Boxing Training – Ask yourself these questions?
Have you performed recently? Currently in training camp for an upcoming fight? Or looking to try out some new methods to give you the edge over your opponents?
If so, how many questions have you asked yourself?
Here is a short, thought provoking article from Boxing Science co-founder and physiologist Alan Ruddock.
Simple versus complex
Now, this is a very simple and mechanistic way of looking at training and performance and I appreciate there are many parts to the performance puzzle.
But if you don’t take a step by step, mechanistic approach to some of your training, and you don’t know what you’re trying to achieve you could be in no-man’s land.
Don’t just do something because that’s what somebody else does. Personalise your training.
If you are serious about performance, consider asking these questions to start with
- What physiological adaptations are needed for your athlete?
- Speed, strength, aerobic and anaerobic capacity
- How will you assess what adaptations are needed? What tests will you use?
- We use a range of tests in our boxing specific testing battery
- What physiological adaptations are needed at specific points in the training cycle?
- Where does your strength training fit in to the whole picture? Start, middle or end?
- How will you prescribe training and manipulate the amount of training you do to induce these adaptations?
- What volumes and intensities based on previous testing scores?
Example: Elite 75 kg amateur Ryszard Lewicki has been using clean pulls during his preparation for the National Championships. We use his 3RM (three repetition maximum) of this exercise to control how much weight he is lifting, and how many sets / reps he performs.
This allows us to overload and taper this explosive exercise to develop strength and speed without accumulating fatigue so he is ready to compete each weekend.
- How much recovery do you need to maximise these adaptations?
- This can be daily, weekly or when tapering down to the fight?
- How will you know you have achieved an appropriate amount of adaptation?
- Find out what is the maximum and the smallest worthwhile change you can make.
If you’re having trouble answering these questions ask us boxing.sci@gmail.com.
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