At my weekly private lesson Thursday, Mike, my instructor, was showing me some hopping exercises that he said would be key for me to improve my sparring. He said I tend not to move much, which allows me to to defend well using my reach when attacked, but poses a problem when I need to get to my target.
So, at the age of 53, I'm considering a radical change to my exercise regimen to try and raise the bar one more time in my sparring.
I'm going to (with the help of the clock change this week) start getting up about 40 minutes earlier, get to work early, go straight to the gym there.
Three mornings a week, I will start by working on these plyometric, hopping exercises. I hope my feet and knees can stand them. I'll start easy. Then I'll climb onto a feet/joint-friendly bike or elliptical machine for, I hope, about 40 minutes of cardio.
The two other mornings I"ll do some weight lifting, which the people running the gym say is good at my age due to the tendency to start losing muscle mass. I've been trying to get to the gym twice a week at lunchtime but failing because of the press of work. My job increasingly is becoming 24/7.
If this new push can help me improve my sparring, without putting too much strain on feet and knees, I think I will move to the next level.
If not, I'll try something else... that lets me sleep later.
I'm calling it operation B-Hop for two reasons: 1) Bob is hopping, and 2) B-Hop is a nickname for boxer Bernard Hopkins, who, at the antique age of 44, is still one of the greatest boxers around.
Wish me luck getting through the adjustment and the new regime!
2 comments:
Hi Bob,
That's quite the workout schedule! You will have to let us know how your knees feel. Jumping/hopping is one thing that was not stressed during my PT. My brother wants me to meet him at the gym at 5:00 AM. Way too early....
Good luck!
Thanks! My knees feel fine, it's my feet that have collapsed....
Tell that brother you have a life!
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