An account of a weights-lifter at our gym

The following is a reflection & findings of a weight lifter at Golden Gloves Fitness:

I have been lifting weights since 2016 for about 5-6 times per week. In other words, barely missing a day. Usually doing the bench-press and lifting heavy dumbbells. The other day I went to Golden Gloves Fitness in Vaughan to hit the bag and was shocked that I did not have as much as power as I expected. The results really did fall far from my expectations.

What I found was that during the last couple years I accumulated a lot of muscle but not enough stamina. A lot of curves but not enough strength. And most of all, I really did not feel like I was dense enough. Why is that? It only took me until the next day to find out. The answer is: impact. There was not enough of  'impact' being sent back to my muscles & bones when I lift weights. I pumped them, sure. But, I did not use them as a skill or technique.

Boxing really did made me realize that density is super important for power. You don't want to be only bloated with muscles but you also want them to be stronger and resistant rather than just having a 'cotton-candy' body. Thankfully; hitting bags, pads and practicing punches with a partner allowed me to become stronger. The next day, my bones felt denser, my muscles felt more compact and, yes, I had that good muscle 'ache' feel that really do send the signal of progress to yourself and your body.

I also found my respiratory system improved substantially just from a single day at this boxing gym! Now, I did not do much treadmill or running before. I strictly stretched and did weights. When I first came to Golden Gloves, I was out of breath after a couple rounds! I don't smoke but at the same time my running was left to a minimum throughout the years. I was left out of breath after the first round and after the second round I was really starting to feel winded. This has led me to think that lifting weights does not have that much impact on breathing. Luckily, boxing really does get your breathing going and afterwards you feel great! It is a shock how fast boxing makes respiratory system work. No wonder those boxers are so fast with their hands & feet and can last so long in the ring! 

Finally, I am that guy who needs a lot of work before breaking a sweat. At the gym when I was lifting weights, it sometimes took me 20 minutes to be drenched in sweat and sometimes I barely broke a sweat at all. However, when I was boxing, I broke a sweat within 10 minutes! And, I mean that real sweat. That potent , fully drenched from head to toe sweat. I couldn't of been happier because once you break that first sweat the time flies and you know you are going to benefit from your workout the next day.

This is my take and experience when comparing boxing to weight lifting and I hope this insight will benefit you too. I really do recommend to mix lifting and boxing together just to see how hard you can punch that bag. However, doing weights alone felt like it was a cause without an effect. After this experience, I am definitely going to mix the two up from now on and I will surely follow up on my progress later. As always stay fit and looking for ways to better yourself! Until next time, I wish you all the best in your body building progress.