How should a boxer train?

[4truth]

Like his life depends on it ...

[Dr. Z]

How should a boxer train in relation to strength and conditioning. You had boxers such as Jack Dempsey and Marvin Hagler doing calisthenics and manual labour such as chopping wood and then you have boxers doing weightlifting such as Tyson Fury and Ricky Hatton. So what is the right way for a boxer to train in relation to strength and conditioning?

First he needs to have his style picked by a good trainer or he can pick it himself, but understanding styles and his assets and minuses are a must to go far.

There is what works with a fighter and what does not work well.

I would say being brilliant in the basics first . After that has been achieved is an open road map. A good trainer should know his fighter well.

Conditioning is very important as is strength ...as long as it does not take away from speed and flexibility.

[Dr. Z]

In relation to this should I bulk up as I am relatively lean but skinny and weak or should I purely focus on endurance and cardio?

If you are lean and skinny focus on speed ,defense and watch your weight! Lean how to clinch and jab well. With luck you have some reach as your ally.

Be an out fighter. That is how I train you. Do you haven any video?

[CornerCutman]

A boxer should train like he wants to fight, each and every time. Same tenacity and intensity, same emphasis on form, same digging deep when tired and hurt

[crimsonfalcon07]

Geez, what's up with the boxing hater who has never gloved up and thinks he can get the "jist" fooling about with his mates?

DempseyKid, have you started with your boxing classes yet? Don't go too crazy, IMO. You don't want to pull a Vergil Ortiz Jr and get a meeting with Uncle Rhabdo... You need to put the hours in, and part of that is making sure you don't injure yourself or get so sore that you can't get good work in.

That being said, don't listen to the idiot who hasn't ever fought. Boxing started out as duels. Used to be a gladiatorial sport. Early Roman boxing gloves, or cestus, sometimes had metal spikes sewn in, and usually ended in the death of the losing fighter. Today it's still prizefighting, without a lot of the niceties of modern sports, and people do get killed still. You don't "play" boxing, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. You mentioned in your other thread that you were interested in self-defense. In both cases, you absolutely DO need to train as if your life depends on it, because it very well might. If you're not willing to put your life on the line, stay on the couch with Mr305.

[Rockin']

A boxer should train like he wants to fight, each and every time. Same tenacity and intensity, same emphasis on form, same digging deep when tired and hurt

And how! 100% every time that you step in to the gym.

I have your avatar framed up and hanging on my wall..................Rockin'

[Rockin']

Geez, what's up with the boxing hater who has never gloved up and thinks he can get the "jist" fooling about with his mates?

DempseyKid, have you started with your boxing classes yet? Don't go too crazy, IMO. You don't want to pull a Vergil Ortiz Jr and get a meeting with Uncle Rhabdo... You need to put the hours in, and part of that is making sure you don't injure yourself or get so sore that you can't get good work in.

That being said, don't listen to the idiot who hasn't ever fought. Boxing started out as duels. Used to be a gladiatorial sport. Early Roman boxing gloves, or cestus, sometimes had metal spikes sewn in, and usually ended in the death of the losing fighter. Today it's still prizefighting, without a lot of the niceties of modern sports, and people do get killed still. You don't "play" boxing, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. You mentioned in your other thread that you were interested in self-defense. In both cases, you absolutely DO need to train as if your life depends on it, because it very well might. If you're not willing to put your life on the line, stay on the couch with Mr305.

I like your comment of "You don't play boxing". Even when you spar you will get your bell rung really bad. I say, ring his bell first and then keep tearing into him. If I'm risking brain cells, than I'd rather you lose some of yours than me losing some of mine. Nobody said that this sport was a cake walk.

If you ever had the chance to visit Kronk you would have seen that they fight like dogs in the gym sparring.

And then when they stepped up for sanctioned bouts, they were 100% ready to roll.

Kronk built champions: sparring hard, training hard and fighting even harder!


But with your comment of don't get yourself sore training: My trainer worked me hard, every day. He'd take me to the hill for our 'run' and a couple of hours after finishing I could barely walk my sheet hurt so bad. But still in that sore condition I went to the gym and got my work in and sparred with some excellent fighters. I made it through though and man was I strong after getting my body used to that level of work.

100% in the gym and in the ring sparring.

If you do anything otherwise than you are only cheating yourself................Rockin'

[crimsonfalcon07]

I like your comment of "You don't play boxing". Even when you spar you will get your bell rung really bad. I say, ring his bell first and then keep tearing into him. If I'm risking brain cells, than I'd rather you lose some of yours than me losing some of mine. Nobody said that this sport was a cake walk.

If you ever had the chance to visit Kronk you would have seen that they fight like dogs in the gym sparring.

And then when they stepped up for sanctioned bouts, they were 100% ready to roll.

Kronk built champions: sparring hard, training hard and fighting even harder!


But with your comment of don't get yourself sore training: My trainer worked me hard, every day. He'd take me to the hill for our 'run' and a couple of hours after finishing I could barely walk my sheet hurt so bad. But still in that sore condition I went to the gym and got my work in and sparred with some excellent fighters. I made it through though and man was I strong after getting my body used to that level of work.

100% in the gym and in the ring sparring.

If you do anything otherwise than you are only cheating yourself................Rockin'

Kid is just starting out from what I gathered. Nothing wrong with working as hard as your coach wants you to. But a lot of beginners come at this from a "let's try this out" perspective, and aren't necessarily in it to compete. And if they get so sore that they don't make it to the gym for the next class, they won't get in as many hours. I've seen that all too often. Once they're willing to commit and have seen already and what it takes, fine. The other thing is that by building up, your "100%" goes farther. Progressive overload, etc. There's benefit in knowing that you have more in the tank than you think, but IMO what you're talking about has a lot more to do with your coach knowing how far to build you up from experience.

Some people think they know better than the coach. So coach will tell them to do the work that the coach wants them to do, and then they'll try to push more to get faster results. You can tell the type because they're always asking what else they should be doing and not just trusting the coach to bring them up right. Then they do too much, hurt themselves, and end up getting far fewer hours in than they would if they'd just stuck to the plan.

And yes, I know the old school mentality is that it weeds out the people who don't have what it takes, but in my opinion, there's a lot of pro boxers who find out too late that they don't really have what it takes, because they got forced into it and never really chose it for themselves. Someone who knows it's going to be really hard and chooses it anyways will always have better work ethic, and, from an experience standpoint, will put in more hours. TriStar Gym has a similar mindset. As always, YMMV though.

[TheOneAboveAll]

Fix his feet first by chasing chickens.

[tonysoprano]

Get a good trainer.