Am i doing 'too much' strength and conditioning

[Redd Foxx]

My question was of course rhetorical; proper resistance training is extremely stressful; it is a "bad thing". We don't want the immediate effects of resistance training--we don't want the weakened muscles, the oxidative stress, the damage to connective tissues, the inflammation, the soreness, etc., we want the adaptations our body makes to these effects--given sufficient time, rest, nutrients, etc.

Resistance training is much like a drug; the minimum dose needed to produce a given end is the desired dose. If 400 mgs of ibuprofen will completely eliminate your headache you would be unwise to take 800 mgs; the same applies to resistance training.

"Instead of trying to determine how much exercise we can tolerate, perhaps we should try to determine how little we actually require."-Arthur Jones

If "proper" training is "extremely stressful", then you're contradicting yourself with your closing statement. Also, you perhaps didn't pay attention to the original post in which he said it's mostly conditioning. In boxing conditioning, you don't take on the same "less is more" philosophy as in weight training. The ceiling for conditioning is not limited by the same factors that come into play in weight training. You're confusing these two things.

[OctoberRed]

If "proper" training is "extremely stressful", then you're contradicting yourself with your closing statement. Also, you perhaps didn't pay attention to the original post in which he said it's mostly conditioning. In boxing conditioning, you don't take on the same "less is more" philosophy as in weight training. The ceiling for conditioning is not limited by the same factors that come into play in weight training. You're confusing these two things.

^^^^this by Red.

[GelfSara]

This is obviously on an individual basis in consideration of "how little" is enough. I'll bite, how would one know they're hitting the necessary amount of training without doing too little or too much?

Assuming the objective is to make sure that one is basically on the right track rather than achieving perfection, careful record keeping and attention to excellent and consistent form and exercise performance are key. If one is making consistent progress without compromising form or exercise performance AND one is training "whatever should be trained" one is essentially on the right track, if not, one has either reached the ceiling of one's potential or one's training needs to be adjusted in order to continue to progress; if the latter, how one's training should be adjusted would depend on a number of variables; if--for example--one has been (resistance) training with sufficient intensity and plateaus, an increase in rest between sessions may be indicated, or a reduction in training volume per session, or both. Of course, there are various caveats--for example, boxers often reduce calories quite drastically as a bout approaches, and dieting will make it far more difficult to progress on strength training exercises, especially if one is an advanced trainee and is already quite lean. A strictly dieting boxer might well lose strength and LBM in the 10 weeks before a bout even while following his "ideal" resistance training routine; he would of course lose much more of both were he not to do so.

It is extremely important to remember that the progress one records in a training diary is meaningful only if one is comparing "apples to apples". As Drew Baye emphasizes in this video, one should not confuse the measurement of progress with the objective of exercise:

[GelfSara]

If "proper" training is "extremely stressful", then you're contradicting yourself with your closing statement. Also, you perhaps didn't pay attention to the original post in which he said it's mostly conditioning. In boxing conditioning, you don't take on the same "less is more" philosophy as in weight training. The ceiling for conditioning is not limited by the same factors that come into play in weight training. You're confusing these two things.

Apologies for the late reply.

I don't see the contradiction you believe exists, if you could tell me what you are referring to I'd be happy to address it.

Obviously boxers benefit from both "strength training" & "cardio"; these can be performed (largely) separately or simultaneously; while training both simultaneously is certainly conducive to maximizing muscular adaptations it may not be sufficient to maximize cardiovascular adaptations; therefore, separate "cardio" sessions may be warrented--although--at least many of these can be combined with training that focuses on boxing-specific skills.

Regardless of the time required to maximize (or sufficiently develop) muscular vs. cardiovascular fitness, one should of course use the lowest dose of training required to achieve one's objectives--not only to save time, but also to minimize the risk of injury and illness.