What do you do when you can't run?

colly10

I tried to go for a run tonight cause I heard I might have a fight coming up soon. I got to around 3k and had barely broke a sweat but my shins felt like they were going to burst out through my legs, the pain is unbearable.
What would be recommended for boxing when you looking to build a bit of fitness on the side, like would swimming be nearly as good as running?

pjbrady1

If you have access to a gym then maybe three times a week an intense circuit training session involving weights n bike n abs.
Swimming doesn't have enough strength element even compared to running (leg power), or circuit training (overall condition). You would probably lose some general strength with the lower intensity of swimming.
Could maybe also mix in some weighted step ups for your legs. Hold on to two small dumbells. Put one leg up onto a bench then step up to full height n back down. Youtube "Lance Armstrong Training" to see the technique.
Cross trainer as well should be fine. But do it in intervals.
So a 30 minute stretch could look like
6 mins warmup low intensity.
7 reps of 3mins high intensity (every 30 seconds go at fastest pace for 7 seconds)
1 min very easy pace to recover then into the next 3 mins.
Keep doing it like this. Switch around the gaps/intervals/all out bits to whatever you feel comfortable with.
Don't set the level too high on the cross trainer or you might aggravate your shins.
You can also do bike work but cross trainer should have better results.
Actually bike work might be good to toughen up the shins?
If all above are being interfered with by shins then swimming is your only option.

MBC

PJ's circuit seems very good.........also have ya ever tried a spinning class........top class for fitness and also great for getting weight off.

cowzerp

Spinning is great for fitness, but why dont you do plenty of shadow boxing which is more specific to boxing, if you dont have access to a gym do continous circuts such as squats 30 second, shadow boxing 30 secs, sit ups, press ups and have a rest-repeat 5-6 times.

the circut can be changed to anything but the main thing is that you work hard and get the heart pumping.

nVid

Standard warm-up, then circuits on the bags, build up that stamina by going full rounds on the bag then last 30 seconds open up as fast as you can.

In between rounds try 30: sit-ups, push ups, chin ups and above all SKIP, try skipping for a full 3 minutes, real boxing style not 8 year old girl style.

Skipping was for me vital in my fitness next to jogging it was tops and I had some good results when I moved up to the Leinsters.

cowzerp

nVid wrote: »

Skipping was for me vital in my fitness next to jogging it was tops and I had some good results when I moved up to the Leinsters.

If he cant run due to his shins then i doubt he can skip without the same problem occurring, he needs low impact work-and all the work you gave him is assuming he has bags etc.. you might aswell tell him to just go boxing training..

walshb

Specific to boxing. I would say that bag work is the best you can do on your own.

nVid

cowzerp wrote: »

low impact work

You can crunch without feet on the floor and pushups are all on your arms, chin ups really take it out of your legs do they?

pjbrady1

I did the cross trainer routine as described above tonight, it's roughly 300 calories.
Then I did the following routine on the bike. Continuing the theme of three minutes working one minute rest. Set the bike level to medium and pedalled at 130+ RPM for the full three minutes. Did three rounds of that. On the thirds round I could only manage 122 RPM. That was about 100 calories.
Then I upped the level on the bike a bit and did a non stop fast/medium intervals till I had 100 calories worked up.
Then I went to the heavy bag and threw three minutes of punches.

To really get it intense you'd have to set the levels higher on the cross trainer and bike. I can up them a bit yet on the cross trainer as I felt pretty good. Could go maybe 1 more level up on the bike.

I made sure I had a good meal n drinks before routine n drank 1.5ltr water while at the gym.

cowzerp

nVid wrote: »

You can crunch without feet on the floor and pushups are all on your arms, chin ups really take it out of your legs do they?

Do you know what your problem is?

you dont read the other answers.

i already said do sit ups etc as part of a circut, its impact that needs to be avoided not feet on the floor-your advise does not actually help someone that is injured, its just basic exercise advice for anyone.

nVid

cowzerp wrote: »

you dont read the other answers.

Yes, that and some boarderline punctuation is a recipe for disaster.

I apologise.

walshb

nVid wrote: »

Yes, that and some boarderline punctuation is a recipe for disaster.

I apologise.

What borderline punctuation would you be referring to?

CYCC

colly10 wrote: »

I tried to go for a run tonight cause I heard I might have a fight coming up soon. I got to around 3k and had barely broke a sweat but my shins felt like they were going to burst out through my legs, the pain is unbearable.
What would be recommended for boxing when you looking to build a bit of fitness on the side, like would swimming be nearly as good as running?

Swimmings a lot better than running, swimming works a lot more of the bodies muscles......a lot more.

colly10

Thanks to everyone for the replies

pjbrady1 wrote: »

So a 30 minute stretch could look like
6 mins warmup low intensity.
7 reps of 3mins high intensity (every 30 seconds go at fastest pace for 7 seconds)
1 min very easy pace to recover then into the next 3 mins.
Keep doing it like this. Switch around the gaps/intervals/all out bits to whatever you feel comfortable with.

I do a similar circuit with all weights once a week, takes about 50 minutes and is non stop, all weights like bench, chin up, squats etc .. but cause it's non stop the heart rate stays high and does the job on the fitness. My trainer doesn't want me doing it more than once a week though. Might go at the cross trainer though, cant strengthen up the shins with the bike (think theres damage done)

cowzerp wrote: »

why dont you do plenty of shadow boxing which is more specific to boxing

I've just been avoiding it cause the only place I have is the back garden and the neighbors probably think im weird enough without watching me beat the crap out of invisible people, im just going to have to get over it

cowzerp wrote: »

If he cant run due to his shins then i doubt he can skip without the same problem occurring

Ye I get the same kind of pain, i just can't skip for more than a few minutes

walshb wrote: »

Specific to boxing. I would say that bag work is the best you can do on your own.

Ye it's great for everything really, im going to try get the keys to the club so I can do the bit of bag work on my own, hopefully he's alright with it

pjbrady1

Colly10 there is a fair chance you have shin splints. Which is not permanent.
I'd suggest you go see a physio for an hour or so.I wouldn't give in to the fact that you have damage done. I thought I was bucked three years ago n I managed to blast through that circuit last night.
Focus on getting those shins back in working order for the meantime more than fitness I would think. Maintain your fitness to a reasonable level with whatever feels comfortable in the meantime.
As for general themes of fitness I'v learned a lot from reading up on:
Michael Johnson (Having competitive level of fitness in the bag all season)
Sebastein Coe (Leg Power while being light weight)
Lance Armstrong (Making the body endure sustained intense power)

When you read up on those three you see that with enough thought n planning you can work up to training sessions which would make your opponent cry. Example Coe got so ridiculously good in his sessions that he was doing reps of 1:49/1:50 for 800m on country roads in England, with just a few minutes rest in between (World Record is 1:41 roughly). N reading up on Coe you will see the value of weight training. He was a 9 stone waif but could shift squat sessions like someone 12 stone. N at 9 stone weight represented Britain at 400m relay, anyone who has competed in track will tell you how remarkable that is at that bodyweight. He had trained himself to have the ability to relax n run with maximal power. Which I was trying the other night with punching, trying to conserve energy while punching relaxed but hard. Trying to relax the Torso n hips.

One good psychological trick I use when things feel tough in training (example trying to maintain bike at 130 RPM) is to imagine you're punching someone on the ropes when the pain comes on. It'll give you that little bit more grit to get through it.

A really good magazine you can scan in Tesco/Easons for free is "Mens Fitness".
Apart from the adverts it's mainly just different articles on stamina, strength and a combination of both. Which is better than Mens Health magazine which just always tells you to lift heavy weights, eat two chickens and an Angus bullock per day to get fit.

DunLPhysio

Sounds as though you are suffering from what is commonly called "shin splints" but more acurately "anterior compartment syndrome". Opting for CV exercise other than running is one option but if you would prefer to run, physiotherapy can help you. You'll need a thorough assessment to determine the cause as there can be a variety of sources. We are based in Dun Laoghaire, if you would like more info check out http://www.sheehanmedicalpractice.com/section/show/23