In one of my books on martial arts training it says that one of the best ways to get a good cardiovascular exercise is shadow boxing, I know this of course, but he went on to say that it would be a good replacement for road work, especially if you are not naturally good at running. Was wondering if this is something that is echoed amongst others here, if so, how much would you need to replace a good run? and if not, why?
you could replace roadwork with shadowboxing if you could ever get and maintain your heartrate like you were on the run. that would be hard but not impossible. roadwork still has it's place in training in my books.
take a look at roadwork... if you're fighting for five 3 minute rounds with a 1 minute break in between then you want to be doing part of your roadwork as... warm up run X5min. full sprint for 3min. job for 1min between rounds do this for X7 rounds (two rounds over what you have to fight) when you get this down go after increasing the pace of your sprint on the last round. Not easy. But last rounds are where your lungs start to burn, your focus wains, you body starts to give up etc. etc. I think it'd be hard to keep your body going that way with just shadow boxing. Maybe with pad work or focus mitts. But not just shadow boxing. Roadwork is still paramount in fight training. Don't do it and you will pay dearly later. Good luck. EDIT: Get in the habit of doing your roadwork (and your shadow boxing for that matter) with your gumshield in... that's right... do your roadwork with your gumshield IN! It's not as easy to breathe.... so you want that thing to sit in there like you were born with it.
I don't think that is true. I did lots of road work for the city one summer, it wasn't really that hard. Shadowboxing, rather than filling pot-holes and cleaning roadkill, will make you a much better fighter.
If I had to do it all over again- which given my habits for the past few months I may ver well need to - I'd start by sprinting. Once I had a good base of sprinting, I'd reach out and do longer intervals, mainly 400-metre ones. Once I felt I could handle those, I'd return to a more balanced program, experimenting with things like tabata intervals, taku intervals etc. I'd keep sprinting on a maintenance basis throughout the whole thing.
well... if you focus less on the imaging of the invisible opponent, and make it more a aerobics exercise, and do it real quickly... it can work out quiet good. I've got an minor injury on my shins right now... (caused by running with the wrong shoes, and noticed by some members here :love: ) and for the time being i shouldn't run... and shadowboxing with improved speed and less imagination can help to maintain a good cardio... I wouldn't go as far as saying that it can totally replace roadwork... but for a while it can be pretty useful but i would advice you to go running... it's great, even when it's raining, and you can spend some time overlooking your sins and actions and it is the best way to lose fat and get in shape
The morning roadwork session is one of the oldest traditions of boxing. It will only be 'replaced' if somebody who never does any wins a string of very important titles and then goes on to teach. And that, my friends, is never going to happen.
You definitely should be running honey It's some of the best cardio, and a great way to get in shape (which is important in most any MA). Start slow, and, while not everyone is a runner, you'll start to enjoy your time running. It's a great way to collect your thoughts. There was this Kathy Ireland running CD that came out years ago, and, although corny, she made some excellant points on how time spent running can be time for yourself. Not only will you be in good shape, but you'll feel better about yourself. How fabu is that???
I'd never replace running with Shadowboxing; They're two different workouts which supplement eachother. If you don't like to run, then there's always plenty of other cardio orientated excersizes you can do, such as cycling.
what's a good brand of shoes for roadwork? I keep hearing warnings about running in bad shoes but I haven't seen any brand recommendations. The usual suspects?
Th eproblem with taking out roadwork and just doing shadowboxing exclusively is that you also take out the benefits. Benefits like fatigue management, developing local muscular endurance in the legs, improving leg strength including those of your toes... Of course there are other exercises tha can improve those listed above, but none that can do them all at once like roadwork can.
I would say to do both...running for at least 20 minutes, three times a week will give your body a good amount of general endurance, and maintain it. Then on the days you're not running, do shadowboxing exercises. But don't put too much stock in exercising. After all, you want to get better at boxing and not exercising, right? Stick yourself in a ring and fight. That's the best way to gain the endurance, strength and skill necessary to be a good fighter...do exactly what you're training to do. If you're new, you'll probably be thumped because your body isn't used to the conditions you're presenting to it. But hey, you have to be thumped to start thumping.
