In the last issue of austin FiT magazine, we told you about the first month of Paul Reyes’ training for his comeback fight in early September. Reyes, an out-of-shape, former amateur boxer, is determined to enter the ring again and emerge a winner. He’s given himself three months to get ready for his comeback fight and we’re tracking his progress along the way. This month find out how the second part of his training went.

In order to train well, you’ve got to eat well and keep your body well-hydrated. Reyes learned this the hard way, when he tried to complete one of Coach Bruce Acuña’s exhausting two-hour classes on an empty stomach. Sweating buckets, he started feeling light-headed and nauseous about half-way through the class. Twice during the last part of the class, Reyes threw up, as he struggled to complete a rigorous outdoor training exercise involving sprinting, jumping and push-ups. Two days later, Reyes took the class again, but this time he didn’t get sick at all, a fact he attributes to eating beforehand and drinking copious amounts of water before and during his workout.

With one major exception this month, Reyes was successful in sticking to his healthy diet, helping him drop five pounds and lower his body fat by three percent. All that healthy eating helped mitigate the havoc he wreaked on his body one Sunday when he ate, not one, but two large fried chicken meals.

What’s more, Reyes’ training has increased dramatically during the last month. Most weeks, he’s made it into Acuña’s boxing gym at least four to five times.

“I’ve been working a lot on footwork, defense, jabs and learning how to use my height and reach to my advantage,” he says.

Reyes has not only been spending long hours in the boxing gym, but he’s also been pumping iron at Gold’s Gym in South Austin. He’s discovered that lifting with someone much stronger is very motivating, so he and his friend, Paul Jiminez, have been meeting twice a week to do six to eight heavy weight, low repetition sets of dead lifts. Reyes’ competitive nature makes it impossible for him not to attempt lifting as much as his bigger, stronger friend. All it takes is 20 minutes working out with Jiminez for Reyes’ muscles to quiver with exhaustion.

Finally, one of Reyes’ biggest accomplishments this past month was improving his cardiovascular fitness level.

“I still get tired, but I’m able to train more intensely for longer periods of time,” he says.

And now that he’s well on his way to building the stamina he needs to compete, he is ready to start focusing more on his skills. “Coach [Acuña] has said on more than one occasion I’ve got to learn to keep my hands up to guard my face or I’m going to get knocked out,” Reyes admits.

Reyes will spend most of the next month cramming for and then taking a grueling three-day Texas bar exam. While he’s devoted to his studies, he’s committed to maintaining his training schedule. During the last month of his training, Reyes is going to incorporate high repetition sets of sprints into his workout. “When you’re in the ring, you’ve got to be able to perform short bursts of high-intensity movements with little rest time and sprints help you get ready for that,” he explains.

Be sure to keep up with Reyes and his daily training by visiting http://backinthering.blogspot.com. Also, check out Part 4 in the September issue of austin FiT magazine.

Photo:
Paul Reyes training for his next fight.