B.toledo23

I am 16 years old turning 17 on october 23,and i was just curious is it to late for me to make it pro or atleast good enough to represent my country in the olympics in a few years?Ive done karate since i was 7and i quit after 7 years,since I felt there wasnt enough action .Ive made it to brown belt which was 1 belt away from black but i still felt it wasnt for me.I am in good shape only got a kidney problem but its being treated.I go to the gym 4 times a week just working out (not boxing just doin weights) and i play hockey and basketball every other day that i aint in the gym to built endurance.Anyways enough about my past is 17 or 18 to late to start boxing,lookin at the past references that can kinda help me in boxing?

I am 5'7 and 137pounds.

SJM

Na man you still got 2 months until ur 17, its definatly not too late. I started when i was 17 and a half and that isnt too late either. Theres been professional boxers who started in there 20's. Just sign up to a boxing gym as soon as possible, and stop lifting weights its not good for boxing. It makes you slower and less flexible. How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

B.toledo23

Well i can be both flexible and strong.Most people just do weights without doing excerises and stretches but I always make sure i even out both my flexibilty and my strenght.I am 5'7 around 137pounds,not that big lol.

SJM

Trust me stay away from weights, when you get a trainer hes gonna tell you same thing. None of the greatest boxers ever touched weights. If you wanna build strength do body weight exercises like push ups, pull ups, and dips. You should be worrying more about speed right now not power.

B.toledo23

How do i increase speed? Ive been goin to the gym and isnt dips the same same thing as doing weights only difference is that ur using ur own body weight?

SJM

To increase speed do shadow boxing with weights in ur hands, like 2 pound weights. And shadow boxing with a resistance band should help. Im not too sure about the body weight question, all i know is I do it all the time and i dont get much mass like you would in weight lifting, thats a good thing. You just get a more cut up look. Maybe if you ask a trainer he can tell you the exact difference.

B.toledo23

Aight thanks for the advice

Brooklyn Rican

Lifting weights doesn't make you slow or less flexible. You're talking like he's lifting to be a body builder where his muscle will have muscle ontop of that muscle making it hard to move. Lifting weights is fine as long as he's lifting more than 10 times and doing it repeatedly about 4 times. Shadow boxing with weights is a bad idea its not good for you 1-2 pounds is good and resistance bands are good. You never boxed before so get a trainer so he can teach you how to punch straight move your waist when you're punching and putting your body into it. You're not too late to make it big. Work extra hard and it'll find its way. You're not looking for just speed in your punches you're looking for quickness on your feet. Jumping rope can help that and skating around the ring can help that. Not with actual skates you're new so you wouldn't know that term you'll need a trainer to teach you that. Punching power is not something that you need. Without speed theres no power. You look for speed before you look for a K.O.

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Pen2AndyP

Ah don't listen to SJM, lots of boxers lift weights, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Konstantin Tszyu, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, have said they lifted weights, coaches in modern American sports medicine for the NBA always teach their basketball players to do drills and also to regularly lift weights to increase muscular endurance, and to help keep their exercise balanced. The muscles don't diminish in flexibility or quickness and of course you've seen their flexibility and quickness displayed on TV most likely. Of course the most important muscles in boxing are your back, legs, hip muscles, shoulders, toes, and heart. You have to train these regularly of course. Though bodyweight exercises are convenient and excellent and there's nothing wrong with them, you can still lift weights and use exercise machines. Sometimes people can't do bodyweight excersises when they just start out a training program because they weigh too much or too little, so instead of doing regular pushups and pull ups, they might use a hanging vest to take off pounds or a weighted vest to increase intensity of weight. So it's okay to do machine and weight exercises combined with regular cardio and bodyweight exercises. It'll only make you better, your back spring will increase from doing a lot of back exercises, your leg strength will increase the rotation power of your punches, lots of benefits from it. As long as you do everything in sets, start out at a medium intensity going up, then going down, try to work at seperate parts of the body each day, and give your body rest.

B.toledo23

Thanks guys for the advice,I really appriciate it.