. Generally a "shushing" type sound is preferred because you don't want to get into the habit of opening your mouth while punching.
I think there are plenty of folks who feel somewhat uncomfortable doing this in a group setting. Being noisy with their breathing. It might feel like you're calling attention to yourself or showing off or even being obnoxious, like some of those tennis players and weightlifters who grunt really loud. I get it, for sure. But as long as you aren't trying to make an obnoxious sound on purpose, this is not the case. The forced exhale should be as much as part of the punch as the punch is. Every single fighter does this. Not most, ALL! So you should do it too!! I guarantee it will help!!
But what about in between rounds? This is when you can go back to your steady state breathing and try to go in through the nose, out through the mouth. Deep breaths are good but I have seen people go too far and actually make themselves dizzy going too deep. You may also want water right away and you should drink water but make sure you get at least 2 good breaths in first.
For more info, here is a video I made a couple years ago about breathing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL9wk2J2mQM&list=PLN0PPf0o8X6X1Te2zEgHrqy-BtyI-RAg3&index=129
Relax!
This can be very unnatural as well. Generally when people want to throw a punch (or again, any exertion), the tendency is to tense up. All of your muscles engage to put extra oomph into this powerful punch. The problem is, while you may use a lot of different muscles to punch, you don't use all of them. When you're tense and certain muscles are engaged that don't actually help with the action you are trying to do, they end up fighting a little bit with all the muscles you actually do need. So tensing up can actually make your punches less powerful and slower, as well as tire you out unnecessarily.
The key is to relax the muscles you don't need at that split second and activate the ones you do need. This does NOT mean throwing punches lightly though! Quite the opposite as relaxing can result in faster, harder punches because you are not fighting yourself. You are launching a hand towards the target totally unimpeded. This is a lot easier said than done as you need to figure out, either consciously or not, which muscles to turn on and turn off.
Biggest and most common example are the shoulders. If your shoulders are highly engaged, maybe even shrugging upward a little, it is going to slow everything down. You don't need to do a lot with your shoulder muscles when you throw a punch. Don't get me wrong though. Your shoulders definitely move and rotation is often encouraged but it is not those shoulder muscles that activate initially. It is the hips and trunk starting the motion, then the shoulders just follow. When the punch lands and you pull it back quickly, that should begin with the lat muscles in your back, along with the hips and trunk. Even when keeping your hands up to guard your face, you should be using very little shoulder muscle. Instead, just let your elbows rest on your ribs, bringing the hands up, keeping your shoulders up and relaxed.
Here is yet another video I made on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqYr8H1fHqM&list=PLN0PPf0o8X6X1Te2zEgHrqy-BtyI-RAg3&index=87
Mental Toughness/Self Talk
If you look up any physical endurance record - like the most consecutive push-ups or holding a plank - the numbers are insane. Like for instance, people have done over 10,000 push-ups in a row. How is that humanly possible? From a physical standpoint, it isn't. The people who have these records are not necessarily more physically fit than people who do push-ups and tons of other exercises every day, the difference is mental. The mind is incredibly powerful and can sometimes override the feelings of exhaustion we all get when working hard.
This works the other way too. The mind can also work against you and be de-motivational as well. It can tell you that you are tired and that you didn't sleep that well last night and had a long day at work so that is why you have less energy during your training sessions. Whether or not this is true, this kind of thinking can bring you down. Instead, stay positive and remind yourself that intense exercise training sessions are somewhat of a journey. How you feel right now may not be how you feel in a round or two. Second and third winds are very real things. There are times where I've been at the halfway point in a workout and thought I couldn't go much longer but then once I get towards the end, I feel like I never need to stop.
The body achieves what the mind the believes. When you get tired during boxing training, remember why you started. Think about every person who may have doubted you at any point in your life. Visualize that you are an unstoppable killing machine or at least, your favorite fighter. Being tired is just a state of mind. Find your perfect mindset that gives you the most possible energy and strength for boxing training.
Quality Over Quantity
No matter how fit we are, no matter how mentally tough we are, we all have a finite amount of energy within a given time frame. So it makes sense that we would want to spend this energy on what is most important, right? What is giving us the most bang for our buck, so to speak. When I see people just standing in front of the bag, throwing non-stop punches with no breaks, I am happy to see that kind of determination but I believe they would be much better served trying to throw combinations faster, more powerfully and with better technique, followed by movement, before throwing the combination again.
It is important to remember that our punches can always get faster, more powerful and technically better. Doing this requires additional energy. And it is a different energy system than throwing non-stop steady state punches. So I definitely understand how making this change can be difficult but it is more than worth it. Your workout will be better with a higher ceiling too. When you find yourself getting more tired throwing combinations with this intensity, use your footwork to recover and manage your energy systems, then throw it again only when you are ready to throw at that same (or better) intensity level. Tapping the bag lazily when you're tired in the name of not stopping isn't going to do much for you. You'd get a lot more by taking an active rest.
Food and Hydration
Every body is a little different here but I feel like for many of us, boxing on an empty stomach is not a great idea unless it is really early in the morning. If it's 9am or after, I would highly recommend at least eating a little something. I won't get into specifics in this particular post but generally, we run on carbs so eating something carby without a lot of sugar before workouts makes sense, unless you've just had a full meal in the not-too-distant past.
Hydration is critical too. Most people drink water during their workout sessions but it's good to hydrate before as well, especially the later in the day those sessions are. Try to consume a full glass of water within the hour before training.
If you find yourself feeling jittery, light-headed and weaker than normal during boxing training, there is a good chance it has something to do with your food and hydration levels. Even if your goal is purely to lose weight, you will ultimately get more out of a properly-fueled performance than an under nourished one.
Box More
This is an easy one! You can learn technique to manage your energy systems efficiently, like some of what I have mentioned already, but there is a lot of subconscious learning that our bodies do which can only come from experience. The more we box, the more our bodies learn.
Consistency is important here too. If you train consistently X-amount of times a week, your body (and mind) will learn and develop better than if you say, boxed 6 times in one week and then not again for two weeks. This makes it much easier to set goals. So if for instance, you are boxing 2 or 3 times every week, you can try to up the intensity level every few weeks and have a much better chance of taking that next step up because of that consistent training.
And here is one way that I DON'T recommend using for energy management during boxing training...
Conscious Conservation
This is the idea of trying to conserve energy, usually in the early rounds, to avoid gassing out at the end. It makes a lot of logical sense and you hear a lot of smart people talk about it but I think it can easily be misunderstood and not applied properly in a training scenario.
An important distinction to make is whether or not we are talking about boxing competitively or training with a coach/on your own. Even if you are fighter who competes, these are still really different things in some ways. Then there is context too. If you are boxing competitively and using a lot of energy but not doing a lot of damage or scoring a lot of points, that is obviously a non-efficient use of energy. In cases where someone is covering up, moving around a lot and causing you to miss, it makes good sense not to expend a ton of energy unless it is going to directly break this pattern that you have fallen into. In professional fights that go more than say, 8 rounds, it is not uncommon at all to see a fighter taking a round off if they feel like they don't necessarily need it on the scorecard. This is generally in the name of conservation so they can make sure to finish strong. I don't particularly love this strategy because of the uncertainty of judging in boxing but most everybody does it and it often works out okay for them.
But if we are talking about training on your own or with a coach, I feel like trying to conserve will not help you get better and even create some bad habits. The two main ones are creating a pattern of sub-maximal effort and routinely throwing punches without a ton of speed or power because that is the routine you are used to.
The other bad habit is that it makes it harder to increase your overall stamina and fitness. If you find yourself gassing out early, you'd be much better served by training your body to overcome this and get stronger than to simply concede that you WILL gas out early and had better conserve or else. Pushing to failure is not a bad thing in training. Obviously, you don't want "failure" to result in physical ailments but going to the point where you simply can't go any more is how you build that stamina.
On some level, your body may unconsciously pace itself to handle the task at hand. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you just make sure you always consciously pushing to get better, getting out of your comfort zone.
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