Need your advice

[Punchdrinker]

I'm a smoker and my conditioning is bad..... I'm not overweight but I'd run out of gas if I ran a block. I'm looking to start training in BJJ and kickboxing.... should I not even bother trying to start training until I quit smoking and get in shape or should I go into it as I am now and use my training as a tool to get in shape and quit smoking? I don't want to make the training any harder then it already will be by being completely out of condition but at the same time I don't want to push off starting training anymore. Thanks.

[Reakt]

Use your training as a tool to get into shape and quit smoking, thats what i did and it worked. I quit in march this year and i think im the fittest i've ever been in my life right now.

Gassing in 1 min and coughing up your lungs between rounds should help motivate you to quit smoking and might make you think twice before sparking up. Use your cravings to push yourself harder and also start running and swimming too.

[yomon]

Actual fight training will be the best tool. I recently joined a studio and have bumped my cardio and strength through the roof

[Eilertso]

It's a myth that u get good cardio from plain running. You get endurance, and some ammount of cardio; yes but It's like lifting weights with light weights. You get endurance, but you don't get much stronger.

Get into intervaltraining 2-3 times a week for starters.
Run in hills or stairs with 80 % of max effort in 20 secs, then 20 secs break - 5-6 times.
My friend - in 2 months you wont recognize your own cardio...

good luck

[Laminar]

Don't put off starting to train. This is the first step to never doing things.

The training alone will get you into great shape. Interval trainig will get even a smoker into shape if they stick with it. If you do stick to it, I guarantee thoughts of quitting entering your head more frquently. Quit, best thing I did. 7 + years and counting.

Tips for quitting.
1. Carry a bag of baby carrots to chew on. It keeps your mouth occupied (hold the jokes please) Gum works to.

2. Once you have stopped for the first day, don't think about when you will have your next smoke. Look at it in the light of how long can you mentally hold out. Make it a game of am I strong enough. The though of being a bitch and giving in is enough for many fighters to hold out longer. I kept count for the first three months or so and then just did yearly anniversaries after that.

3. Give up things you associate with smoking. If your daily routine is having a cup of coffe and a smoke in the morning before work, another cup and a smoke at break and so on, break the chain of the combo. Consider juice instead.

4. If you are a real bad ass like my Grandpa, keep a pack in your pocket to remind you not to. He held a pack in his pocket for years while quitting. He hasn't smoked in almost thirty years.

Hang in there and train hard.

[Reakt]

Originally Posted by Eilertso

It's a myth that u get good cardio from plain running. You get endurance, and some ammount of cardio; yes but It's like lifting weights with light weights. You get endurance, but you don't get much stronger.

Get into intervaltraining 2-3 times a week for starters.
Run in hills or stairs with 80 % of max effort in 20 secs, then 20 secs break - 5-6 times.
My friend - in 2 months you wont recognize your own cardio...

good luck

Yes HIIT is superior to long distance for cardio but it is usually advised that an athlete already have a fairly good areobic base before partaking in HIIT. I think having a 7 minute mile is recommended.

[Madmick]

Originally Posted by Reakt

Yes HIIT is superior to long distance for cardio but it is usually advised that an athlete already have a fairly good areobic base before partaking in HIIT. I think having a 7 minute mile is recommended.

Yeah, you have to develop a VO2 max.

Also, if you're ambition is to be a pro boxer, HIIT is less useful.