How do you guys combine all the aspects of your training (endurance, strength, explosiveness +boxing training) while still having a full time job?
I was an amateur going to school, then going to work and then going to boxing. I didn't make it up for too many early morning runs, I was just too tired. Spar as much as you can.
Best thing I ever did was quit work and trained Professionaly. I had money to fall back on. If you're going to make it as a fighter forget full time work.the best work you could have as a fighter is be a trainer yourself be it personal or boxer.
Most amateurs are either students or have jobs. Maybe if you’re a national-level guy there’s a way to get sponsors and stipends to train full-time, but that’s not realistic for most people. It takes discipline and time management and, most of all, dedication. You’re going to get tired in the ring, so training anyway when you’re dog tired prepares you for it. My best advice is to front-load as much of your training as possible. Get up an hour earlier and get a run in during the morning, so no matter what happens, you at least did that. Also maybe a lot of pushups or whatever other calisthenics you can do at home. Make the most of your time in the gym getting at it and going hard when you’re there. Don’t turn a 1-hour workout into a 2-hour stay while you’re socializing and looking at your phone, haha. I like how my brother puts it — be a death-row inmate, not a prison-yard inmate. If you’re in prison on death row, you get 1 hour out of your cell per day, so those guys make the most of it by getting straight to it and working out for the full 60-minutes. A regular prisoner who’s in the yard most of the day probably works out 60 minutes over several hours — work out a little here and there over the course of it. If your gym time is limited because of job or school, make it count.
I got to work early to run, and during times I was doing strength work, would knock that out on my lunch break sometimes (was lucky to have a gym at work.) Boxing after work for about 2 hours, 3x per week, more when fights were scheduled. Id run after work on the off days, for a longer distance. As was mentioned above, part of it is definitely just dealing with being tired. For me the fatigue actually hit me more in day to day life than in the gym… Oddly, I felt like a zombie everywhere except the boxing gym.. Not sure if thats related to adrenaline, motivation, or what… When I retired, I realized it wasn’t normal to feel like dog **** all the time…..after about two months of sleeping more I started feeling good and energetic, sleeping through the night (this was rare when I was fighting.) Ive thought a lot about if I’d do it differently if I could, and I don’t think I would… The mental toughness this built gave me an edge as a competitor, and it made up for a difference in experience on many occasions.. I don’t think any positives of taking things easier would have done better than that.
