Swimming

Lockstep

To cut a long story short, the boxing coach asks would I be interested in starting competitions. I said yes and get weighed and all that jazz so he says I need to try and be as fit as possible.
He reccomended against lifting heavy weights as they would slow me down and instead to lift light weights and said some cardio (jogging etc) is a good idea.

A pool has opened up near me so I've been going there the past few days.I'm not trying to gain much weight, but be able to last longer without going outta breath.
When I've finished swimming I'm not so much out of breath as "feeling the burn" in my legs; is swimming toning me at the same time?

So basically, is swimming any good for endurance or should I be doing something else.
Thanks.

Canis Lupus

There do be a swimming forum under sports.

Short answer is swimming is good for you. Don't know if there are better alternatives but swimming helped with my cardio massively. Oddly though if you are frontcrawling you should feel it more in your arms and your shoulders. Legs don't get used AS much when you swim long distances but would need more details as to the distances and speeds you're going for.

Ultimately, post in the swimming forum. I only learnt back in Feb and there are much better swimmer than me to give you advice there.

Al_Fernz

kickoutthejams wrote: »

He reccomended against lifting heavy weights as they would slow me down and instead to lift light weights and said some cardio (jogging etc)

Your coach is wrong. Lifting heavy weights within a properly structured program will not be detrimental to your speed.

To answer your question, yes swimming is a great cardio exercise. Your endurance and stamina levels will increase if you do it in a routine that suits your boxing training.

kevpants

kickoutthejams wrote: »

He reccomended against lifting heavy weights as they would slow me down and instead to lift light weights and said some cardio (jogging etc) is a good idea.

Your coach is wrong +1. I know he's probably old school and experienced but times change and very often Irish coaches don't change with them, regardless of sport.

Read this

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/exercises_for_fighters.htm

He talks about maximal work here. That's lifting close to the max amount of weight you can handle for 1 rep. The reps are kept low and the sets high. This won't stack on lbs and lbs of muscle but will increase explosive power and speed.

Al_Fernz

Yo Kickoutthejams (great username BTW!) - this article might give you some food for thought too :

http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/7_steps_to_a_balanced_fighter

Lockstep

Canis Lupus wrote: »

There do be a swimming forum under sports.

Yeah, I'm not that ignorant:P

I'm just curious about the fitness aspect of it, so figured that this place would give me better answers.
I'm guessing I'm feeling more in my legs as I havn't been using them as much over the summer.

celestial

kickoutthejams wrote: »

To cut a long story short, the boxing coach asks would I be interested in starting competitions. I said yes and get weighed and all that jazz so he says I need to try and be as fit as possible.
He reccomended against lifting heavy weights as they would slow me down and instead to lift light weights and said some cardio (jogging etc) is a good idea.

A pool has opened up near me so I've been going there the past few days.I'm not trying to gain much weight, but be able to last longer without going outta breath.
When I've finished swimming I'm not so much out of breath as "feeling the burn" in my legs; is swimming toning me at the same time?

So basically, is swimming any good for endurance or should I be doing something else.
Thanks.

Em. This is a really obvious question that I wanna ask -- if you are going towards participating in boxing comps - why aren't you just boxing more?? I've never heard of a boxer looking to take things to the next level by hitting the swimming pool?!? If you want endurance and to be as fit and strong as you can for the ring then I'd be recommending lots of anaerobic activity in the form of, well, more boxing (!), sprints, resistance training (weights and/or bodyweight training) - plus running for endurance. I suppose swimming might have its place but I'm not sure it's what I'd recommend.

Oh and your coach has it the wrong way round on the weights thing.

Lockstep

celestial wrote: »

Em. This is a really obvious question that I wanna ask -- if you are going towards participating in boxing comps - why aren't you just boxing more?? I've never heard of a boxer looking to take things to the next level by hitting the swimming pool?!? If you want endurance and to be as fit and strong as you can for the ring then I'd be recommending lots of anaerobic activity in the form of, well, more boxing (!), sprints, resistance training (weights and/or bodyweight training) - plus running for endurance. I suppose swimming might have its place but I'm not sure it's what I'd recommend.

Oh and your coach has it the wrong way round on the weights thing.

As sadly, my boxing club doesn't run 24/7.

I do need to do training on my own time. I also like swimming so thought I'd ask the folk here if it's decent for endurance.

celestial

kickoutthejams wrote: »

As sadly, my boxing club doesn't run 24/7.

I do need to do training on my own time. I also like swimming so thought I'd ask the folk here if it's decent for endurance.

Fair enough so. I reckon if you like swimming, go for it. It requires a lot of stamina and engages so many muscle groups so it's pretty demanding. Sure to help with endurance. Do you like running too? You could combine sprints and longer runs with your swimming then too.

Lockstep

celestial wrote: »

Fair enough so. I reckon if you like swimming, go for it. It requires a lot of stamina and engages so many muscle groups so it's pretty demanding. Sure to help with endurance. Do you like running too? You could combine sprints and longer runs with your swimming then too.

I do like running but I like mixing up what I do.

I will of course be jogging/running as well. But I know they're good for stamina. I havn't been swimming in ages so was unsure as to how beneficial it would be.

Naos

At the risk of an infraction, Rocky 3

OT: I've just started swimming again Kick and enjoying it. Hungry as a horse afterwards so must be doing something right. Also it's non-contact so will be a good break for your joints.

Roper

I'm not sold on swimming as a conditioning exercise for any sport other than swimming TBH.

Hit the roads, do what your coach tells you. He's trained his fighters before and he knows what he wants. If I had a penny for every guy who I get to do something who says "but I read that..." or "doesn't that do..." then I'd have about a euro. If he's decent then he has a schedule or at least an idea for you and if you go off doing something else on him you might f*ck it up. If you do heavy weights you will be sore and slow the next day, and that might be the day he wants you to do 10 rounds of hard and fast pads.

He's wrong about the weights but he's your coach for better or worse so go with what he knows for your first fight and then see what you need in between times.