Boxing Workout

As owner and author of 60 in 3, I tend to get various offers for free stuff.  Most of the time they’re for things I’m not interested in.  Things like diet pills, weird workout gadgets, energy bars and so on.  On rare occasions though, someone comes through with an offer that’s interesting enough for me to look at.  That’s what happened to me last week with LA Boxing.

LA Boxing is a string of gyms spread all around the US which specialize in boxing and boxing related workouts.  Their PR rep made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.  “Come down to one of our gyms and try out a boxing workout.  Then tell us what you think.”  This came at a perfect time for me since I’ve been thinking about buying a punching bag for my house and I’ve been wanting to try out boxing for a while.  So last Saturday morning I went the local LA Boxing gym in San Jose and spent an hour training.  Note that this was not some special class that they set up for me.  This was their normal Saturday morning class with their regular customers.

First Impressions

My first thoughts as I entered the gym were “huh, this is not what I was expecting.”  Maybe I’ve seen too many boxing movies, but I was expecting a run down gym filled with men hitting one another.  Instead, LA boxing has just one ring, a few exercise machines and class workout area filled with punching bags.  Everything was clean and well maintained.  Also, the customer base included a lot of women and children.  The ratio of women to men was actually a lot higher than any other gym I’ve been to.

Equipment

Each participant picked a punching bag and had boxing gloves.  That was all the equipment necessary.  Gloves were provided by the gym if you didn’t have any.  I would also recommend hand wraps since without them, you’re going to scrape some skin off your knuckles.

The Workout

I’m not sure what I expected from a boxing workout.  A lot of punching a bag I suppose.  What I got was very different.  We started out with the gloves off doing a bit of calisthenics to warm up.  Jumping jacks, push ups, crunches, lunges, jumping squats and so on.  Fast sets with the instructor urging us on.  After 5 or so minutes, we stretched for 5 more minutes and then the workout began in earnest.

The workout alternated boxing combos with calisthenics.  For example, the instructor would show us a 6 or 8 move combo and have us repeat it multiple times using either speed or power.  Speed means you punch fast, power means you punch hard.  Either way, the workout was very fast paced and much more demanding than I expected.  After each 5 minute punching set, Tony (the instructor) had us do 5 minutes of other exercises like crunches, leg lifts and lunges.  These sets worked out muscles that the boxing parts of the workout did not.

The combination of boxing and calisthenics had me sweating in no time.  Now I’m in pretty good shape but I have to say that I found the workout very challenging.  I got caught up in the boxing parts and was enjoying them so much that I didn’t notice how much energy I was pouring out into that bag.  By the end, I was sore and covered in sweat.  Still, it was a good kind of sore, that kind you get from a great workout.

Notes

Dexterity - This is one of the few workouts that I felt worked on dexterity as well as physical conditioning.  The various combos and moves you work on will improve your hand eye coordination as well as your overall agility.  That’s a benefit I have not seen in any other workout.

Full Body - I expected a boxing workout to only work out my upper body, but the combination of boxing and other exercises made sure that my whole body participated.

Boxing High - A few weeks ago I spoke about a runner’s high and mentioned that it’s something you can only get when running.  Well, now I’ve experienced something new, a boxing high.  It’s not the same as a runner’s high but there’s just something about punching that bag.  Maybe it’s a guy thing, I have no clue, but wow.  I wasn’t just physically tired at the end of that workout, I was emotionally spent as well.  Any aggression, hostility or other kind of negative emotion, it all went into that bag.  It felt good.

Recommendation

Would I go back?  Definitely!  LA Boxing is a bit far away from my house but still.  I enjoyed that workout so much that the trip back would be worth it.  In the meantime, I’m definitely thinking of installing a punching bag in my garage and doing some boxing workouts of my own.  If you have a boxing gym anywhere near you, sign up for a class and see if you like it.  I think you will.

Thank You

Thank you to Monica and LA boxing for giving me the chance to attend a class.  Thank you to LA Boxing San Jose for being my hosts.  And thank you to Tony Johnson, my instructor, for an incredible workout.  If you’re in the San Jose area, you can contact Tony and LA Boxing at (408)729-5269.

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And thank you to Me-Ander for including a 60 in 3 article in their debut weight loss carnival.

What’s A Good Workout?

I get this kind of question a lot “here’s my routine, is it good?”  The routine in question can vary.  Some people tell me about their cardio routine, others tell me about their weight lifting days.  I even get questions about things like Wii Fitness workouts and the SEAL training regimen.  The answer to all of these is “well, it depends.”  There’s no specific set of exercises or routines that is good or bad.  Yes, there are a few exercises that are more injury prone and a few that are less effective than others, but almost any workout can be good if done correctly.  So rather than go into specifics, I’d like to present to you a few general rules on what makes a good workout routine.

Cardio

Yes, cardio is a must for any workout routine.  Three to four times a week, you should be engaging in high level exercise that elevates your heart beat to around 70% of max, give or take a little.  You should maintain this for at least 15 to 20 minutes AFTER you reach this heart rate, which could mean an additional 15 to 20 minutes of warm up.

Running, biking, playing basketball, swimming, aerobics, jazzercise, spinning, whatever you pick, it’s all good as long as you follow the above rule.  Each of these activities has its advantages or disadvantages and you’re going to have to try them and decide for yourself which one you like best.  You can even mix and match like I do, doing running a couple of days and elliptical the other days.  As long as you’re doing something that gets your heart rate up, you’re good.

Weight Training

Yes, you do need weight training and yes, even if you’re a woman.  At least two times a week would be my recommendation and three or four if possible.  Now weight training does not necessarily mean training with weights, so I suppose I should call this resistance training if I want to be more accurate.  For example, doing push ups is great resistance training even though it involves no weights.  Some forms of Yoga are good resistance training, as are some forms of pilates.  Whatever you pick, it needs to challenge your muscles.  You’re basically trying to work your muscles to the point of failure.

You know that point where your arms are quivering and you’re not sure you can lift anything else?  Yes, that’s the point of failure.  You want to do that with all the major muscle groups in your body and you want to do it multiple times a week.  By the way, guys should know that there are muscle groups other than chest and biceps and girls should know that there are muscle groups other than ass and legs. 

Seriously though, you should be challenging every muscle group in your body to the point of failure multiple times a week.  Preferably in a variety of ways.  So for example, a good chest workout means three or four different types of exercises each done to the point of failure.  The reason for this is because a muscle group is just that, a group.  It’s not just one muscle.  Each exercise trains and challenges different muscles in different ways, even within the same muscle group.  Lifting weights straight forward trains muscles differently than lifting them out to the side, which means different muscles in the same muscle group are being used.  So doing multiple types of chest or leg exercises means all the muscles within those muscle groups are trained, not just one.

Also, if you’re curious, the main muscle groups most people train are upper arms (biceps and triceps), Shoulders, Chest, Abs, Back and upper legs (which includes your butt).  Sure, you can train the lesser muscle groups like calves and lower arms, and if you have time, I highly recommend that you do.  However, for those of us with limited time, focus on the major muscle groups.  Even better, do compound sorts of exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time.  For example, squat down with dumbbells in your hands.  Now slowly stand up.  As you stand up, extend your arms up, lifting those weights over head and keep straining up until you’re standing on your tip toes.  Guess what, you just training multiple muscle groups (upper legs, shoulders, triceps and calves) all at the same time.

Keep Active

Yes, a workout doesn’t just include your time at the gym.  You need to use those muscles you built.  That means that when you’re not in the gym you should still keep active with things like walking, yard work, dancing or really energetic sex with your partner!

Rest

Your body does need a break from time to time.  Pick one day a week and try to take it easy that day.  No hikes or dances and keep the sex to a slightly less than energetic level

Read more
How to design a workout
Four day workout

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If you’re curious, my current workout include resistance training three times a week for about 45 minutes each.  Jogging twice a week for about 45 minutes each and elliptical three times a week for about 40 minutes.  Plus I stay active on non workout days other than Sunday, that’s my rest day.

Reader Q&A: Treadmill, Elliptical or Stationary Bike?

Darshant writes in:

I want to add more cardio training to my gym workouts but my gym has limited cardio options. Which one would you recommend, treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical?

Your gym sounds like mine Darshant

But no worries, you can still get a great workout using these machines. Let’s take a look at each one.

Stationary Bike

This is actually my least favorite machine, for a number of reasons.

• Difficult posture - Most stationary bikes force your body into an odd position which is both uncomfortable and not very good for your spine.
• Difficult to maintain speed - Unless you’re constantly looking at the readouts, your speed will tend to decrease over time. So you get into this cycle of slowing down over time, checking out the readout, picking up your speed and then starting to slow down again.
• Only works out one part of the body. Really, the only part of you which moves is your legs. The rest of you is stationary. That’s not a good workout as far as I’m concerned.

On the plus side, the stationary bike is easy to figure out and has no impact on your feet. However, these two advantages don’t outweigh the disadvantages.

Elliptical

One of the best options out there. The elliptical does suffer from the same speed maintenance problem as the stationary bike. That is, since you’re the one setting the speed and not the machine, there’s a tendency to slow down unless you’re constantly watching the readout. However, the elliptical does have a two very strong advantages that make up for this.

• Full body workout, especially if you’re using an elliptical machine with the moving poles for the arms. When you’re on an elliptical, you can really get your whole body engaged, which is much better than working out your legs alone.
• Low impact - Unlike the treadmill, the ellipitical has zero impact on your feet.

So as long as you can maintain a good pace, the elliptical is a great option.

Treadmill

Another great option. The treadmill’s strongest advantage is the ability to set a pace and follow it. Just program your desired speed into the treadmill and off it goes. At this point, you have no choice but to keep up or fall off. That means no slacking and it’s the reason why I think the treadmill provides the strongest cardio workout. However, strongest does not mean best and the treadmill does have a few disadvantages.

• Falling off - It sounds silly, but if you’re not careful, you can injure yourself on a treadmill.
• Impact - And if the falling doesn’t hurt you, the repeated impacts on your feet might. Running on a treadmill is better than running on concrete but it’s still running, which means it’s still a lot of repeated impacts on your feet and legs.

My Recommendation

Avoid the stationary bike. Instead, alternate between the elliptical and the treadmill. Personally, I work out on the treadmill every Tuesday and Thursday and on the elliptical every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That gives me a a good variety of workouts while not being boring. I would also recommend varying things up by doing faster, shorter workout followed followed by slower, longer workouts and so on.

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Oh, and if you can, try to convince your gym owners to get a stair master. A real one, the one that looks like a small, steep escalator. Those are great!  It has all the advantage of a treadmill without the impact to your feet.

The How and Why Of Interval Training

Interval training is a form of cardio that relies on increasing the exercise difficulty for brief periods of time while you workout.  Most people might be familiar with the name but they’re not familiar with the details.

Benefits

The benefits of interval training are increased performance and increased calorie burn.  The higher difficulty intervals cause your heart to beat faster and your body to spend more energy.  This energy expenditure is maintained even when you slow down for a few minutes.  Thus, your body spends energy as though it’s running at a high speed while you rest.  This is similar in concept to the post workout energy burn where your body is still spending calories as though the workout is continuing while you’re in the recovery and rest stage.

For example, if you’re running at 5.0mph, which is a pretty slow pace, your body might be burning 400 calories an hour.  Now you increase that speed to 6.5mph and your calorie burn goes up to 800 calories per hour.  You maintain 6.5mph for a minute and then go back down to 5.0mph.  Well, your calorie burn doesn’t immediately go back down to 400.  In fact, it stays up near 800 for a few minutes before your body realizes that it’s no longer needed.  At that point you can do another high speed interval.  The result is a high calorie burn even though you spent most of your run at a relatively low speed.

The other benefit of interval training is increased performance.  By increasing difficulty for brief periods of time, you make your body adjust to this increased demand.  The result, is an increased ability to handle greater demand.  This is similar to using a very high weight for one rep and then switching back to your normal weights.  The normal weight will seem easy because your body is adjusting to the strain and demand of the very high weight.

For example, if you normally run at 5.0mph, you might find it difficult to increase that speed to 5.5mph.  However, if you increase the speed to 6.5mph for 1 minute, you might find that decreasing it back down to 5.5mph feels quite good.  Where before 5.5mph seemed impossible, it now seems positively restful.

How To Interval Train

The how to of interval training is pretty easy.  Just exercise at your normal speed for a few minutes.  Now increase that speed for a minute or so and then drop it back down.  There are no hard and fast rules about how much you should increase the speed and for how long.  You need to pick a time and speed high enough to challenge you but not high enough to force you to stop or slow down to a slower pace then usual.  For example, I usually run at 6.5mph.  When I do intervals, I will spend every 5th minute running at 7mph.  That’s high enough to really challenge me, but it’s not too high which means I can go back to 6.5mph afterwards and keep running for another 4 minutes until my next 7mph interval.  If I had to slow down to less than 6.5mph after my interval then I’m probably speeding up too much during that 1 minute.

By the way, interval training isn’t just for running.  You can do it with any cardio activity.  When I swim, I do 9 laps of at a relatively moderate pace and then 1 lap at a really fast pace that leaves me out of breath and in need of rest.  I get that rest during the next 9 laps of moderate pace and then I’m ready for another fast lap.

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By the way, the other side benefit of intervals is that it makes your exercise time go by much faster.  You’re so busy getting ready for the next interval that you don’t even notice how long you’ve been working out.

How To Tell If You’re Working Out Too Hard, Not Hard Enough or Just Right

Note, the following information is for cardio sessions, not resistance training.

One of the most common questions I get is “am I working out too hard?” or the opposite “am I working out hard enough?” Usually, people will tell me how fast they run, how long they swim or what resistance level they turn the elliptical machine up to and ask me if that’s the right difficulty level for them.  Unfortunately, that’s just not enough information for me to answer that question.

Heart Rate

Ideally, cardio exercise should keep your heart rate somewhere between 60% and 80% of max.   Anything less and you’re not really working out very hard.  Anything more and you’re placing too much strain on your body.

What’s My Max Heart Rate?

A rough estimate of your max heart rate is 220 minus your age.  So for me, being 34, my max heart rate is 186.  That means that if I want to keep my workout between 60 and 80%, I should keep it somewhere between 111 and 148.

But How The Heck Do I Measure That While Exercising?

Yah, that’s the problem.  It’s a little hard to measure heart rate while exercising.  You either need to stop and measure it yourself or you need to hold on to some handle or device that will measure heart rate for you.  Both of these options interrupt your workout and can actually get a bit dangerous.  In fact, the only time I ever fell off a treadmill is because I was trying to measure my heart rate while running.  Seems a bit funny now (ok, it seems a lot funny now) but it was quite painful back then.

So What’s The Alternative

Here’s a slightly less scientific but more practical approach.  Try saying the following sentence while exercising.  “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.”

• Were you able to say that without any problems at all and with a normal sounding voice?  If so, you’re probably not working hard enough.
• Did you have issues saying that sentence and needed to gasp for breath between every word?  If so, you’re probably working too hard.
• Could you say the sentence but had to pause midway for a quick breath?  If so, you’re probably working at the right level.

In general, you should be able to talk while exercising but not hold a normal conversation.  If you can hold a normal conversation then you’re not working out hard enough.  If you’re completely unable to talk or need to breath between every word and you’re straining for every breath, you’re working out too hard.

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You shouldn’t feel like you’re about to die when you work out.  However, you also shouldn’t feel like you’re taking a leisurely stroll.  Aim for somewhere in between.

Swim Your Way To Fitness

It’s spring time, and I thought it might be time to write a post about swimming.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that swimming is no longer a warm weather only exercise.  Just about every gym I know has a pool that is heated year round allowing swimmers to work out regardless of the weather.  So I may write this in the spring, but feel free to read this at any season.

Why Not Swim?

When you ask most people about exercise, very few of them think about swimming.  Why is that?  Well, I think it has a few reasons.

• Equipment - Swimming needs a lot of specialized equipment.  For example, you need a pool.
• Temperature - Most people have the same mindset I do, which says that pools and water are a summer only activity.
• Cardio - Swimming doesn’t seem to be as strenuous as jogging or biking so most people don’t think of it as good cardio.
• Shyness - If you’re out of shape, it’s going to take a lot of courage to strip down to a swim suit and get in that pool.
• Skill - Everyone knows how to run, but not everyone knows how to swim.

I’m here to tell you that all of these reasons are completely wrong.

• Equipment - Yes, you do need a pool, but those are available at most gyms, colleges, hotels and apartment complexes.  In fact, access to a pool is more common than access to a gym.
• Temperature - Many pools are heated year round.  The only exceptions are some apartment complex pools.  So with the right gym membership or access to a college, you can swim year round.
• Cardio - Swimming is excellent cardio and a whole lot more.  I’ll talk a bit more about that in a second.
• Shyness - Yep, it’s a little awkward sometimes to take clothes off, but hey, you’re doing this to get in shape, right?  Believe me, no one is judging you.
• Skill - Swimming classes are available at many colleges, gyms and community centers for relatively low prices.  You’ll get coaching in a skill that’s not just good for exercise, it’s also something I would consider a vital life skill.

So Why Swim?

Swimming is one of the most incredible exercises you can perform.

• Full body workout - Unlike many cardio exercises, swimming works out your entire body.  Now this depends a bit on the stroke you pick, but even simpler strokes like freestyle will work your upper body better than most other cardio.  Try something like the breast stroke and you’ll get an amazing full body workout.
• Low impact - Again, unlike most other cardio exercises, swimming is zero impact.  What does that mean?  It means that you get a great workout while doing zero damage to your body.  Yes, some exercises do in fact damage your body.  For example, jogging places a lot of strain on legs and biking can be hard on your back. By comparison, swimming has zero impact and zero strain.

Honestly, I can’t think of a better cardio exercise than swimming from a physical perspective.

The Downside

While swimming is rather perfect on the physical side, it does have some real issues on the motivational side.

• Hard to gauge performance - Unlike running or jogging, it’s relatively hard to gauge how hard you’re working out while swimming.  You have to be very motivated in order to keep up a fast swimming pace.
• Boring - You can’t read, watch TV or talk to your friend while swimming.  All you can do is swim.  Many people find that boring and could cut their workout short because of it.

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If you can motivate yourself, I highly recommend that you try swimming as an exercise.  It’s quite literally the best cardio workout I have found.  However, it does get a bit monotonous so, unless you really love swimming, I recommend mixing it up and not swimming more than once a week.

Bounce Skyhigh! A Great Alternative Workout.

Every once in a while, I try to high light an alternative workout on 60 in 3. No, an alternative workout is not something that involves a lot of candles and chanting, it’s simply a way to get your heart rate up and your body moving without going to the gym. Today, I wanted to talk about something I mentioned in my weekend update, Sky High Sports.

What The Heck Is Skyhigh?

Skyhigh is a big warehouse full of trampolines. Of course, that’s only part of the story. Skyhigh was the brainchild of two bay area brothers who wanted a fun and safe place to play with their kids. Being trampoline enthusiasts, they came up with the idea of a play house filled with trampolines. Of course, this being the Silicon Valley, the two brothers decided to turn their idea into a business and Skyhigh was born.

Skyhigh has three main areas. The first is a large freeform area where people simply bounce up and down as much as they want. The trampolines are all set up right next to the other with the frames covered up by soft foam. That way you can bounce from one trampoline to the other without the fear of falling in between. There are also trampolines set up on the walls so you can bounce into them and back out. The second area is similar to the first except it’s dedicated to playing dodgeball. Yep, you heard me, dodgeball. And oh wow is it a blast! The third and final area is again set up with multiple trampolines, but it also has a big foam pit into which you can dive off of the trampolines.

Skyhigh and Exercise

When my wife first suggested Skyhigh, I was a bit reluctant. After all, aren’t trampolines for kids? Well, I take that all back now. First of all, Skyhigh was an amazing workout. Within 5 minutes of bouncing up and down, my heart was racing and I was struggling for breath. My first bouncing dodge ball game was incredible fun, but it was also a wonderful cardio workout and some great balance work. Overall, our stay at Skyhigh was the equivalent of a high end cardio workout with some lower back, legs and arm work thrown in.

Skyhigh and Fun

The best part was that Skyhigh was an incredible amount of fun. I didn’t even notice the clock and I certainly wasn’t bored. Even simple bouncing was enjoyable and I cannot even begin to explain the amount of sheer fun that trampoline dodgeball is. In other words, this was a workout that I LOVED!

Cost

Skyhigh was a bit expensive, $9 for two hours per person, so it’s not exactly a gym replacement. However, for slightly less than a movie ticket, we spent two hours having fun together and getting exercise. That sounds like a great evening out to me.

But What If I’m Not In The Bay Area?

I realize Skyhigh is a local thing. If you live in the Bay Area or Sacramento (where they just opened up their second warehouse), then I highly recommend you check them out. However, what if you don’t? Well, if you don’t live in this area then how about going online to check out what other fun alternative workouts are available in your area? Is there an indoor rock climbing gym? How about something like city beach where you can run through obstacle courses? Looked at the local dance studios lately? How about that martial arts class you’ve been thinking of? Every area has its own unique offerings. A quick online search can help you find quite a few of these fun alternative workouts.

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A workout doesn’t necessarily have to occur in the gym and it doesn’t have to be boring. Take a break and check out an alternative workout, they’re a fun way of exercising.

Sky High

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