Leesburg Man Credits Boxing in Ashburn for Weight Loss

A man looks in mirror, sees too much of himself in the mirror and vows to get in shape – a fairly common story, particularly around the New Year.

But for Leesburg’s Tom Nesslage, the New Year is a time to celebrate his success. Nesslage recently weighed in at about 170 pounds, that’s 65 pounds less than his peak weight.

While it was not a New Year’s resolution – he began 18 months ago – Nesslage’s weight loss began with similar conviction. So how did he do it?

“Boxing,” Nesslage said while wrapping his wrists in preparation for a workout at ’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Ashburn. He the explained what prompted him to take up boxing.

“The moment when it snapped for me was when I was trying on clothes and had to go up to a size-40 waist,” Nesslage said. “I was only 30 and thought ‘Oh Man’, this can’t be happening to me.”

Now 31, Nesslage, who works a desk job for Verizon, openly admits contributed to his weight troubles. And at first, he went the conventional route: He watched what he ate, skipped lunch to work out in the company gym, and tried his best to adhere to a schedule of three days of weightlifting and three days of cardio each week.

Nesslage lost about 30 pounds during the next six to eight months. But then he hit a plateau. Or as Nesslage put it, “I got bored.”

So he went looking for something different. Health clubs had a certain “intimidation factor,” he said, “because you almost have to be in shape in the first place. You worry you’ll be embarrassed because others are already stronger or in much better shape.”

As a gun owner, Nesslage had become a regular at Silver Eagle Group’s shooting range. Once he became aware of SEG’s MMA offerings, he found his motivation.

“I was at 200 pounds and wanted to find something that could push my experience to the next level,” he said. “At first it was just something different. But the classes were small, the instructors worked individually with you and they push you.”

Nevertheless, the leap from running on a treadmill to boxing is not a small decision. Was he concerned with injury? What did his family say?

“My wife said ‘what’s going to happen to your nose?’” Neselage said with a laugh. “But there’s really only six moves in boxing and that’s it. Everything else is footwork, dodging and moving to avoid being hit, which is why strength and conditioning are so important.”

No one should be fooled into thinking participants won’t get hit in boxing, he said.

“You will get hit,” he said. “But we wear 16-ounce gloves to diffuse the punches, plus headgear, mouthguards and as much protection as possible. We’re not trying to hurt anyone. They are teaching us to learn from each other and our sparring is to teach each other what could have happened. It’s about as safe as it can be.”

Nesslage attends the boxing sessions twice a week and credits the small class size and the individualized instruction of Bao Khong and Shin Kim, a 4-time National South Korea Judo Champion, with creating an environment that has pushed him toward losing the final 35 pounds of his journey.

“I think it makes a difference,” he said. “You get a focused group of people with an instructor-led atmosphere that is raising people up and hearing from each other, it almost becomes a classroom environment that fosters a feeling of responsibility toward each other. It’s pretty intense.”

Nesslage also credits the way boxing complements his other more routine workouts as a way to keep his exercise regimen going for well over a year, something that has certainly been a key to the 65-pound weight loss.

“It actually makes me work harder in the non-boxing workouts,” he said. “Because I’m now looking for ways in those workouts to get stronger, so I can be better in boxing. One is pushing the other.”

Silver Eagle Group offers anyone interested in participating in any of the club’s MMA classes a no-risk free two-week trial period, and if in the first 30 days since starting the trial period a participant decides to join, they will receive a 50 percent discount off the initiation fee.

Silver Eagle Group is located at 44620 Guilford Drive in Ashburn. For more information, call the club at (703) 723-5173.