I have been planning this training camp for months now. Ever since I left Boston I knew I wanted to return to the ring competitively. But if I was going to do it I knew I had to do it full-bore. As soon as I moved to Twentynine Palms I started looking for a gym. It just happened that an MMA slash boxing gym had opened up a few months bad. So I made my way over. Just my luck, an enthusiastic and thinking former amateur champion was heading the fledgling boxing program there. He and I were in conversation, even when I was away in Newport, Rhodes Island for three months, about our plan of attack for the tournament. To my dismay, Coach Matt was gone within a day of my return and with only a few days before start of my camp. So I soldiered on. There were a couple good, hard working trainers there but not with the same experience. Today, another trainer with similar experience to Coach Matt returned to the gym, having resolved some issues with the owner. Coach Cornelius knows his boxing. He is dedicated to building from the ground up. Slow. Steady. Controlled. The speed and power will come naturally he says. I am completely on board. So we wait. We work. We move forward and we give it our best. Hopefully, Cornelius is the man with the plan.
Yet he is not the only new addition to the "team." I have a personal trainer now, Kylee. She is going to work with me once a week on my biggest weaknesses - flexibility, core strength, lower body strength, balance, nutrition. We did an intake evaluation today. I am doing well in all areas except back flexibility (clearly, the fourth horizontal bar from the bottom).
One of my biggest concerns during this buildup is going to be weight. I plan on fighting at 152. This morning I was hovering just over 164. Kylee measured my body fat and it was only about 11%. To keep this in perspective: a typical fit man a body fat percentage of between 13% and 17%. Elite male athletes are in the 6% to 13% range. At least 4% (probably more) body fat is required for the body to undergo many of its natural processes. It is going to be a challenge, but an essential one given the difference in punching power in the weight classes, to get down in a health way. More on this to come.
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