Powerlifting combined with Kickboxing

[MTPowerlifting]

So I've practiced Kickboxing for 3 years now and I've quit the gym 4 months ago because it felt the same over and over again and I just didn't have motivation anymore.
Now about 1.5 years ago I discovered fitness and about 7 months ago I got serious with it and follow a kind of powerlifting/bodybuilding program. Now my question is: I want to keep my focus on powerlifting 5 days a week, no less. Can I still fit in 1 day of kickboxing or is this just too few training?
I have a heavy bag at home and I can fight like an hour on it everyday if neccesary.
I know once is better then nothing but still, what are your opinions on it?

And another question is, I got immense strength from powerlifing, especially in my legs and my kicks are a lot harder on the heavy bag now, but has my overall technique and speed has fallen dramatically back? I know it's hard to tell over the internet without knowing me but does one generally lose alot of technique, speed and power if gone 4 months without training?

 

[Buka]

Welcome to Martial Talk, MTP. Hope you enjoy it here.

Just like if you stopped power lifting for four months, your lifting technique, and possibly speed, would suffer compared to what it is now because you would no longer be actively training in power lifting.

Strength training through lifting is a wonderful thing. How it applies to your kick boxing techniques depends on how you approach it.

While your kicks may be harder on the heavy bag due to increased leg strength, (and increased strength in your back) what you should focus on is the power in your punches. Punching comes from the legs, back and core - coming up from the ground - it is kinetically linked through the arms to the fists, to the target.
Said simply - you punch with the body, you deliver with the fists.

Study the most explosive parts of power lifting. (you know what they are) really study them. Apply that to your punching technique.(not the strength part, the explosive part) It's not your strength that really counts, it's that explosive motion and your initial movement.

One day a week training in kick boxing is better than no days a week. But you're going to need to discipline yourself. Your recent strength regimen (and it's results) are a new toy to you. Because you love it, you're going to look for it when you kick box. Don't. Study technique like you've never studied it before.

One other thing. Stay flexible. As flexible as you can.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

So I've practiced Kickboxing for 3 years now and I've quit the gym 4 months ago because it felt the same over and over again and I just didn't have motivation anymore.
Now about 1.5 years ago I discovered fitness and about 7 months ago I got serious with it and follow a kind of powerlifting/bodybuilding program. Now my question is: I want to keep my focus on powerlifting 5 days a week, no less. Can I still fit in 1 day of kickboxing or is this just too few training?
I have a heavy bag at home and I can fight like an hour on it everyday if neccesary.
I know once is better then nothing but still, what are your opinions on it?

And another question is, I got immense strength from powerlifing, especially in my legs and my kicks are a lot harder on the heavy bag now, but has my overall technique and speed has fallen dramatically back? I know it's hard to tell over the internet without knowing me but does one generally lose alot of technique, speed and power if gone 4 months without training?

If you miss a week, you lose. After two weeks, it's obvious.

 

[MTPowerlifting]

Thanks for the responses guys! I guess I just simply start training again and I'll see from there.

 

[Andrew Green]

Can I still fit in 1 day of kickboxing or is this just too few training?

It's going to depend entirely what your goals are. At once a week you will only progress so fast and so far, you'll certainly not be competing, possibly not even sparring (depending on your gym).

At once a week kickboxing is not a serious pursuit, but more cross training. If you are ok with that, then go for it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just keep in mind you are not going to be, or be treated like a serious kick boxer. Same as if you switch it around and where training kickboxing 5 days and then powerlifting once. You'll make progress, but you'll never be a serious powerlifter at once a week.

 

[MTPowerlifting]

Damn I'm struggling about this so hard. Well I really won't be dropping powerlifting/bodybuilding any time soon and won't go any days less then 4 days a week. Aboslute minimum. What about twice a week? I used to train 1-2 days a week when I train for those 3 years of kickboxing. What about serious twice a week kickboxing?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Damn I'm struggling about this so hard. Well I really won't be dropping powerlifting/bodybuilding any time soon and won't go any days less then 4 days a week. Aboslute minimum. What about twice a week? I used to train 1-2 days a week when I train for those 3 years of kickboxing. What about serious twice a week kickboxing?

What do you mean by serious? There's nothing stopping you from going once a week, as a hobby. You won't get as good as quickly, but you'll still learn from it. Same goes for twice a week: if you want to be serious and possibly compete you should probably be doing more, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful going twice a week.

 

[MTPowerlifting]

Allright thanks!

 

[MTPowerlifting]

By the way, I wouldn't say I was a bad fighter when I used to train 1-2 times a week, but I did have my problems in sparring. We didn't spar alot though but my kicks and punches were pretty fast, powerful and technically correct. How many times should you spar a week to get really good at it? So this means the same for competitions. I know it depends on the person but what do you think is generally good for getting really good at sparring/doing competitions?

 

[Dinkydoo]

By the way, I wouldn't say I was a bad fighter when I used to train 1-2 times a week, but I did have my problems in sparring. We didn't spar alot

Okay, so you weren't a 'fighter' then...because training 1/2 times a week and struggling at sparring are pretty much mutually exclusive with being a competitive fighter.

How many times should you spar a week to get really good at it? So this means the same for competitions. I know it depends on the person but what do you think is generally good for getting really good at sparring/doing competitions?

It depends.

You'd be surprised at how much sparring you can do without actually getting any better. Ideally, you need to be doing some quality padwork and trying to work this same 'perfect' technique into technical sparring every week...finding out what the holes in your game are and starting the iteration again the following week, whilst trying to correct those issues. Then, when you're ready - or, whenever you want to - start doing the occassional harder sparring session (but don't omit the 'bread and butter' of pads, bag and shadow from your training).

There are guys on here who are much more qualified to give advice than me, but that's my input anyway.

 

[MTPowerlifting]

Thanks for the response man! With the sparring sturggle I ment I had my flaws but my gym had more grown men generally anyway, I'm 16 and I didn't weigh alot back then. I get what you mean and I'll try to apply it, thanks!

 

[Dinkydoo]

Oh, tell me about it......sparring bigger guys is challenging and for me, it's more often than not.

Try to be confident and impose your game on them. Hiding out of range (or, what you think is out of range) and being passive doesn't really help, in my opinion

 

[Transk53]

Thanks for the response man! With the sparring sturggle I ment I had my flaws but my gym had more grown men generally anyway, I'm 16 and I didn't weigh alot back then. I get what you mean and I'll try to apply it, thanks!

Wish I had hit the gym at 16 lol. Nothing worse than approaching something if it feels like a chore. Enjoyment counts for a lot as well when it comes to whatever training. All the best with it

 

[S-K-K]

If I was you, I would go for kickboxing, you can attend kickboxing class one day a week. But, you are missing a lot of techniques in kickboxing. And, this can take you years before you even become a good kickboxer.
To become a good kickboxer you have to at least attend classes five days a week.

 

[jobo]

To become a good kickboxer you have to at least attend classes five days a week.

I dont think that's a fact ?

 

[kuniggety]

I think that's rather subjective. It depends on what you define as good, how you use the training sessions when you're in class, and what you're doing out of class. If you're doing all of your conditioning outside of class and just focusing on the timing of sparring when in class then 2 - 3 times is sufficient to get pretty damn good over time. Will you progress the same as someone going 5x a week? Probably not but with smart training you can make it work.

As an aside, I'm a lifter but not a serious lifter.. ie I have no intentions of competing at any level as a power lifter. That being said, I would think that 4 days a week of lifting is sufficient (or one day each for the big three lefts with one extra for shoulders and auxiliary work) which leaves two days for kickboxing and a rest (stretching) day.

 

[KangTsai]

If you actually want to improve your kickboxing, you should be training it more than once a week. Anecdotally, I never experienced rust.

 

[Mitlov]

Damn I'm struggling about this so hard. Well I really won't be dropping powerlifting/bodybuilding any time soon and won't go any days less then 4 days a week. Aboslute minimum. What about twice a week? I used to train 1-2 days a week when I train for those 3 years of kickboxing. What about serious twice a week kickboxing?

Think of training times per week as reps per set. There's a huge difference between one and two, and a much smaller difference between four and five. I think four days of lifting and two of martial arts will be a much better total package than five and one. I'll think you'll struggle to maintain skill, not to mention progressing, in kickboxing at just once per week.