Workout #13

I was so tired I almost didn't go to the gym, but I knew that once I got there I'd feel better so I dragged myself there. My knee started hurting a bit so I quit jump roping for a while, but I really need the jump rope. I'm too heavy on my feet and have terrible footwork so jumping rope would be helpful.

Total rounds: 8

1. Shadow - 2 rounds
2. Light sparring - 2 rounds

• I sparred with a new guy, probably early 20's. He was at least 3 inches shorter than me. He seemed like an advanced beginner, but was in much better shape than I was. I probably outweighed him by at least 60 lbs. 
• My jabs were hitting him everytime he came in. He got me with a lot of bodyshots b/c he was fast, and I had a high guard up so he couldn't hit me in the head. However, everytime he came in I hit him with my jab at the same time. I wonder if this were a real match, would my jab be faster or the body shot? Also, if we hit at the same time would it hurt him more or me? I assume him since it's harder to get hit in the head. 
• I doubt someone my weight could move that fast unless he was really advanced. 
• We did 2 rounds and I was pretty tired by the 2nd round. This time I did try to hit the jab and get out of the way, so he didn't get me with much. He was shorter so had a harder time trying to hit me with his right hand. He was also more tentative. I'm not very good but since I was so much bigger and taller than him I think he was a bit intimidated. 
• I tried going in for my right hand but wasn't very successful since he was much faster. One time when he came in for a bodyshot, I got him with a right hand and probably could have hit him pretty hard with an uppercut but he was already hitting my body. Since we were only going like 30-50%, I'm not sure what it would have been like. He got me pretty good in the face with a right hand once and apologized, it didn't hurt b/c I had the faceguard but in the match it may hurt since I won't have a faceguard. I really really need to look out for straight rights. 
• He also kept his guard down for a while and so I was able to hit with my jab. I guess at some point everyone gets tired. I need to have my guard up at all times, I think that's the key to blocking the right hand. 
• Things to continue working on for next time: 1) going in and out with the jab, 2) pulling the jab back a lot more quickly to keep my guard up, and 3) keeping my eyes open for defense/counters rather than just going for the hit. For my next sparring match, I'm just going to jab and not use the right hand or anything else unless it's a counter. (Hope I'm disciplined enough to try this, after it's just a light match and is the best time to practice.) 
• I wish I could spar every day, I learn something everytime and it's also the best workout. I think I only had one medium sparring session with the really good young heavyweight boxer. Well, it was probably 60% for me and only 30% for him. 
• The head trainer always asks me to spar, since he knows I want to go for the match and he knows I'm a beginner who needs a lot of work. 

3. Mitts - 2 rounds

• I had almost no energy to do mitts after sparring, but I forced myself and just barely made it. Great workout but I'm still too one-dimensional and only thinking of offense. 

4. Speed - 2 rounds

I want to supplement soon with: 

• 100 situps daily spread throughout the day
• 100 pushups 3x/week spread throughout the day
• 100 dumbbell shrugs spread throughout the day

I probably don't have much energy to do real weightlifting, but I'd also like to add: 

• One day per week of lifting weights at home with my dumbbells, go until failure

I really need to work on my footwork and counters. I'll have to look at some videos online to practice.