Boxing Question

wewiley
wewiley Posts: 5
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been using the app seriously and consistently for a couple weeks now, and in under two weeks, I've lost about 3 pounds. I only want to lose about 10 lbs, and am really more focused on tightening/toning up than weight loss. However, I do have a question about the boxing/kickboxing entry on the app. I currently train for boxing three times a week, around two hours per session. However, part of this is stretching, part is warm up, etc. I usually try to keep track of how much time I actually spend boxing, sparring, hitting the bag, etc., but it's not always 100% accurate. My question is: does anyone know if the time noted on boxing includes breaks? In other words, if I enter "45 minutes of boxing" into my cardio, does that mean I did 15x3-minute rounds, or that I was only at the gym boxing for 45 minutes? I assume it only includes actual activity to be safe (always err on the side of caution!), bu I may be robbing myself of free calories :) Does anyone have any idea about this?

Replies

  • jacqui1612
    jacqui1612 Posts: 128 Member
    If you want to know the calories you are burning I suggest you get a heart rate monitor (hrm). I have a Polar FT7 (which has a chest strap). Polar seem to be pretty popular. But do a search in the message board and you'll find heaps of info..
  • ItsPheebs
    ItsPheebs Posts: 127 Member
    What I do is break it down one of two ways ... I either log my warm up and cool down separately (say 20 minutes), and log the rest as boxing. Remember it doesn't have to be concurrent time. So, if you stretch and warm up at a slow pace 5 minutes on either end, you can put 10 minutes of stretching.

    Or, I reduce my most intense time of exertion. So, sparring for 40 minutes, plus 20 of stretching, etc., I will log 45 minutes at the higher level of exertion. I don't break up my sparring or bag work, or even conditioning work outs any other way. You will stop for instruction or between rounds, whatever, but your heart rate is still up. If your heart is pounding, you're sweating, and a little out of breath, you're golden.

    You can get a heart rate monitor, but I can't wear mine in muay thai.
  • trinitrate
    trinitrate Posts: 219 Member
    Agreed on the HRM, but I would suggest that the calorie burns are literal '45 minutes hitting things' not just 45 minutes in the gym.

    I have the same thing with Karate / TKD. It tracks really high, so I believe it's interpreting the time as all very high intensity sparring / working out. For a 45 - 50 minute sparring session I normally track it as 30 - 35 minutes to account for a few short breaks. Even less if the rotations for sparring partners keep you out of the ring longer than normal.
  • wewiley
    wewiley Posts: 5
    All great replies. Many thanks to you for your responses. It sounds like there is a bit of a conflict here though (much like the one I had with myself, haha). I usually do what "trinitrate" does, and kinda cut down a little. For example, if I'm there a little under two hours (1:45, for example), I figure 30 is warming up and cooling down, and probably 30 of the remaining 75 minutes are spent in breaks, or receiving punching/footwork/kicking instruction, so I usually log it as about 40-45 minutes of boxing. However, I hadn't thought about the fact that my heart rate does probably stay elevated during those times. Although I'm not necessarily throwing punches for 2 hours straight ( I think that would kill any mortal man), I'm also not going back down to basal BMR either, so maybe I should shoot for somewhere in between. As Pheebs said, I train for Savate/kickboxing, and that makes a heart rate monitor pretty tough. Either way, I'm interested in as many opinions as possible, and certainly appreciate all of yours. It's great to have a community to discuss this stuff with. Thanks again!
  • wewiley
    wewiley Posts: 5
    Awesome, thanks for the reply. I think these both seem like valid ways to do it. As I said, I really just don't want to overestimate what I'm getting done, as I prefer to log less caloric burn and be pleasantly surprised with the results rather than the other way around. Both of these seem like pretty good ways of getting around the problem, and your second options ounds pretty close to what I do. Don't know why I never thought of logging them separately. Thanks for the input!

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