So many of my friends train for fights and the week before the fight, they are exhausted, weak, sore, and more run down than Keith Richards. I know. I have been there. You think you can't possibly train enough. That if you miss a day, you will forget everything. That you need more cardio, more cardio, MORE CARDIO!!! You spar when you are tired just to get the work in and wind up taking more shots than usual and you think this is the way champions train. It isn't.
I know we hear stories about fighters who train in the middle of the night because they know their opponent is sleeping while they are getting the work in. We hear the phrase, "No pain, no gain." We know that successful people put in more hours than less successful people. This is all true, but some of those valuable hours are spent resting, replenishing, letting your body re-invigorate itself. I'm sure this is true of all sports and many professions.
The champions I know, value rest. They are experienced enough to know that when they are fatigued, they shouldn't spar or keep pushing themselves. They trust that they won't forget how to punch, move their heads, grapple, or whatever they have laid the groundwork to do. Of course, you have to push yourself, but at some point if you aren't giving your body time to heal, you are just draining yourself and wearing yourself out.
This rigorous regimen plus dropping weight will lower your immune system and I know several fighters, including myself,
who get sick either right before or right after a fight. If you are a true fighter, you will probably have to learn this lesson the hard way like we all do, but I am hoping these words won't fall on deaf cauliflower ears.
"There is a time to fish and a time to mend the nets." -- Kahil Gibran
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