I stood in a room full of fellow Personal Trainers, my hands were newly wrapped in protective bandages, I was here to learn the "Outbox" techniques (“outbox” is a boxing fitness training which uses pads and gloves) and to meet the newly crowned WBA World Heavyweight Champion - the guy who beat the Russian giant!
The information that Outbox is devised by David "The Hayemaker" Haye and his Coach Adam Booth didn’t mean that much to me when I booked on the the course a few months ago. It's a long time since I was taught the most basic rules of milling and then boxing, by a young PTI called Gordon Siddel: "keep your hands up and keep punching". Those rules have served me and successive generations of Inter Battery boxers well over the years to follow but it really was time to get updated.
It was fantastic meeting up with other talented and well motivated fitness professionals. I always find it inspiring and the knowledge passed on by our coaches for the weekend, David Coldwell and David Nicolosi was both informative, relevant and great fun.
What a reminder that I am no longer a teenager! Two intense days of punching and holding pads is very demanding and having made good progress on the first day, I found myself struggling to cope with the sheer physicality of the work we were doing. So by the time we were assessed I was mentally and physically exhausted and not up to the task. This was a good lesson in humility and a reminder of how my clients must sometime feel.
I am due to go for a re-assessment; this time I'll make sure that I am up to it!