Physical condition of today's Heavyweights

[billeau2]

The notion that fitness has improved is patently false. The notion that fitness technology has increased is true. But most of these developments are even more modern than people realise. Much as the cultural revolution was a silent revolution in China...people got paychecks, went to work, etc...Very few people are aware of what happened and why in our own, silent, technological fitness revolution.

Heres a hint: Football American Style. Football started out as a smashmouth pursuite...we have Lombardie running em down your throat, blocking em as they came around the corner...Then some very sharp people in college like Bill Walsh (RIP coach) started these very precise plays, with people really haveing to learn their position, and be at the best condition. meanwhile in Florida coaches were bemoaning the fact that during a practice there was just so much time to learn because conditioning was a priority...people were enhancing and becoming bigger and stronger. Weight training technology was developed through nautilus, Ruhard Darcy, where a football player could push all his major muscle groups to failure (exhaustion, growth) in ten minutes.

See it does not matter whether one uses weights, plymetrics, tractor tires, grappling, etc...to build muscle one must exhaust the muscle group so the body has to build more muscle. As these principles were understood, along with the understanding that core muscles are how we do work...athletes got smarter.

boxers always had to have workable strength from the core...its how a punch is thrown. Fighters always knew that to engage in sparring and movement like running and calesthenics would make the body strong....Now there are ways to do this in other ways. A fighter gets just as much benefit as a footballer by exhausting the muscle groups efficiently... But football players have to do this boxers do not follow a standard based on conditioning. It depends on the trainer and it is individual.

Fighters don't condition well because they don't really care...a fighter can have a crack at a championship in a few months time sometimes...there are more alphabet titles that fighters. Fighters also can always use IV therapy to mask enhancements....Holyfield was always enhanced for example. So imo it is a combination of things.

[Weltschmerz]

Vladimir has stamina, he easily performs at top level for 12 rounds against athletic guys 40 lbs lighter.

[SouthPawHitman]

In the old days you had more guys born in higher elevation so they breathed thinner air forcing them to have better stamina.

[billeau2]

Sports Science and nutrition, have improved tremendously over the last 25yrs . So why do we have today's Heavyweight boxers in such diabolical physical condition..

Here is some secondary source information about Arthur Jones who invented the concept of using a cam structure to generate resistance all the way through a movement involving weights....In common parlance this was known as "negatives" a term referring to still encountering resistance while bringing the weight back towards the initial starting position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Jones_(inventor)

This info is not meant to be exhaustive, only to indicate conceptually how high intensity training was implemented using weight machines. Today many of these concepts are taken for granted, though, suprisingly enough, people still do not truly understand why when doing Nautilus training you work with a trainer....at least initially! Form is everything and the negative part of the movement is very important!

Finally one interesting point to this training, and a major reason the football teams in Florida liked it...as you get in better shape you actually increase intensity and focus on form...you do less reps and less time, thereby increasing intensity, eventually doing negatives as part of sets. It is also possible to do less sets. Orthodox nautilus cam training can be done, for an athlete that can push...in one set of 8 reps per a machine!

Again for confirmation of this information, any standard Nautilus training manual will do.

For example: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/wfc/TrainingPrin.html

This information in my opinion as a trainer at the time, was a major change in the way weight training was percieved and implimented. not so much for body builders but for athletes who wanted to use weight training as a supplement to a major activity, such as a boxer.

[juggernaut666]

Fighters are bigger now ,their punch count on average will be lower ,comparing sub 200 pounders who wore much smaller gloves doesnt really show todays HW's as out of shape when different fight mechanics are going to be used with someone 230 plus.Foreman even at 220 was known for his poor stamina ,later he realized picking his shots was the best option ,Tyson at 5'10 and carrying 220 at times had incredible endurance to pack all that weight on his frame however even he had to slow down at mid rounds the few times he was there at his peak.Those who say Wlad has no stamina also arent watching him move non stop around the ring ,i dont recall any other 240 pounder able to do this other than Vitali ,and Fury at 260 can do this as well,im not sure the argument todays HW's are out of shape is a strong argument in general.