Hi guys. 8 years ago I had 2 severe concussions and had to stop boxing. Since then I haven't been motivated to do anything physical, and starting a new sport at age 35 is not really a viable option. What did you guys do when you retired/stopped boxing training ?
I'm still active but when the gyms were closed because of covid I obviously couldn't box. I kept my self active by lifting and running.
There are a lot of things to do for fun besides boxing. If you train boxing, better don't spar. 35 you should more think how to improve in field where you might earn for a living.
Im going to respectfully disagree Im knocking on but still train most days I gave my business 100% in the last 30 years but always made sure I trained . running , core training , weights bit of shadow boxing . I do a bit of hill walking with my wife but she is faster than me in that game If the OP put all his effort into his daily craft he may ignore what he would really like to do and this would have long term health effects I have seen many people do well but F### me First they look like fat b##### behind the wheel of a 70 grand car and second they have heart attacks in their 50s There is more to life than money and if the OP whats to get out there he should
I'd say its an irrelevant mindset that refers to people needing to stay "relavent" when they dont or dismisses others as "irrelevent" based on their age. Otherwise nice post
At 35 years old just do what you enjoy. It shouldn't be about being the best etc, it should be about releasing some steam and having fun, so yes of course you can join a new sport if it's something you want to do. Age is just a number, don't allow that number to dictate your happiness.
You look outside the paradigm of boxing and combat sports. There are many ways to train and we should train according to the ways that best serve our needs as we age. Once you hit your late 30s your spine and joints don't move as easily and the risk of injury increases. It also takes a lot longer to recover from even basic workouts. The body isn't made to train 5 days a week and run 40 kms a week forever. And its ok, our boxing ego is to never stop keep going and just take on challenges through sheer hard work. That won't help you as you age. You need an exercise regime that aids your health and lifestyle. Taking shots to the head continually is a recipe for disaster. By 40 you should have a family, loved ones and responsibilities, things you care about outside of the gym. Being tough and perfecting your boxing craft should not be the top of your list of priorities at that age. This is something I struggle with on a daily basis. Being 40 and having boxed since I was 23, boxing was my everything. But now I'm at peace not boxing. I do pilates reformer three times a week and do static kettlebell training twice a week (basic core movements). I still have the ego that wants to destroy training and smash someone but I know I'm doing these things to be healthy and strong for LIFE, for movement outside the gym in general. Pilates is gentle on the body and yes the mental skills we learnt as boxers applies totally. The discipline, the attention to detail, the concentration of mastering your own body are skills we can apply to anything now. You should be proud of your boxing, of the things you did when you could box. In Pilates they put us in very hard uncomfortable positions, that challenge your body and its the same mindset as boxing - will you quit ? how much can you handle? I if continue how good can I get? What can I do outside of the class to improve?. I just put my energy into something else. This is my new project where I focus my energies. Most people tell me I look great and that I look tough now, but I have that boxing mentality that unless I'm a chiseled 63kgs who was training 5 days a week well I'm nothing. Not true. We tested ourselves when most people were watching TV, we pushed and went to limits most people are afraid of. Find something you like doing. I loved running outside and just being in the cool air, so now I walk a lot. I put headphones on and enjoy myself. I don't have those expectations of going to the gym and training like a madman anymore. I do some light weights at home and always leave something in the tank. Let your body recover and give it time. I want to be a healthy 60 year old and that's what I train for now, the long goal.
Great advice man. This is exactly what happened to me. I was that guy in his late 30s still training like a teenager still pushing very hard. I would go to the gym trying to prove myself to these high schoolers. A stupid mindset. I found myself more and more talking to the younger ones and telling them about training what I found did and didn't work. I noticed they really listened to me and then they would come for advice. I realised that in my nearly 20 years of boxing training I had learnt a lot. Several even asked for me to train them. I found myself coaching and teaching more than training myself. It is very fulfilling and seeing them succeed in any little way is a great feeling. In one way that is even a better feeling than when I trained myself. It helped my ego calm down and move away from the training myself.
@ecto55 and @Rafaman some of the stuff you said was so relatable.... I retired in 2017 after recurring eye injuries. They weren’t from the sport, the sport wasn’t helping though. I swore I’d have nothing to do with boxing in anyway, I’d seen too many people burn my coach, and just saw the dirty side of the game too much. I got into calisthenics, and kinda just took a huge interest in strength training and fitness in general. Calisthenics in particular drew me in because it is very skill based, and I felt it caused me to be very “in tune” with my body... Learned how as a boxer I’d been putting fitness over health, and that they don’t always go together. (This is okay, and required to be a top performing athlete in most sports I’d say). Helped me fix my disordered eating caused by the sport, as well as some other issues I’d had. (Again, the pros I got from the game far outweighs the cons, but it’s good to acknowledge both) Even started my own fitness training business in the meantime, something id wanted to do since I was a teenager, but never had the time between my full time blue collar job and boxing. Through this l learned I have a passion for mentorship/coaching. Fast forward.... I finally gave in a couple of months ago, and accepted an offer to start boxing coaching at a local gym.... It’s been beautiful man, reignited my passion for boxing, and combined it with my newfound passion of coaching/mentorship. Surprisingly, I haven’t really felt the urge to fight again myself, yet at least. Really enjoying being able to share my experience and knowledge, as well as develop it further. This is really condensing things, but I could go on and on. I dedicated my life to the sport for 15 years and had to retire shortly after turning pro and really hitting my stride at 25 years old.... So it’s been a bit of a search for identity the past few years. You can find a way brother. Shoot me a message any time if you want to talk shop. Don’t neglect your health for anything.
I'm 50 in a few months and after the last UK lockdown lifted, I decided to give a local Box Fitness gym a try. I've never been one for just lifting weights and I did the couch to 5k thing over Xmas. I trained a bit of boxing in my early 20's so thought I'd give it a go. The gym has been ABA affiliated in the past and is looking to be so again and there's a few amateur lads that are pretty talented. I'm the oldest guy I've seen in there so far but, all the lads have been very welcoming, the owner is about my age and there's this evergreen 75 year old who does a bit of one to one coaching on the weekend. It costs less than £20 a month and it's just nice to hit a few bags and pads again. I've got a dodgy knee and suffered from a connective bone tissue disorder caused by a viral infection for 3 years in my late 30's so my hands are a bit weak aswell but, I just make sure to do plenty of stretching, warm up exercises and a proper cool down at the end. I'm very happy to have got back in the gym despite my obvious physical limitations and I can still swat a bit I can tell you.
