Components of an Effective Boxing Training System
For some things in life, one size certainly fits all. However, there are other places where individualized and customized is the way to go. When crafting a boxing workout to increase your stamina, strength, accuracy and power, designing your own training system always makes the best sense. You know your body better than anyone else. Your goals are very unique to you. The amount of time, energy, and other resources you can devote to your boxing interest is different from that of anyone else. And your response to these factors will be unique as well. Designing your own personalized, individual boxing training system is imperative if you wish to maximize your training effectiveness and efficiency. Let’s examine some factors which go into building your own workout.
Running
Sprints, jogging, and moderate-paced running should be the foundation for your lower body strength and overall body stamina when it comes to boxing training. You can enjoy all of the fancy cardiovascular training machines in the world – but nothing comes close to delivering the same effectiveness as you’ll see from just running your tail off, several days each week. Many athletes enjoy a morning run, opting for grabbing their tennis shoes and a water bottle as soon as their alarm clock goes off. Any schedule works, as long as you are willing and able to run consistently.
Heavy Bag Work
If you are looking to build up your boxing coordination, technique, power and endurance, then you are going to want to work heavy bag hitting into your boxing training. Useful because you can train alone, heavy bag work allows you to develop impact strength and repetitive retraction.
Punching
The core tenet of boxing is being able to connect your fist with the other guy! Working on your jab, hook, upper cut, bolo punch as well as the defense techniques of bob/weave, parry and slipping are imperative for a well-rounded boxing training system.
Henderson and Jesse Taylor sparring
Speed Bag Work
Just as heavy bag work is useful for building power, the light work of the speed bag can make you a quicker puncher, giving you a greater advantage in “pulling back” following each punch in order to prepare for the next one to be thrown. Train solo with the speed bag, just as you would with the weight. Punch for 120 seconds, and rest for 120 seconds. Repeat to the point of exhaustion, as the stamina you build here may leave you the last man standing in the actual boxing ring.
Jumping Rope
Just about every top boxer for the last hundred years has made jumping rope a large part of their training regimen. Jumping rope delivers greater endurance, agility, core stability, improved footwork, and fat loss. Standard jumping is useful but the use of double-unders and criss-cross can deliver greater results in the same amount of training time. Target your cross, hook, jab, bolo and uppercut using the heavy bag.
Sparring
This one if fairly simple! Work at a moderate pace with a partner, focusing more upon the mental moves you could and should be executing in the ring, as opposed to actually “defeating” your partner. This is a live partner training drill which will deliver very good results if you train intelligently, analyze your results, and achieve overall improvement over time.
Weight Training
Boxing is a unique combination of strength (anaerobic) and stamina (aerobic) performance. You will need to address both of these aspects if you wish to see optimal success. You have to be strong, and you have to outlast your competitor in the ring. Movements such as deadlift, bench press, squats, shrugs, Chins, triceps pressdowns and biceps curls will help you to develop punching power at a much higher degree than you could see with punching training alone. Train heavy in the 6 to 10 repetitions per set range, moving up to 20 reps per set when endurance training is on your agenda.
Remember, you’re writing your own boxing training system. Analyze your current strengths and deficits and devote a greater percentage of training time to those movements and disciplines which will help you to improve in these weaker areas. Mix things up, recording which discipline you exercise each day of the training week, and the improvements you see as a result.
