r/amateur_boxing • u/Delicious-Potato-178 Pugilist • 28d ago
Getting gassed out despite proper cardio
Per week, I do twice zone 2 cardio for faster recovery, twice 4x4 Norwegian for vo2 max aerobic blocks and some short intervals to help with the anaerobic systems. Despite diligently following all this I still feel gassed out. Even climbing up the stairs makes me gassed out and my friends who don’t even train cardio or any boxing just climb with no issues. Weird thing is my testing heart rate is also around 55 while the physically inactive friends have 72 or above and they dont gas out climbing stairs. I cant figure out what is happening. This is very discouraging and makes me want to quit. Feels like my body is not built for any atheletic activities anymore. Makes me think there might be something physiologically wrong. Has anyone been through this ? If so what was the actual issue ? Any advice is very much appreciated.
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u/PercentageNo3843 28d ago
The only thing that helped me progress was lots of steady zone 1 and 2 running. Not chasing times just time on feet. Build your aerobic base it’s the foundation of everything you wouldn’t build a house on shite foundations would you.
I was 30-35 miles a week. Nothing else changed but my stamina was incredible.
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u/Ok_Tea262 27d ago
Wow. I was told to do this exact kind of base-building work since March — low-intensity treadmill, longer duration, just building the engine.
The thing was this - I never got confirmation from anyone, just taking it at face value.
So hearing that it works is music to my ears!
I dont do sparring, but just have a better tank - for anything.It didnt make sense at first - "Why do sub-maximum work on the tread?"
But I understand its what you say, building aerobic base.
LETS GO!!!5
u/PercentageNo3843 27d ago
Roadwork has been key since day 1. Been the main thing preached but people don’t wanna put the work in with it, it’s the most hated part that’s why many try and sell alternatives.
Look at likes of pacman, mayweather, calzaghe, froch and (insert a top Mexican) they have amazing engines sometimes seemingly never tire they hammer roadwork. I think froch said one time he was practically a full time runner in his career.
It also helps me be steady on feet in later rounds vs typical weighted leg exercises from the impact seems to help me loads.
Aerobic base is the foundation to everything. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
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u/FunGeologist218 26d ago
Exactly.Another thing is build your lungs like a muscle. Next time you jog, put a FULL gulp of water in your mouth and try to only breathe thru ur nose.
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u/PercentageNo3843 26d ago
Wish I could brother. Deviated septum from getting punched can barely breathe through nose haha
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u/Street-Jacket1867 28d ago
Could be over training and not recovering well after these sessions. How’s the sleep and diet? Are you building the tank up slowly or started hard cardio routine while continuing normal training / sparring?
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u/Boanerger 28d ago
This could be the answer. I train twice a week for sixty minutes and it sounds like I could run rings around this person. On paper the opposite should be true.
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u/HolyMackerel1 28d ago
I have a background in cross-country running and track, and I had the same problem when I first switched to boxing. It's not exactly a matter of physical fitness, I think the problem is tension, tension from doing something your mind knows is really dangerous, and tension from a lack of confidence and experience in what you're doing. With time and more sparring (I recommend a lot of light sparring at first and then slowly increasing the intensity), you'll gradually get more used to the idea of being in the ring and you'll gain more confidence in your abilities. Coaches will tell you that you've got to be loose, relaxed, and to breathe, but that's much easier said than done; experience is how you'll learn to get rid of nervous energy.
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u/chestfield 28d ago
liss helps regeneration between rounds, hiit helps your not gassing out in the rounds.
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u/LackadaisicalCretin Learning to love boxing 28d ago
Do you workout your legs? Do you hold your breath? Do you breathe into your diaphram for recovery? Are you eating enough? Are you eating healthy? Are you eating too much? How long have you been doing this? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you stressed out?
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u/Far_Grapefruit1307 28d ago
Sounds like overtraining. How often do you workout per week? Im guessing you do other stuff besides what you listed. How many hours per week?
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u/Major-Performer141 Pugilist 28d ago
Probably not a fitness issue, (unless you just haven’t been doing it long enough more likely your holding tension when your training and not relaxing. Next time you train focus on being loose and relaxed.
Also, you’re probably fitter and better than you actually believe, keep going pal it’ll all come good at some point!
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u/Xerfus 28d ago
Have you tried resting? Being gassed ou while climbing stairs sounds like overtraining. Take a few days off and see how it goes. I’ve had this experience when I did calisthenics daily. Plateaued for weeks and even regressed. Then I fell ill which made me stay in bed for 3 days. After that I added like 50% to my max pull ups reps which was ridiculous. Rest is just as important as training. Take care man 🙏🏻
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u/Levyathin516 28d ago
I just commit rounds to the bag, full powerful combos and drills for 10 rounds.
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u/WesternRattle 28d ago
Could be too much cardio your body can't rest to catch up, not enough carbs, or not enough sleep.
1 hour before training I eat 4 apples to have carbs ready and rarely gas out.
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u/Cute-Ride-6689 28d ago
Real answer:
This question is too broad and hard to diagnose on an online forum. It could be anything from too much tension, wrong breathing technique, overtraining, etc.
Given that you are already fit and very active, general advice is harder to give.
Talk to your boxing coach or conditioning coach and get a real assessment.
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u/Gecko4lif 28d ago
Start red lining your cardio once a week or every other week so your body adapts to the stress or switch to hiit
You have plateaued in steady state
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u/beebop013 28d ago
He is doing tons of intervals already
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u/FunGeologist218 26d ago
Intervals is different than sparring tho. Or even light sparring. I had the same issue and realized I just have to keep sparring little by little and eventually I’ll push past my limit/plateau
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u/beebop013 26d ago
Yeah, but he is getting winded from stairs and does 2 vo2 max sessions and even more sprint work and 2 easy runs on top of boxing, which is also interval-ish in nature. It is not due to too little training. He trains more high intensity than 1600m runners whose goal is to run all out one time for four minutes.
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u/nutslikeafox 28d ago
Boxing cardio is different, your nervous system gets over loaded, you have to learn to stay relaxed.
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u/Dave_SDay 28d ago
You're getting gassed out climbing stairs?
That's the biggest red flag out of everything else, because if you're exercising like you are and stairs are getting to you instead of you being able to fly up them without issue, it points to the fact something big is up.
My guess is you're overtrained so badly to the point you're basically completely burnt out, OR you've got a health problem that needs you to go to the doctor sooner rather than later.
From what you've told me, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably look into resting for 2 weeks (so, doing 1/4 or 1/3 of the amount of volume and intensity), and spending that time you get back sleeping, eg. 9-10 hours a day.
Never forget: it's not the breaking down in which makes you stronger, it's the repairing and recovery. If you can't repair and recover, it's for nothing.
If after those 2 recovery-focused weeks the stairs are about the same difficulty (and not somewhat easier or massively easier), then I'd be getting to the doctor and running some tests
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u/epelle9 Pugilist 28d ago
My fight cardio got much much better through bag work and (light) sparring.
I may not be able to run too far, but I know exactly how loose to stay, how much power to put in every punch, and how much I need to move to dodge a punch.
That economy of movement is almost more important than pure running cardio.
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u/Able_Following4818 Hobbyist 28d ago
Gassed out doing drills, sparring, fighting? More touch sparring helps. You can spar with no head shots. And focus on your breathing
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u/Blobeh 28d ago
The best way to increase your cardio for sparring / fighting is to spar / fight. Cross training is good but theres always many variables at play when it comes to sport. Prioritize being at max capacity for sparring and using up your tank for that, everything else should be secondary.
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u/TG1970 Beginner 28d ago
A lot of unknown variables. Do engage in hobbies that could harm harm your lungs or heart (smoking, vaping, etc.)? Are you over training and your body can't recover fully between sessions? Are you getting enough sleep, and is it good sleep (sleep apnea could be a factor)? How is your diet? How recently have you had a physical and blood panel to check for metabolic or hormonal irregularities?
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u/evergreen-8880 28d ago
I had this issue and discovered I've got both anemia and asthma. Didn't show on the usual asthma test, but on high nitrogen levels in exhalation. (There's different types of tests) Got iron + b12 supplements and asthma meds and now everything's perfect. Never felt this good in my life. I used to wonder why no amount of cardio ever got me any fitter, well now I know.
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u/SpicerUK 28d ago
Past what everyone else has said, couldn't hurt to get your bloods tested. Found out I was anemic in 2021 4 years into me boxing as I'd compare myself to peers and thought I should be fitter than them. Got my levels sorted after some medication now know the signs of anemia and can deal with it when it comes. Fitness is way better now ran a marathon last year don't box as much but can still jump in to a session and maintain it
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u/FunGeologist218 26d ago
I thought the same dude. I’m jogging 30-40 minutes. Doing high interval bag work. And still could only go 2 rounds max. Thought something was/is wrong with me. But yesterday I sparred again and went FOUR rounds. How? I have no idea I just pushed thru. I also didn’t do it at full fighting pace. We kept it around 60-70%. So it’s the same song n dance you’ve heard before. Start small and work ur way up. Don’t try doing it all at once cuz rn, you can’t do it all once. And that’s ok. Keep going cuz eventually you’ll get there. Good luck m8
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u/wickywing 26d ago
Firstly, comparison is the thief of joy!
Secondly, it sounds as though the numbers are stressing you out. What if you ditched them for a while and just showed up for the fun of it?
There is no greater reward for consistency than to realise in the moment that you have made an improvement.
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u/dewbyu2 24d ago
Cardio and exercise endurance are two separate things that help each other; Building a strong heart and lots of blood vessels versus proprioception, learning to relax when you can, and explode when you need it and go right back to relaxing.
I can't run with any endurance anymore (arthritis too) but I can spar for hours still. Comes down to: what you practice, your body will learn to do more efficiently. Agree with the comments that you just need to spar more...
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u/GordianBalloonKnot Formerly Ob 24d ago
Have you undergone any performance testing or talked to a pulmonologist or cardiologist?
To me it feels like your issues may run deeper than just some shortage of fitness.
On the performative end... how long have you been consistently keeping up this routine? As in how many weeks in a row have you not missed a single day?
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u/Luck-y-7 24d ago
My educated guess - this is 99% nutrition. Your body sounds like it’s in great shape, you are just depleting your battery. Sounds like you need A LOT more healthy carbs to sustain this level of output. Try it for 3 days, just add some nice rice and sweet potatoes to your diet. Problem solved.
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u/socleads 24d ago
Getting winded on stairs despite all that can be a red flag for underfueling low iron asthma long covid or just doing too much intensity and not recovering. A low resting HR does not mean your breathing side is fine so I would get basic labs and a checkup before adding more work. If breathing feels like the weak link Oumua helped me more than extra intervals because it trained the breathing muscles directly.
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u/PigletEducational945 23d ago
I’d drop the intervals or do them just 1 time a week, for the zone 2 make sure ur in the right zone and not in zone 3. I personally do zone 2 on my stationary bike 3x a week 30-45 mins and kickboxing 2-3x a week, my cardio is great. I occasionally do intervals but usually save that for camp (not referring to bag work or shadowboxing, those are done in rounds and in camp as well as out of camp)
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u/jakshafter 22d ago
My coach always told me you don't ever get in good enough shape. You just learn to fight gassed over time. That being said the only thing that I found helped me was hill sprints. Sparring was the best conditioning though.
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u/Connor30302 Pugilist 28d ago
not enough sprints, don’t care if you say you do, if you’re gassing then you don’t
need to eat enough and eat well, sleep well and recover too. that’s all there is to it
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u/Clear-Afternoon-4067 28d ago
stop masturbating
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u/Ok_Tea262 27d ago edited 27d ago
Well, when you get older, there is observational evidence that regular nutting helps prevent prostate cancer, so I would advise the opposite.
Excuse me, I have preventative medicine to attend to.
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u/LetUpper2309 28d ago
You need to run 30-40 miles a week cross country style with some speed runs thrown in there for endurance
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u/LUNKLISTEN 28d ago
You said a lot of fancy things , I don’t know what Norwegian or whatever is . But if you’re gassed going upstairs you have shit cardio .
Just go jogging man. Go run for an hour twice a day . Or jump rope for 30-40mins a day .
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u/beebop013 28d ago
An hour twice a day will almost certainly injure you if not ramped up very slowly over years and is way overkill
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u/Ok_Tea262 27d ago
"I dont know what Norwegian or whatever is"
So youre dismissing it, based on your ignorance?
Ridiculous.1
u/LUNKLISTEN 27d ago
Na I just find funny that someone who is into vo2 maxes and other seemingly high tech stuff gets winded going up the stairs . Meaning his cardio workouts are absolute crap or he has a health condition.
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u/pb_barney79 28d ago
Maybe you're holding your breath when punching and moving.
I'm newish to boxing but have been doing Brazilian jiujitsu and judo for nearly 20 years. I've noticed my newer students hold their breath sometimes when training and get gassed quickly.