Improved Fighting Shape
Many trainers use pre- and post training camp results and pictures to demonstrate progress/
This is something we really believe in and do often to evaluate the effects and to promote the benefits of sport science support for boxing.
Quite often, comparisons are made before and after camp – this means that a boxer or client might be out of shape when the first testing takes place – making improved results and progress in physique much more achievable.
So, how do our boxers compare to their previous fighting shape?
This article will look at the changes we have helped our boxers make compared to their previous fighting shapes.
Callum Beardow
Boxing Science Ambassador Callum Beardow has been our longest serving boxer on the program, joining us a 17-year old in January 2013. Despite becoming junior national champion whilst competing at 86 kg, Callum and his head coach Brendan Warburton decided in was best to move down weight category of 81 kg. Our job was help him lose body fat and maintain muscle mass to make weight effectively to be stronger at a lighter weight.
The progress pictures above are fantastic, showing an amazing transformation in Callum’s physique.
But what do the numbers say?
Callum made great improvements to his anthropometric values, improving his relative core mass by 10%. This was achieved through heavy compound lifts, improving his lower body force production transferring to a harder punch.
Unfortunately, Callum has suffered from a few injury setbacks over the past 2 years, requiring 2 shoulder surgeries. It has been a long road back to the ring for Beardow, but we managed to get him in shape for a fantastic performance on his return.
Comparing to stats from his last fight, Callum reduced body fat by 5.2 kg, and his relative core mass by 5%.
This transferred to improvements in physical performance, with increased aerobic capacity by (12%), lower body force by (7%) and estimated punch force by (3%) since before Callum’s last fight.
Also, pound for pound punch force for his left hand improved by 6%. This meant that he was hitting harder at a lighter weight, on the arm that he injured during his last fight.
Things to consider Before Callum’s return to the ring, he was still behind on his strength scores for the compound lifts – mainly his front squat (115 kg vs 135 kg). This shows that clever programming and hard training helped Callum achieve better jump heights than before without heavy loading.
What does this mean? Callum demonstrated that despite injury, hard work in the gym means that you can return back to action fitter, faster and stronger than before. Injuries are opportunities to work on areas you wouldn’t during normal training schedule, a coach should focus their athletes to focus on what they CAN do…. rather than what they can’t.
CLICK to read more about Callum’s training during injury Rehab Here.
Speedy Sam Sheedy
Sam Sheedy is flying on the Boxing Science program, with his latest outing finishing in less than 2 minutes with an explosive performance against Ghanian Frank Dodze.
In the picture above, you can see the physical difference Sam has made in the past year. Since his win against Bradley Pryce in November 2014 (top), Sam appears to be physically bigger and leaner during his 1st round TKO victory (bottom). And guess what….. the numbers back it up!
Sheedy had a ‘quick fire’ camp, so we got him as strong as possible. This had a positive transfer to Sam’s explosiveness, improving his jump height by 7%, adding to the 29% improvement made in prior to his English title fight with Nav Mansouri.
This is brilliant as our research suggests that jump height, in turn lower body force production, is an important contributor to a harder punch.
Well done Sam on a Knockout performance!!
CLICK AND WATCH: Sam Sheedy Training Video
The Thrill
Featherweight prospect Jordan Gill showed that hard work pays off when a 17-week long training camp converted to an early night finishing his opponent in just 2 rounds.
Jordan looked explosive, landing hurtful combinations on his opponents in a dominating display, forcing the referee to step in 2:41 into the 2nd round.
‘The Thrill’ looked awesome when he stepped onto the scales (Above, right), showing a noticeable difference compared to his fight shape in 2013. In comparison to his last outing in July 2015, Jordan improved his relative core muscle mass (5.7%). Optimising a fighters body composition allows them to be bigger, fitter and stronger when they step in the ring.
Again, these physical changes had positive improvements on Jordan’s performance. In his most recent testing, Jordan recorded 6% improvements in lower body force production, 11% improvement in P4P hand velocity and reduced lactate accumulation.
CLICK AND WATCH: Jordan Gill Training Video
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