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Strength And conditioning coaches are a relatively fresh concept. boxingaccording to Terence CrawfordS&C Ustad Chet Fortune,
“Most fighters don’t have dedicated strength and conditioning coaches — that’s a new thing,” he told me. “Floyd [Mayweather] He didn’t have a strength coach until he fought Manny Pacquiao.”
Where professional sports go, there often come amateur and recreational sports. Most people looking to improve their ability in the ring realize that some degree of strength training can help, but it’s another matter to know where to start.
To aid your efforts, boxing strength and conditioning experts Dr Rhys Morris Shares his insights on what boxers should do in the gym to improve their performance. It includes a sample workout to develop the qualities needed to succeed.
The most important thing to do to improve your boxing is to work in the gym.
According to Morris, there is one characteristic that underlies all performance metrics: strength. If your body isn’t strong enough to perform dynamic activities quickly and powerfully, you won’t get very far as an athlete.
Terence Crawford is a prime example of this – before the fighter’s clash with Canelo, Morris saw him deadlift over 200 kilograms, which is almost three times his fighting weight.
Strength can be developed through multi-muscle exercises such as squats and deadlifts – this is where amateur athletes should start. Morris also recommends prioritizing lower limb strength because “your connection with the floor is paramount” when generating power for a punch.
However, before lifting heavy weights, he emphasizes that you must learn to perform each exercise competently.
“If it feels ugly, don’t do it; if it feels painful, don’t do it,” he says. “We need to master the movement before we can get anywhere close to loading that structural system.”
Performing exercises incorrectly promotes poor movement patterns and can increase injury rates – a huge relief for any aspiring athlete.
Only when the ability to walk is achieved can you increase the weight and introduce more subtle exercise variations with bonus benefits.
“Once we’ve established bilateral strength, we can consider using unilateral exercises,” explains Morris. These include any single-limb move like the Bulgarian split squat, single-leg Romanian deadlift or landmine press.
He further added, “Now we are becoming more specific towards the sport of boxing.” “In other words, our legs are split, mimicking an orthodox or southpaw stance. We can build strength in these movements and positions.
“Then we can add lateral movements and exercises that work at multiple levels of motion. A boxer needs to be able to navigate the fight and go in different directions and throw punches.”
Read more: Terence Crawford’s coach reveals intense training regimen for Canelo
Goals in the gym as a boxer
The first attribute a boxer should focus on in the gym is strength endurance – developing endurance in tissues such as your muscles, ligaments and tendons. This ensures that they can withstand the rigors of the game without hindering your performance or becoming prone to injury.
To this goal, a good place to start is to set up with higher reps and lighter weights, allowing you to practice each exercise multiple times as well as giving your joints more familiarity with the movement patterns.
Hypertrophy, or muscle growth, may be another area to consider, depending on your goals – sets of eight to 12 to failure will achieve this. Meanwhile, strength can be targeted through higher-weight, lower-rep sets.
Read more: The two exercises that give Moses Itauma an ‘edge’ over most opponents
strength training workout for boxers
Excited:
- Foam rolls your thoracic spine, glutes, quadriceps and lats for 30 seconds each
- Dynamic Mobility: World’s Largest Stretch x4 Both Sides
- Activation: Mini-Band Lateral Walk Sets x15 each side, then isolate bands x10
- Movement Preparation: Bodyweight squat to reach x8, press-up to downward facing dog x8, light med ball slam x5
Core strength training session:
Perform the eighth exercise below as a series of four supersets – a pair of exercises performed one after the other with no rest in between. In each superset exercise one is labeled as ‘A’, and exercise two is labeled as ‘B’.
Morris has provided a pace and intention for each exercise to ensure you are getting the desired stimulation. Tempo instructions contain four numbers, each representing the number of seconds you should spend on that portion of the lift. The first number corresponds to the eccentric or lowering phase of the exercise, the second to the bottom phase of the rep, the third to the concentric or lifting phase of the exercise, and the last number corresponds to the top of the rep. ‘X’ means that the corresponding part of the lift should be completed as quickly as possible.
|
Exercise |
set |
Representative |
motion |
Rest |
Intention |
|
1a) Back Squat (or Front Squat) |
4 |
4-6 |
3-1-x-1 |
, |
Heavy, Controlled Freak, Explosion |
|
1b) Weighted Pull Ups (or Lat Pulldowns) |
4 |
5-6 |
2-0-X-1 |
2 minutes |
drive elbows downward rapidly |
|
2a) Trap Bar Deadlift |
3 |
3-4 |
2-1-x-1 |
, |
Heavy weight, crisp lockout |
|
2b) Bodyweight Jump Squat |
3 |
5 |
XXXX |
3 minutes |
maximum altitude and speed |
|
3a) Dumbbell Bench Press |
3 |
6-8 |
2-0-X-1 |
, |
When lifting weights, lift the weight forcefully, lower the weight under control |
|
3b) Made ball rotational throw (into the wall) |
3 |
6 (each side) |
XXXX |
90 seconds |
Explosive rotation of hips and torso |
|
4a) Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift |
3 |
8 (on each leg) |
3-1-x-1 |
, |
Focus on balance and engaging the glutes |
|
4b) Pulloff Press (using cables or resistance bands) |
3 |
12-15 seconds on each side |
, |
2 minutes |
resist rotation |
Please calm down:
- Box breathing x5 cycles (inhale for four seconds, exhale for six seconds)
- hip and shoulder strain
- Optional 2-3 minute shadow boxing movement for unification
Read more: I Tried Reacher Star Alan Ritchson’s Three-Step Workout for Big Arms and Shoulders
Benefits of this boxing workout
A boxer does not need to be as strong as a dedicated strength athlete such as a powerlifter. Morris says that athletes only need to be “strong enough” to meet the requirements of the sport.
“We need good ground reaction forces and the ability to effectively transfer force from the core to the extremities,” he explains. “We also need to be able to make quick, explosive movements to escape and attack our opponent.
“We develop it through ballistic exercises, and making sure we can generate enough stiffness to generate force and defeat the opponent. These are bucket list abilities we want to develop.”
In the above workouts, heavy compound exercises like squats, trap bar deadlifts, pull-ups, and dumbbell bench presses recruit multiple muscles to build basic full-body strength. They may also add some muscle to your frame when paired with a proper diet – high in protein and containing enough calories to promote training adaptations.
The Palloff press develops the stiffness in your core that is necessary for landing—and successfully taking—a punch, then explosive squat jumps and med ball rotational throws improve power in multiple planes of motion.
outcome? If you consistently train like this, you can build a strong, athletic body capable of supporting your performances in the ring.
Read more: The Daily Non-Negotiables That Changed Connor Bain’s Health and Mindset in 70 Days
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