A few days later I get a phone call and its Mo asking if I want a one on one training session with him, I accepted and we arranged times etc and I was really looking forward to it as it’s a new experience and life’s all about trying new things and taking risks.
So it’s Wednesday and I’m doing my usual thing training with people with the appointment with Mo getting closer and closer and me feeling a bit anxious as I didn’t know what to expect but I thought how hard can it be? I’ve seen Rocky a number of times, I’ve got this!
I turn up a bit early and I catch Mo training someone else so I took some time to check out his wall that’s full of Newspaper articles, pictures with every boxer I could think of and his awards from the commonwealth games. It was impressive!
So we begin and we start with warming up which just consisted of jogging and stretching, then I gloved up! He picked up the focus pads and went through all the types of punches and more importantly getting my foot work right! We started slowly working on simple routines and making sure my hand positioning was correct and then went on to blocking different punches. At this point I was still feeling pretty fresh and thought it’s not as bad as I thought!
Then shit got serious..........................................
Movements started to get faster and faster, bobbing and weaving started to get thrown in and he started to hit me to keep me on my toes to make sure I was blocking. As we were training he would stop me and correct my stance and give me a few tips on how to punch with more power and it’s crazy, the slightest adjustments made a massive difference and when someone says “good now I can feel your knuckles” you know you’re doing something right!
I was banging out combos like a crazy person trying my hardest to listen to the next command over the sound of the gloves and pads connecting! We then did some work on body shots and again how to make each punch count. He told me to brace myself and block the incoming onslaught I was about to receive, well he gave me a left body shot so hard and fast I almost had to take a knee, for a small guy he hit’s hard, really hard!
The pad work lasted just over 30 minutes, we took a breather and chatted about things and I was quizzing him about his boxing career, we had stopped for about 5 minutes and I was under the impression we had finished but then I hear....................
”time for some conditioning work”
Words can’t really describe how shocked I was to hear this as I literally had nothing left in the tank, but this picture gives you a good idea!
We entered the weight room and I felt safe, this is what I excel at, “bring it” I thought. He picks up an Olympic bar and goes through a weight circuit routine which included bicep curls, shoulder press and upright rows, he says 30 reps each, so I start and it felt doable but I haven’t done any high rep work in a while and the burn soon found me and gave me a beat down!
After I did another circuit which involved fast step up work on a box, dips, tricep overhead presses and a overhead throw down with a medicine ball (why make a ball that doesn’t bounce, seriously!) I started doing 10 reps of each then 9 then 8 and so on until I got down to 1 rep. Then we do some ab work which again involved the medicine ball, normally my abs/core is pretty strong but after 40 minutes of training I could barely finish a full set, it hurt so bad I could feel each abdominal cramp up and begging me to stop to the point where I felt like I was going to be sick! It’s a horrible feeling!
We finally finished with some cool down stretches and at this point I was drenched and relieved that the session was over and all I wanted was a protein shake and a hug!
HARDEST WORKOUT EVER! FACT!
After the session we talked and he mentioned I should come along to the sparring night! I agreed and thought “Spar sounds good” So I go along with swimming shorts and towel in hand walk in and to say the least I was slightly disappointed!
When I arrived they already started so I just hung back with the other boxers and just watched from a distance. Now before I arrived I didn’t plan on staying too long as I had to meet someone and I’m not one for being late, so I’m talking to one of the boxers and ask
“Do you hold back when you spar regarding the power of your punches?”
He replies “yeah you’re meant to but sometimes you get carried away”
As he finished his sentence we watch one guy’s head fly back and a cloud of blood around his head! He turns and his nose is busted and he’s covered in blood, now they really had my attention and I get the phone out and text my friend explaining I was going to be running late. I was hooked (pardon the pun) and ended up there for an hour, I couldn’t look away!
I’m going for another one on one session this week as even though it was extremely difficult I really did enjoy it and think my fitness/conditioning will increase and you never know I might lose a few pounds in the process.
Mo is holding a charity boxing event on Friday 23rd September where local guys who train with Mo will step into the ring for the first time in front of a crowd and go toe to toe. The details are as follows:
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