Posts tagged body pump

Lose Weight with Boxing Training

Aint’ it strange that you can never really notice weight loss in yourself until someone else spots it. A couple of weeks ago a person I hadn’t seen in years told me I had lost weight. The same day, a girl at the gym asked me if I had lost weight. Of course, I have been doing my usual weight training and skipping workouts and much less spinning. It’s so strange. Then I weighed myself at weekend and found that I had put half a stone on.

So perhaps I’ve added a lot of muscle tissue, which obviously weighs more than fat, although I have a fairly athletic build, but I don’t think I have added seven pounds of muscle. That is way too much.

Anyhow, I need something quick to get me fit and I’m now attending boxing training twice a week, body pump once a week and body combat once a week. That’s enough for me. I’m already aching after my gym session last night and boxing training tonight.

If you’re serious about conditioning your body, I would highly recommend boxing training. The hour and a half session started off with skipping. I used a weighted rope, which makes it a little harder but tones the shoulders nicely. Then there were sprints on the spot, high jumps, press-ups, burpees, star jumps, and sit-ups. Then it was out into the nippy air for a mile and half job followed by tiring two minute heavy bag punches non-stop. Sit ups and press-ups followed, then knees up throwing shots at the bag thirty seconds, heavy blows for half a minute, and alternate punches for a final thirty seconds. Two sets of these were performed.

Finally the last twenty minutes contained some seriously hard body weight training, some of which I coudn’t do (throw your body off the floor press-ups) but at least I tried but almost splatted my nose on the carpet. More tough sit-ups followed and then it was a stretch and warm down.

I am not sure what attracts me to hard training such as this but I know that the pain is worth it in fitness and the positive changes it gives to the body. Even my punching power has gained in strength and I am able to keep my guard up. I have big respect for boxers. I struggled throwing punches for just two minutes, let alone twelve rounds of three minutes.

Muscle vs. Fat

What is important to remember when you are undertaking any exercise or weight loss programme is that if you perform weight training, you WILL put on weight. If you’re obsessed with weighing yourself, this isn’t going to help you one bit and can lead you off the right path onto the wrong.

Instead, get rid of the scales and let your clothes tell the truth. I always know when I’ve lost weight because my clothes are loose. The scales always show me at the same weight or more but I do a lot of weight training.

The reason I state this is because muscle does weigh more than fat, so obviously if you are doing regular weight training the muscle gain will show up on the scale. This can make some people panic but remember muscle is your best friend and will help to burn off the fat over the long term. It may not be overnight but you will certainly look leaner if you keep up weight training.

Another myth that most people worry about with weight training is that they will bulk up to look like Arnie. Even if you start with light weights and perform 20-30 reps, you will start to build muscle. To burn serious fat, try to increase the weights every week. The more weight you can squat or press, the more leaner your muscles will become. Avoid pyramid training which use heavy weights and you’ll be fine. I would highly recommend Body Pump. It is tough but work on building your mental strength to perform weight training.

Even today I weighed myself and I usually never do. Twelve stone. I am lean but I perform a boxing training, body pump, spinning, and skipping over the week so my metabolism is high. Another great thing you must know about weight training is that it will burn still be burning off fat for up to 48 hours afterward. Cardio may burn it for up to 2-3 hours afterward so how cool would it be to burn fat through the night.

Remember to eat lots of protein to fuel the additional muscle.