It's a gym just up the road from Archway, run by some Italian bloke. It is quite embarrassing when 20 squat thrusts force you to cough up your guts and you can't wipe the sweat out of your eyes with a pair of gloves on, but I'll probably go again - not sure if to that place, cos I might be leaving the area soon, would be cool to find somewhere in Central London.
exercise?!?!
- Thread starter zhao
- Start date
I went to this place (http://www.pancraselondon.com/) for a mixed martial arts class - hour of boxing, hour of wrestling. It was great, but I sucked ass real bad at boxing - not used to leading with my left (or having someone try and hit me back to be fair).
In answer to your question Martin, I guess loads of cardio to keep up with those rounds. You haven't got to build strenght to punch hard as a lot of it is good technique but you need to be fit to go the distance. Rowing, sprinting, skipping, exercise bike.
In answer to your question Martin, I guess loads of cardio to keep up with those rounds. You haven't got to build strenght to punch hard as a lot of it is good technique but you need to be fit to go the distance. Rowing, sprinting, skipping, exercise bike.
Try here
http://www.runtrackdir.com/uk/maps/londonoutdoormap.htm
Click on the red dots and it'll take you through to tracks.
But the park is fine if you can deal with the embarrassment of collapsing and having kids use you for a goalpost. Part of what I like about sprinting it gives you all the health benefits of running longer distances in shorter period of time - seems a waste of time to trek to a track and when you probably won't spend that much time running. 4 x 100m + 2/3 min recovery each time is all you need.
I’m not sure about the direct crossover of sprinting to boxing – it gets you fit but it doesn’t mimic the exact demands on the body like something like skipping does – however I know the man to ask ..
http://www.rossboxing.com/
He did have a book out about boxing fitness specifically but perhaps it’s out of print. Anyway, all the other ones listed would quickly turn you into a killing machine, I’m sure.
http://www.runtrackdir.com/uk/maps/londonoutdoormap.htm
Click on the red dots and it'll take you through to tracks.
But the park is fine if you can deal with the embarrassment of collapsing and having kids use you for a goalpost. Part of what I like about sprinting it gives you all the health benefits of running longer distances in shorter period of time - seems a waste of time to trek to a track and when you probably won't spend that much time running. 4 x 100m + 2/3 min recovery each time is all you need.
I’m not sure about the direct crossover of sprinting to boxing – it gets you fit but it doesn’t mimic the exact demands on the body like something like skipping does – however I know the man to ask ..
http://www.rossboxing.com/
He did have a book out about boxing fitness specifically but perhaps it’s out of print. Anyway, all the other ones listed would quickly turn you into a killing machine, I’m sure.
mos dan
fact music
bumping because i just started playing squash (for the first time since a few games when i was 16) about two weeks ago and have become completely addicted. me and my housemate have played 3 times in the last week. there's a group of a few of us quasi-novices who have started at once, so we're all kinda working it out as we go..
-is playing 3 times a week too much? am i going to have a heart attack? the first time i played HURT but it's getting easier, and it is so so exhilarating.
-is getting a lob serve into the awkward far back corner of your opponents court better than whacking the serve, tennis style? or is mixing it up (presumably?) the best way?
i'm completely clueless about tactics but they're slowly emerging the more i play. switching up a 'net game' of drop shots (when you're close to the wall) and low kinda line drives seems sensible.
and being a crafty fucker with the angles, of course.
sorry to use such garbled terminology.. is anyone else playing this wonderful/horrible psycho-yuppy sport?
-is playing 3 times a week too much? am i going to have a heart attack? the first time i played HURT but it's getting easier, and it is so so exhilarating.
-is getting a lob serve into the awkward far back corner of your opponents court better than whacking the serve, tennis style? or is mixing it up (presumably?) the best way?
i'm completely clueless about tactics but they're slowly emerging the more i play. switching up a 'net game' of drop shots (when you're close to the wall) and low kinda line drives seems sensible.
and being a crafty fucker with the angles, of course.
sorry to use such garbled terminology.. is anyone else playing this wonderful/horrible psycho-yuppy sport?
CHAOTROPIC
on account
I trained with those guys a bit when they used to be in Finsbury Park. Some good guys in that class, lots of people with different skills, plenty of stuff to learn. Been meaning to go back for ages but it's been about five years since I've done anything more strenuous than cycling & I'm worried I'll get my head blasted completely off by the first guy I spar with
Not for a while. But like you found, it's so easy to pick up again. And even as a quasi novice, as you put it, you're straight into long rallies, competition and intense rivalry. It's a proper psychological work out!
The yuppy thing....doesn't Michael Douglas play racketball (the bouncy US equivalent) in Wall Street?
IdleRich
IdleRich
I don't reckon it's too much, I was looking up some squash guru on the internet for some tips (anything to get an edge over my rival) and he was saying you should play three times a day. That may be advice for people at a slightly higher level than me though....
As far as I can work out (which may not be very far) the lob to the back corner is the most effective serve - when it's executed perfectly I still haven't figured out how to get it back - problem is if you get it wrong he'll probably smash it right back at you or you'll over egg it and float it out the back which is fucking frustrating if you've just won the serve back after a gruelling killer rally. To prevent that I think it's definitely worth mixing it up. When I watch most of the better players they don't seem to waste much energy smashing their serves and seem to go for position rather than power but I find it can garner me a few points, possibly because my enemy (I mean partner) isn't as good as the guys that I'm watching.
One of my friends who is apparently very good (although I've never seen him play) said that the basic shot you need to be able to get right is the straight drive down the wall on either side. According to him this should be the meat and potatoes thing you rely on as opposed to going cross court which you should only use when the opponent is out of position or not expecting it or whatever. I think I definitely improved when I taught myself to smash it straight back down the line on the backhand, resisting the temptation to swat it back cross court which I think is the natural way to hit it when it's there.
This is when it starts getting nasty. I also read some guy saying about how he loves seeing the horrified expression on his opponent's face when he pulls out a lob to the corner when he's chased in a dropshot. This guy sounded like a proper competitive type, he was talking about how the psychological battle starts in the changing room before the game and giving tips such as "if he's got a new racket get as many as possible on the walls because he may be afraid to scrape it".
The thing that I need to figure out is how to dig it out from the corner when it seems that you don't have space to swing the racket. I watch the better players saving ones that I know would make me look stupid, it's with a kind of flick against the wall and then to the opposite corner but it's so difficult to execute.
I heard that squash developed from rackets when one of the balls was punctured and they played with it and realised that the slower ball meant that more tactics came into play.
What ball do you use Dan?
Damn, I want to play squash right now.
crackerjack
Well-known member
I should bloody well hope not young man. My Dad played at least twice a week until he was 50 and a bit. And he only gave up completely when he knacked his ankle (not playing squash) just before turning 60.
Not to be confused with Racquets, which is a loony sport.
Here is the world doubles championship.
Imagine playing squash in a huge court with a marble.
Fastest ball game in the world.
IdleRich
IdleRich
You're right, I think racquets is the one I mean. Sounds lethal (can't watch that link at work unfortunately) - when I got hit in the eye with a squash ball there were definitely a few seconds when I thought that I'd lost it so I can't imagine what racquets is like.
Is racketball the version they play of squash in the US with a bouncier ball and that is thus a bit slower? I think that some professionals who retire from squash change to that if I'm thinking of the right thing - that seems a bit strange to me though, bouncier ball says longer rallies and more tiring to me.
Is racketball the version they play of squash in the US with a bouncier ball and that is thus a bit slower? I think that some professionals who retire from squash change to that if I'm thinking of the right thing - that seems a bit strange to me though, bouncier ball says longer rallies and more tiring to me.
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
Squash is an abysmal pursuit; never has so much energy been expended in the pursuit of (something) so little.
Yup. Shorter-handled rackets with big heads and big, bouncy balls. Calls to mind apocryphal (?) stories of attempts to widen the goal mouth for the world cup in the US.
Real Tennis is the daddy, though. Exquisite sport, if a little elitist - can't be more than 15-20 courts in the UK.
To see it played professionally is quite mind-bending.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Great description of racquetball.
I love squash though, ever since I played loads as a teenager. Haven't played since then really, but am going to try to tak eit up again/ All that talk of angles has whetted my appetite - there's a mathematical dimension to it that really appeals to the geek in me.
I love squash though, ever since I played loads as a teenager. Haven't played since then really, but am going to try to tak eit up again/ All that talk of angles has whetted my appetite - there's a mathematical dimension to it that really appeals to the geek in me.
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