Which hand is the right hand to put out front when boxing?

Which hand is the right hand?

After correcting so many beginners, I write the official guide on why the strong hand belongs in the back and not the front.

Just about every month, I see a new fighter standing with his strong arm in front. He’ll give me endless reasons about why he hits harder that way or fights better as a southpaw. Like the rest of them, they all base their reasons on their favorite fighter or their experience in back yard fights. To settle the debate once and for all, I break down all the known discussion points for advantages and disadvantages from fighting with your dominant hand in back or in front.

Everyone wants to know:

• Should I stand with my strong arm in the back like all other traditional boxers?
• Or should I convert into a right-handed southpaw or left-handed orthodox fighter for some tactical advantages in having a strong front arm?

Do the advantages really make you a force to reckon with? Or are you giving up your natural advantages for just a silly trick?

Why shouldn’t a boxer fight with his dominant hand in front?

You Become a One-armed Fighter

In the traditional stance, a boxer has his weak hand in front as the rangefinder that sets up the strong cross from the rear. In this scenario, the boxer has 2 effective hands: one to open the opponent, the other to inflict massive damage on the opponent.

Putting your strong hand in front makes you a one-handed fighter.

If you place your strong hand in front, this means your back hand will become useless because it doesn’t have true power which is its main purpose. You will be tempted to fight purely on the front hand which diminishes the purpose of the back hand since it is weaker and farther away from the target. It won’t be long before you become a one-armed fighter which makes it very easy for your opponents to beat you if they have 2 effective hands.

If anything, the front arm is used to distract and open your opponent while the back hand is waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. You want your opponent to expend mental and physical energy to get past your front arm only to walk right into your power hand. If your power hand is in front, your opponent only has to worry about getting past your front arm. Once he does that, he win the exchanges on the inside because his more powerful rear hand is in range and your rear isn’t strong enough to win the exchange.

At long range, you could say the boxer with the stronger arm in front has the advantage. At mid-range, the boxer with the stronger cross easily holds the advantage. At close-range, the front hook comes into play but the fighter with the stronger cross still holds the most powerful weapon.

Hands Are Improperly Tasked For Offense AND Defense

Offensively and defensively, the front hand does the less powerful work. The front arm throws the weaker jabs and is responsible for left hooks when in range. Defensively, the front arm is not as versatile and sometimes not even used at the higher levels of boxing.

Offensive and defensively, the back hand does the more powerful work. The back hand should be dominant because it needs to be accurate within the first shot. Your jab has to be accurate too but you have more chances to pry your opponent with the jab. Once your opponent is open, your right hand needs to be fast and accurate within the first shot to be truly effective. Defensively, the back hand is far more important than the front; it can block both hooks and crosses and often becomes the only defensive shield in higher level fights.

Strong Hand Weakened by Multi-tasking

Placing the strong hand in front weakens the strength of that arm. First off, your strong arm is in the front which means you don’t have the maximum leverage in power of throwing it from the rear. The next problem is that the strong hand now has to do many things. It has to throw jabs and also block punches. All this extra responsibility takes away from the power of your dominant hand. So now you don’t have a dedicated strong hand. You’re fighting with 2 weak hands.

You want to use your strong hand for strong punches,
not jabbing and blocking.

 Your Strong Hand Wasted in the First Shot

Having the dominant hand in front means you don’t get to throw many power punches with that strong hand. This is because the first punch in any combination is usually the jab. It’s the faster jab that sets up the big punches, not hooks or upppercuts or crosses. Your strong hand is always throwing the first shot, which is then most likely followed by a cross from your weaker hand. Which then means your strong hand doesn’t get to throw a power punch until the 3RD PUNCH of your combination. This actually really sucks because you now have to throw 3 punches just to throw one power punch from your strong hand. What sucks even more is that your strong hand will get tired throwing jabs and your weak hand has to be fast and effective to give you a chance to throw that powerful front hook.

Because you can’t lead with power shots,
it’s more effective to position your strong hand for the second shot.

 You Lose Your True Power Punch

You know what’s worse then having only one strong arm? It’s having no strong punches. Your absolute strongest punch is the rear cross. The punch is thrown from the rear allowing for the most rotation and shifting of the body weight to generate the maximum power possible.

If your strong hand is in front,
you will not be able to throw your most powerful punch possible.

Weak Hand + Weak Leg + Weak Eye = Weak Cross

Some people falsely believe that the weak hand will become a power punch just because it’s in the back. If you switch around your stance, you’ll soon realize that your weak hand in the rear is powered by the weak leg in the rear. True power comes from the leg which means you’ve got a weaker less-coordinated hand in the rear powered by a weaker less-coordinated leg in the rear.

This situation actually gets much worse. Your rear hand will also be lined up with your weak eye! Many people don’t understand this severe disadvantage. Try standing by a speedbag as you normally would and then CLOSE your dominant eye and try to hit the speedbag. You will notice that your accuracy goes way down! Better yet, try to imagine yourself lining up your dominant eye behind a gun, and then CLOSING the dominant eye and trying to shoot a target. It’s almost impossible to shoot without your eye lined up.

Dominant Eye Test
You can even take a test to find out which is your dominant eye. Look around for a small object in the distance; it can be a lightbulb, a spot on the wall, or a car in the distance. While looking at that object, quickly hold up a finger to cover the object. Now, take turns closing one eye while leaving the other opened. The eye that has your finger lined up with the object is your dominant eye.

Here’s a fun example to see how awkward it is to throw a rear cross with your dominant eye in front. Try throwing a left cross (from southpaw position) with your left eye closed. Now switch sides and try throwing a right cross (from orthodox position) with your right eye closed. See how weird that feels? Sure your punch might land but the power is never truly lined up. It’s bad enough your cross doesn’t have any power, but now it’s got no accuracy either. Put the weak eye with your weak hand and weak leg in the back and you’ve got the perfect formula for a really shitty cross.

Weak hand, weak leg, and weak eye in the back
means you lose your rear power punches!

 Crappy Defense

If your converted stance leaves you more open than your normal stance, then you REALLY shouldn’t be switching stances. Switching stances shouldn’t just be for offensive advantages, it should be for defensive advantages, too. The most obvious indicator of a new stance being a bad idea is when you can’t even defend from that stance. Why switch stances just to leave yourself completely open?

Some guys have this crazy theory that the more punches you take, the less they hurt. But I disagree…every punch you take hurts more than the last.

Taking 10 shots is much worse than twice the damage of taking 5 shots, because every time you’re hit, you’re more hurt which means the next punch does even more damage.

If converted stances are so bad, then why are people doing it? There must be SOME advantages to converting from your natural-born stance. I’ll analyze the top reasons for switching stances and try to explain why you might be overlooking bigger advantages to pick up small ones.

Switch Stance Advantages That Aren’t Worth It:

Having a Powerful Jab

The jab is not for power. The jab is for speed and accuracy and setting up bigger punches. Nobody ever knocks out anybody with a power jab; it’s not just improbable, it’s unrealistic. Some fighters think adding power to their jab has a cumulative damage effect overall but I actually it’s taking away from the true purpose of the jab–which is to be accurate and set up the bigger punches! I would much rather have a faster jab or multiple weak jabs than one powerful jab. If I want to be a more powerful fighter, I’d put that strong hand in the back where it becomes even more powerful.

Don’t have too much ego in your jab. Some guys get an big ego because they feel even their weakest punches (their jabs) have power. Even if you land that power jab, you don’t have a strong cross to follow it up.

The jab’s purpose is not power, but speed and accuracy.

 The Southpaw Advantage

Oh what joy it is to be a southpaw in a right-hander’s world. Yes, you’ve totally confused everyone and been king of the hill for a week. But then what? Sooner or later the truth comes…

If you’re not a true left-hander,
you won’t benefit from the true southpaw advantages.

If you’re not a true southpaw, you won’t benefit from all of the southpaw’s style and natural southpaw movement. You are only training yourself to be a southpaw. Can it be done? Yes. Will you improve as quickly as if you stood in your natural stance? Probably not. What happens if you fight someone that understands southpaws or even another southpaw? You could be in big trouble. Don’t forget that there are not very many truly experienced southpaw trainers…so you lose out there, too.
The bottom line is: You are basically training yourself to do what southpaws do naturally. Can you imagine if you were an offensive minded fighter yet someone told you to fight defensively? Or if you were a slow fighter and your trainer told you to fight like a fast fighter? Imagine how dangerous it would be for you to use a style that isn’t naturally suited to you. Imagine how much dangerous it would be to use an inferior style BUT THINK it was actually an advantage. But yes, if you insist, I imagine you would “get use to it” at some point. But that isn’t the point of boxing, you’re not there to “get use to it”. You’re there to be amazing.

Natural born tigers don’t grow up to be great lions.

Having a Great Hook
It’s easy to get caught up in having a great hook. You’ve seen so many knockouts on Youtube you jump off your chair thinking, “I need a great hook to be a great boxer!” Having a great hook shouldn’t come at the expensive of having a great cross. The rear cross is a bread and butter punch. It may not always get you the killer knockout but it will always be your most powerful punch. You need that power to keep your opponents away as well as soften them up for that hook. The reason why the hooks land is because opponents are worried about that rear cross. Without a strong rear cross to threaten your opponent, your opponent doesn’t have to shift his attention off your jab hand, which takes away your front hook’s element of surprise.

Even if your rear cross never lands,
the threat of it must be strong enough to keep your opponent away.

Don’t worry so much about having absolute power on the hook. The front hook comes at such a perfect blind side angle that it’s devastating even when it doesn’t land with full power. The rear cross however requires 100% raw power! Besides, hooks are typically thrown less often than crosses and require you to be at a closer (and more dangerous) range than crosses. If I had to choose where to put the power, I’d put it in the rear…just saying’.
“My other hand is stronger.”
Every now and then I see a fighter switch stances to put his stronger (but less coordinated) hand in the back. This is one of the most legitimate excuses for switching stances. Unfortunately, it’s not full proof. There could be a large number of reasons why the other hand hits harder. Maybe you lean more towards your right or left side. Or maybe the hand is weaker and so it FEELS like you’re hitting harder because your hand feels more impact. In some rare cases, a boxer will have such bad technique that he hits harder when he throws with less technique from the weaker hand. In any case…

Just because the hand is stronger
doesn’t mean it’s your dominant hand.

The dominant hand is the one that delivers more damage. To deliver the most damage, it helps to have power but most importantly speed and accuracy. The dominant hand is the one you have the most confidence in throwing if you had to punch a moving target. The dominant hand is the one that hits the hardest at the end of a 2-hour training session. The dominant always has something about it that makes it superior to your other hand. You trust it more. Your dominant hand is also almost always the hand that you write with.
“I move better when I switch stances.”
This is actually a bad excuse for switching stances. The reason why your footwork is better when you switch stances is because you stand off-balanced. Off-balanced fighters will always move better when they lean over their strong leg. An off-balanced fighter that leans to the rear will move better with his strong leg in the back whereas a fighter that leans forward will move better with his strong leg in front. Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s off-balanced. Unless you plan on fighting off-balanced forever, fixing your balance (and weight distribution) will do more for your boxing than switching your stance.

Poor mobility is the result of bad balance, not bad stance.

The Game of Boxing Prefers The Natural Stance
I can go on and on about why your strong hand belongs in the back but I think you get the point. The more you think about it, switching stances doesn’t put your strong hand in front… it leaves you without any strong hands. It takes away from your body’s natural ability to move, attack, and defend and gives you temporary advantages that can be easily taken away. I didn’t make up these facts, the sport of boxing did.

Boxing favors 2-handed fighters.

Just as racing favors the faster runners, boxing prefers fighters that are efficiently adept at fighting with both hands. It’s simply a fact of the sport. Nobody questions why two legs are better than one for running.
Too many fighters are looking for shortcuts in this day and age. They don’t believe in hard work and boring repetition. They keep thinking there’s an easy way, a secret to success. They’ll take any advantage even if it means giving up their natural qualities. The truth is:

The only real advantages you have
are the ones you worked long and hard for in the gym.

Converting your stance one afternoon is not going to give you insane boxing skills and make you king of the gym overnight. Too often the switch stance becomes a gimmick and gets exposed sooner or later. You may have fun landing potshots but your opponents will figure you out, and when they do…you won’t have your natural advantages to fight back.

Should You NEVER Switch Stances?

Is it impossible for anyone to be successful in a switch stance? No, it’s not impossible. Oscar De La Hoya fought with his strong hand in front. But he also came from a background of fencing where you fight with only one weapon, which is held by the front hand. Boxing’s an art as much as it is a sport. You do whatever you want. It’s your health, your time, your performance. My job is to share all that I know and help you make the best choice for you.

Can there be an advantage to having your strong arm in front? Of course there are but I’d say most people will have more disadvantages than advantages in that position. You would have to spend at least twice the time to be equally as effective from your natural fighting stance. If you’ve considered everything above and STILL want to switch up your stance, go for it.

How would I have done it? Learn the regular stance first, then learn the switch stance. Switch them up during fights and see what new things you can pick out from your opponent. Work hard and develop everything. I have a new guide coming out in the future on how to temporarily switch stances during fights.

In the meanwhile, I suggest you watch highlight footage of Roy Jones Jr, Shane Mosley, Pernell Whitaker, and Dmitry Pirog to see how these champions switch stances temporarily during fights to their advantage.

Have fun but be careful. If you get hurt bad and your new trainer has to change your stance 2 years down the line, just remember that I told you so. =)

Diet plan to gain weight

1.  Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible. Also, weigh yourself.

2.  Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2500 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5-6 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.

3.  Weightlifting! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step to how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly. For more information on weightlifting workout routines and splits, read the Exercise section.

4.  At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice your gaining just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 10lb increase. Gaining anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means your putting on way to much fat. So look for 1 or 2 pound gains at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can be gaining 5 to 8 pounds a month!

5.  Heres an important one. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining for at least 2 weeks, it means it is time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.

6.  Stay away from fat! Even though weight gain is your goal, you don't want to be gaining fat. Get rid of the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. Stick to high protein low fat foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, lean meats, fruits and vegetables etc.

7.  Protein is the building block for muscle. Without protein, do not even bother going to the gym. To gain muscle mass, you need to eat protein. Some people say eating 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. I disagree. I say stick with 1 gram per pound. So if you weigh 150lbs, eat 150 grams of protein. And that means everyday, whether your going to workout that day or not, you still need to supply your muscles with the protein they need to recover for the next workout and to grow.

8.  Also about protein... you need it after a workout. Eat a can of tuna or something high in protein after your workouts to supply your body with the protein it needs to recover after the workout you just had.

9.  As you might have guessed, fruits and vegetables are very important to your diet. Besides the fact there is no fat, they have the vitamins and minerals you need!

10.  Drinks. The best thing to drink is water, and a lot of it. You need it. It will give you the fuel you need to kill yourself in the gym getting the body you want. Another good drink is low/non fat milk. Milk has a lot of protein in it. But if you like it, non fat milk is great for you. But don't forget about the water!

11.  Diets. You have to make yourself a diet. Whether it's a weight gain diet, or a weight loss diet, you have to get organized. Plan what your going to eat before you eat it. Make yourself a diet as low in fat as possible, and high in protein and then get yourself organized so that eating isn't a problem anymore. It becomes as easy as walking, you just do it without thinking. This way, theres no time to think about eating those potato chips, or not eating enough protein.

12.  Carbohydrates. People trying to lose weight should eat a diet very low in carbohydrates while someone whose trying to gain weight can get away with eating the extra carbohydrates.

13.  Sleep! YES! Sleep! The easiest, yet most over looked step. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Your going to need it - lots of it! If you're having difficulty sleeping, consider trying a Sleep Support Supplement.

14.  Now the concern some people have about how to gain weight, is how to do it without putting on extra fat. Let me tell you how, YOU CAN'T! Unless you are using steroids, it is basically impossible to gain weight without putting on a little bit of extra fat. But hey, you want to see some weight gain right? Well then who cares about the little bit of extra fat you might put on while gaining. You will be able to burn that off later on, right now gaining is your main concern, so that is all you need to worry about.

15.  One rule when making weightlifting workout programs for gaining muscle weight is to make sure to split it so that you aren't overtraining. Doing chest on Monday, then triceps on Tuesday, then shoulders on Wednesday will overtrain your triceps. Why? Because just about every chest and shoulder exercise works the triceps secondary. And almost every back exercise works the biceps secondary.

16.  Work chest, triceps and shoulders on the same day, and biceps and back on the same day so that its ok if the secondary muscles get worked that day, because your doing them anyway.

17.  Separate those muscles that work a secondary muscle so that they are far enough apart not to overtrain you. For example, do Chest Monday, triceps on Wednesdays, and shoulders Friday... and biceps Monday with chest, and back Wednesday or Friday.

18.  Do chest and triceps Monday, and shoulders Thursday, and back and biceps together on Friday.

19.  Carefully plan your meals with foods that will help you gain lean mass, not fat. I suggest 6 meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and three other small meals scheduled throughout the day. The goal is to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours.

20.  Focus on foods such as steak, chicken, fruit, milk, vegetables, cheese and assorted types of nuts. It's recommended to eat 4 to 6 pieces of fresh fruit a day, and at least four tall glasses of milk. Milk is a great, inexpensive protein source - take advantage of it. A sample snack meal would be a glass of milk, an apple, and a hand full of peanuts.

21.  To gain weight, you do not NEED supplements, but they will help you gain the weight quicker. That's what they are, supplements to an already good diet and training program. Think of supplements as the finishing touch.

22.  Drink weight gain shakes. The way this will help is by giving you a large quantity of calories in one small serving. It will provide you with 620 calories in one easy shake and is especially great for people who do not have time for breakfast, or snacks while on the go. Just mix a serving with water or fruit juice and gulp it down in a just a couple of minutes.

23.  Creatine monohydrate: Most people gain 5 to 7 pounds in the first two weeks of creatine use. If you are interested in quick weight gain, and increased energy for your workouts, creatine is definitely worth a go.

24.  Buy new fitness clothes. Let's face it: Good equipment is everything. Proper shoes, workout gloves, etc., that make it comfortable to walk, and clothes that make you feel good when you move, can act as an incentive to lace up the sneakers and hit the gym to bulk up.

25.  Shoes: The American Council on Exercise warns that athletic shoes will lose their cushioning after three to six months of regular use, increasing the susceptibility to knee and ankle injuries. Replace them periodically. Buy a comfortable sweat suit or shorts and a tee-shirt in bright colors, such as bright red or orange, which are known to have an invigorating effect.

26.  To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. Heavy means a weight that is challenging for you. To consider a weight heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 8 to 12 reps before your muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered "light" if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in.

27.  Keep your workouts under one hour. Short and intense!

28.  Concentrate on free weight exercises that work the large muscle groups. The best weight training exercises for building mass are the simple ones. For mass, stick with compound free weight exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, barbell rows, pull ups and bar dips.

29.  Use heavy weights and low reps, rest 3 minutes between each set.

30.  Stretching before your session is necessary to warm-up and loosen your joints, muscles and ligaments, while stretching after your workout helps to aid in recovery. When you stretch the muscles you just worked it will help to remove the lactic acid buildup in those muscles. Stretching helps in the removal waste from the muscles, and supplies them with much needed oxygen and nutrients. This will also help to alleviate some of the muscle soreness that accompanies heavy training.

31.  Using food supplements like Meal Replacement Powders and whey protein help to eliminate the common problem of "not enough time", by providing you with an quick efficient way to get your required nutrients each day.

32.  Deliver messages by email. Send interoffice emails daily as opposed to hand delivered.

33.  Increasing strength and decreasing recovery time. Using multivitamins and amino acid supplements help to minimize the negative side effects of weight training and speed your recovery.

34.  Whey Protein -- many people use Whey protein to help gain weight.

35.  I recommend that everyone should be taking a multi-vitamin, plenty of vitamin C, and glucosamine.

36.  Multi-Vitamin: Weight training increases the body's need for many minerals like magnesium and selenium. The multi-vitamin should ensure that you are not deficient in any major essential vitamin or mineral. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness and suppression of the immune system, muscle cramping and fatigue.

37.  Vitamin C: Vitamin C is essential to prevent free radical damage, which is accelerated after the heavy trauma of weight training. It is also essential is helping to repair connective tissue which helps decrease the amount of time you are sore. Vitamin C helps recovery so you can get back to training. A typical intake is around 3,000mg in divided doses. That would equal quite a few oranges!

38.   Iron: Grown men do not need additional iron. They get enough from our food. Men and postmenopausal women should never take iron supplements unless they have iron-deficiency anemia, which is only diagnosed by blood tests. The body has no way to eliminate excess iron except through blood loss. Women who menstruate are protected from iron overload, obviously. Iron is also an oxidizing agent that can cause damage to the heart and arteries, and is a major risk factor in atherosclerosis.

39.  Glucosamine -- Glucosamine is produced by our bodies, but most of the time our bodies demand so much of it, that it can't create enough. You can supplement your diet with glutamine to increase levels of glucosamine. Glucosamine is a powerful antioxidant, which helps to combat the stresses of exercise trauma, and prevent muscle protein breakdown. Suggested intake is about 15g per day (in divided doses), which would be impossible to get naturally. Take one dose at bedtime.

40.  Make it easy! Keep foods within easy reach. When you're shopping, remember that convenient packaging reduces the effort of preparing meals and snacks. It also requires less energy...save that energy for bulking up those muscles!

41.  A little secret: Nothing ever goes as planned. No one ever makes the gains they expected when they expected. At some point, guys who have made incredible gains became discouraged and felt disappointed. But they did not quit. They stayed focused on their goals. That's the key.

42.  Change your workout parameters. If you have been performing the same weight training routine for at least 5 weeks and you are not seeing any further strength gains, you may want to consider changing your workout parameters (i.e. sets, reps, tempo, exercises). Any small change should be enough to continue your progress. For example, if you are performing your reps with tempo of one count up and one count down, you may try slowing down your reps for a count of one up and three down.

43.  Take a before picture. And put it where you can see it everyday. This reminds you of what you used to look like, and what you will look like again if you stop training!

44.  Write down your specific goal on a piece of paper (e.g. you want to gain 30 pounds of muscle and get your body fat below 6 percent), and either carry it with you everywhere, or hang it somewhere you will see it everyday.

45.  Find a photo of someone who has the physique that you are trying to attain. You must be realistic when choosing this. Choose someone who is realistically achievable. Now hang that where you will see it everyday. Each time you look at your role model photo or read your written goal, you should visualize what you will actually look like at that goal and how you will feel.

46.  Take your physical measurements every two weeks. This is a gauge of how well your program is working for you. It will show you how far you have come. You will also see what is and what is not working for you.

47.  Give yourself a free day. Allow yourself one day out of the week to eat anything you want - without guilt.

48.  Unfortunately, when you're trying to figure out how to gain weight, it's easy to ignore the most important limiting factor -- your genetics. Specifically, scientists have isolated one particular gene that, through a protein called myostatin, actually slows your rate of muscle growth. Variations in myostatin genotype could explain why some people gain weight in the form of muscle far more quickly than others. Muscle fibers in elite bodybuilders, for example, are often no bigger than someone who has never picked up a barbell in their life. Their muscles are larger because they contain a greater number of small to average sized fibers.

49.  About being underweight, sometimes being too thin requires medical intervention. A physician can rule out hormonal imbalances, depression, and other hidden diseases such as anorexia or bulimia (eating disorders). Risks associated with being too skinny include complications in surgery and slow recovery after illnesses.

50.  Try replacing foods such as diet sodas with good energy sources, such as fruit juice.

51.  Power-pack each meal and snack. A few simple additions can add considerable amounts of nutrients and calories to your food. Add peanut butter to toast with honey or jam, dried cranberries and almonds or walnuts to oatmeal, low-fat cheese to crackers.

52.  Try to limit greasy or fried foods. They take longer to digest and therefore diminish your appetite. They're also bad for heart-health.

what is sparring?

In "sparring" the boxer or fighter is not attempting to defeat his opponent, he is in fact working on perfecting a certain type(s) of technique(s) that is part of his overall repertoire. This is one of the reasons that prize fighters work with a variety of "sparring partners" because each presents a difficulty that the fighter must learn to overcome by working a specific technique over and over again. In "sparring sessions both of the participants are not working at all out speed or power but on refined execution and honing of skills. These sessions are not "bouts".