The truth of weight training.

[BigBoss42695]

In the sport of boxing the athlete aims too be stronger, more explosive and have more endurance then that of his opponent. Overall s/he he wants too be more functional.
Most if not all old time boxing coaches are against weight training believing it will-A) Hinder performance, B) Makes you slow, C)Less flexibility or D) weight Gain.
The truth is all of this is possible, if you weight train and follow a body building protocol(i.e- Split routine with moderate weight for a 8-12 reps) without stretching you have the chance of all of those outcomes. But if you train smart and I know some of you will disagree with me on this, Training with HEAVY loads for a minimal amount of reps(1-5). Doing this along with stretching will make you stronger. But what about explosiveness? You can train your muscles to become more explosive in quite a few ways, 2 of the most popular methods are pylometrics and ballistic lifts. Pylometrics is when a muscle is contracted and then lengthened very quickly so Clap push-ups and Squat/Tuck jumps are often utilized in training. Training with a medicine ball is also another method of pylometrics. The second method, ballistic lifts would be a cross between explosiveness and muscular endurance. Doing a weight lifting exercise with a light weight for multiple reps(20+) with SPEED is the second choice too build explosiveness. O-lifts could also be used. But lets not forget muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance. Too target muscular endurance do a given exercise with little too no weight for multiple reps so in a certain sense, hitting the heavy bag, shadow boxing, speed bag training and body weight conditioning is basically training your muscles too last longer. Cardiovascular training can be trained by doing long distance running and sprint intervals which is covered in a boxers daily ritual; Road work.
We have two boxers with similar skill, stamina and training.
Boxer A trained like a typical boxer. Hitting the bags, road work, pylometrical and endurance training.
Boxer B did all of the above and strength training. Who do you think has the advantage? For all you dummies its Boxer B.
We are combat athletes, we are fighters not body builder. We need to be functional. Remember that.
Hopefully this will shine some light on the myth that weight training is counter productive.
Just my 2cents....

[Golden Boi 360]

i thought less weight, more reps was the way to go with boxing?

[BigBoss42695]

i thought less weight, more reps was the way to go with boxing?

That builds mostly endurance, as I already mentioned in my original post. Having good endurance is by far the most important thing too a boxer. Whats the point of being strong and explosive if you don't have the endurance too pull you through?

[Rockin']

i thought less weight, more reps was the way to go with boxing?

it is..............Rockin'

[mushahadeen]

What about if you don't do weights or road work and don't follow your diet?

Signed,

Juan Diaz

[BigBoss42695]

What about if you don't do weights or road work and don't follow your diet?

Signed,

Juan Diaz

Then you're not a boxer.
Roadwork and Diet in my eyes are mandatory for any boxer.
I'm just stating what worked for me and what I found through research.

[BigBoss42695]

it is..............Rockin'

You are entitled to your opinion but can you please state why you don't believe weight training is beneficial too a fighter?

[Deep Blue 1997]

In the sport of the athlete aims too be stronger, more explosive and have more endurance then that of his opponent. Overall s/he he wants too be more functional.
Most if not all old time boxing coaches are against weight training believing it will-A) Hinder performance, B) Makes you slow, C)Less flexibility or D) weight Gain.
The truth is all of this is possible, if you weight train and follow a body building protocol(i.e- Split routine with moderate weight for a 8-12 reps) without stretching you have the chance of all of those outcomes. But if you train smart and I know some of you will disagree with me on this, Training with HEAVY loads for a minimal amount of reps(1-5). Doing this along with stretching will make you stronger. But what about explosiveness? You can train your muscles to become more explosive in quite a few ways, 2 of the most popular methods are pylometrics and ballistic lifts. Pylometrics is when a muscle is contracted and then lengthened very quickly so Clap push-ups and Squat/Tuck jumps are often utilized in training. Training with a medicine ball is also another method of pylometrics. The second method, ballistic lifts would be a cross between explosiveness and muscular endurance. Doing a weight lifting exercise with a light weight for multiple reps(20+) with SPEED is the second choice too build explosiveness. O-lifts could also be used. But lets not forget muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance. Too target muscular endurance do a given exercise with little too no weight for multiple reps so in a certain sense, hitting the heavy bag, shadow boxing, speed bag training and body weight conditioning is basically training your muscles too last longer. Cardiovascular training can be trained by doing long distance running and sprint intervals which is covered in a boxers daily ritual; Road work.
We have two boxers with similar skill, stamina and training.
Boxer A trained like a typical boxer. Hitting the bags, road work, pylometrical and endurance training.
Boxer B did all of the above and strength training. Who do you think has the advantage? For all you dummies its Boxer B.
We are combat athletes, we are fighters not body builder. We need to be functional. Remember that.
Hopefully this will shine some light on the myth that weight training is counter productive.
Just my 2cents....

lifting weights with 1-5 reps will only increase your strength, with muscle gains at a minimum.

and if you want that strength, a higher carbo-load should be implemented in the diet.. and those trying to lose weight would not benefit AT ALL from this.

but heavy weights followed by HIIT cardio will really only result in muscle loss.. so this isn't recommended.

specially if a fighter is on a low caloric intake (again those trying to make weight),
heavy weights will put too much stress on the muscle.. and again resulting in muscle loss.


light weights are great for muscle endurance, with muscle gain being small to none (truly depends on diet),
so this would be the only type of weight lifting that should be helpful.

either this or body weights really.


just my two cents

[Rockin']

You are entitled to your opinion but can you please state why you don't believe weight training is beneficial too a fighter?

I never stated that weight training was bad. Heavy lifting though is not the way unless your planning on moving up in weight. Boxing is about endurance, lighter lifting with high reps will build strength and endurance. Heavy lifting builds greater strength but gives little to long term endurance.

People believe that pure strength causes knock outs and therefore believe that heavy lifting would have to help. Now there are some out there who gained their ko's from brute strength but far more ko's are attained by good boxing tactics and hitting the guy when he is not expecting a shot.

I fought penty of "weight lifter" types. End result, they are tired and I'm beating the **** out of them. When I was 16 I fought a guy that was 23 and a body builder type. I remember coming out for the fight and everybodys calling for the blue corner. I was in the red corner. Looking up to the ring I could see why. The guy looked like a little hulk and here I was a skinny 16 year old kid. I easily won the fight scoring a couple of 8 counts and found that I actually caused the guy to quit fighting after the bout.

Stick to low weight and high rep, you'll have extra strength, flexibility and most of all endurance. Brute strength is grossly over rate by the public for fighers..................Rockin'

[BigBoss42695]

lifting weights with 1-5 reps will only increase your strength, with muscle gains at a minimum.

and if you want that strength, a higher carbo-load should be implemented in the diet.. and those trying to lose weight would not benefit AT ALL from this.

but heavy weights followed by HIIT cardio will really only result in muscle loss.. so this isn't recommended.

specially if a fighter is on a low caloric intake (again those trying to make weight),
heavy weights will put too much stress on the muscle.. and again resulting in muscle loss.


light weights are great for muscle endurance, with muscle gain being small to none (truly depends on diet),
so this would be the only type of weight lifting that should be helpful.

either this or body weights really.


just my two cents

So basically strength training will only work for the boxer that doesn't have trouble making weight? Plus multiple reps builds endurance not strength.