Strength and Conditioning Training for Boxing

Introduction

The component of fitness which will be reflected and critiqued is “power” in relation to elite amateur boxers who all compete in the middleweight category (69-75kg). This element of fitness will be put into a specific periodised plan for the boxers during a one year training cycle (macrocycle).  Power can be defined as “explosive power is force applied multiplied by movement velocity” (Newton, 1994).  Power is interconnected with various components of fitness including strength - “the ability to exert force under a variety of biomechanical conditions” (Carroll, 2001). The strength associated with boxing and power is known as “Relative Strength” which can be described as “the ability to work against one’s body weight” (Komi 1993). Another element of fitness which power is related to is speed which can be described as “the rate of distance travelled measured either at an instant or over a duration, and or the rate of muscular contraction (Moffroid & Kusiak 1975).” 

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Needs Analysis

The sport of boxing is a contact sport with two people contesting in the ring where athletes use head-guards and gloves (Jako 2002). For men, it is three rounds of three minutes and for women, four rounds of two minutes. Between each round is a minutes rest. The scoring system is determined by how many successful punches to the opponent’s head or on the torso (above the belt).

The rounds can vary regarding due to the fighters’ boxing styles and are usually of a high intensity. Amateur boxers can fight every 2-3 weeks depending on the level of the athlete and they would use the PCr System and Anaerobic Glycolysis heavily with moderate demand for aerobic metabolism (Capello 2011). There is an increase in heart rate and blood lactate over each round. During a fight, boxers’ maximum blood lactate and maximum heart rate can reach values between 8.24 mmol/l and 178 beats/min (Ghosh et al 1995; Gosh 2010). Boxers’ VO₂ max levels can vary between 57-64 ml/kg/min depending on the weight class of the boxer (Khanna & Manna 2006).

 Looking at the nutritional requirements of a boxer, they must be within their own weight class. When they fight they will usually be at their lightest as they drop weight to make their category. A range of methods is used to drop weight and attain a very low body-fat percentage. This sometimes has serious detrimental performance consequences such as hormonal imbalance and loss of strength (Hall & Lane 2001).

The movements of a boxer requires triple extension regardless of what form of punch as it requires movement from the ankles/knees/hips/trunk/scapula and arms. This full body movement requires compound training movements (Turner 2009). Common injuries for a boxer include hand/wrist/shoulder/elbow. The head needs to be strengthened through doing eccentric training of the neck. A boxer stands with hands high, elbows in, with the feet maintaining a stance where maximum power can be achieved when carrying out a punching action.

Training recommendations for an amateur boxer for the development of power include:

- Resistance Training (Strength Training)

Using bodyweight or free weight exercises to increase muscular strength and power. This will help increase the efficiency of the Central Nervous System (CNS) in recruiting more motor units to produce a more powerful contraction. There are many forms of resistance training including isotonic, isometric and Time Under Tension (TUT) to achieve strength/power/hypertrophy goals (Gentil et al 2006).

Boxers performing a resistance based programme will be working on the power component. This is a very important aspect of fitness as it links in strength, speed, agility, coordination and balance. If a boxer can improve his/her power output, it will have a positive knock-on effect to the other fitness components (Baker & Newton 2005; Aagaard et al 2002).

- Plyometric Training

Complex training methods (Ebben & Watts 1998) will be used to help develop explosive power and encourage Type 2 A fibres to take on characteristics of Type 2 B Fast twitch fibres. An example of complex training is combining two exercises - one of which is a strength exercise, the other is a plyometric exercise. Numerous studies have shown that plyometric training has a positive improvement on upper and lower body power development especially for boxing (Blakey & Southard 1987; Baker et al 2001 & Lyttle et al 1996).

- Upper and Lower Body Training Splits (heavy/light days and deload week)

This is to alternate the days to allow for specific high intensity days followed by active recovery days. Upper and lower body split days means time can be dedicated specifically to developing power in certain areas. Other days can include full body movements such as Olympic lifting.

- Technical Work

This is to further develop power and injury prevention through improved punching styles. One of the main areas of focus is the jab as it can be used as an offence or a defence option (Hickey 1980).

Boxers need to do a lot of posterior work to balance out the anterior muscular development of their bodies. This is to prevent injury and have good posture. Work focusing around the scapula and trunk will be the most important. A better technique will result in a more accurate punch with a higher maximal velocity.

When training the boxers, certain variables will have to be taken into account such as their physical age, training age, actual ability, previous injuries and what time, space and equipment is available. All the training will be specific (specificity principle applied) with sensible volume/intensity levels so adaptation can occur and reversibility will be avoided.

Each boxer’s own training plan will be devised specifically as everyone will react differently to a stimulus. Individuality refers to how an athlete reacts “individually” to a training stimulus. This can be hormonally and/or psychologically.

A boxer will need to cover many aspects of fitness due to the nature of the game demands including power, flexibility, aerobic capacity and strength.  Reviewing the different forms of periodisation, a conjugate approach to training is optimum for a boxer as it works on a component of fitness, but maintains the others during a prescribed training block. 

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Fitness Testing

Before a programme can be started, fitness testing is done so that strengths and weaknesses can be identified. It also allows evaluation of the athlete for coaches to prescribe training interventions. The following tests should be used for power:

Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is to assess a boxer’s mobility and flexibility. The Push Up test will show strength endurance which can be defined as “the ability to effectively maintain muscular functioning under work conditions of long duration” (Siff, 2004).

The Medicine Ball Throw and Vertical Jump would be utilised to record power output for upper and lower bodies respectively.

The FMS is to be used with caution as it is very subjective. It can only be valid if the same person assesses the participants or the data is useless (Hoover et al 2008). It is a reliable fitness test as it can highlight where athletes struggle to produce an effective movement pattern (Minick et al 2010).

1RM (Repetition Maximum) Maxes for a range of exercises such as bench press/clean/snatch/overhead squat would also be incorporated as well as Anthropometric Skin Fold Tests to record body fat percentages. To be noted, Technical Error of Measure (TEM) has to be considered and applied when taking measurements.  

These fitness tests are reliable and valid from the following references which all proved that the assessments cited are of credible worth. (Baumgartner et al 2002; Stockbrugger & Haennel 2001; Aragon 2000).

Warm-up & Cool-down

A warm up must be done to facilitate performance and to reduce any chance of injury. Mild warming has been reported to reduce resistance within a joint by ~20% (Wright & Johns, 1961). It is reported that as “Muscle temperature increases so too does nerve conductivity” (Karvonen, 1992). This is especially important for a boxer as they want to have quick reactions to avoid a blow and to be able to quickly make a punch. A warm up should get the athlete ready for the main task and replicate what he/she is going to do. Its optimal duration is 10 – 20 minutes (Bishop, 2003)

A cardiovascular warm up could include a low intensity jog over a period of 5-10 minutes, gradually increasing the intensity and speed. Skipping can be another alternative. In relation to mobility exercises, no static stretching should be done before a session. It must be completed after otherwise this will dampen the stretch reflex. If this is compromised, then speed, strength, power and agility are all affected. Reduced Power output may be due to not being able to fully recruit the muscle (Behm et al 2001) fatigue (Smith 1994).

The last part of the warm up should be skill specific and replicate the game demands. This will include some sparring for the boxers. This can reduce muscle stiffness post competition known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). It allows the CNS to recover and relax (Smith and Reilly 2004). Static stretching should be done after training. Regular stretching resets stretch-reflex to a higher level causing muscles to relax further into a stretch (Wolpaw and Carp, 1990) which will lead to an increase in flexibility.

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Periodisation & Tapering

A periodised power programme will be incorporated because it will yield better results and performance gains as the training is systematically planned in accordance to set goals (Rhea & Alderman 2004). By planning a training cycle this will eliminate any chance of an athlete reaching the state of been over trained (Fry et al 1992). There are 3 groups of Periodisation Methods:  Sequential Method, Concurrent and Conjugate Sequence Systems.

Conjugate is the most advanced method of periodisation (Verkhoshansky 2006). It is based upon the premise that the elite athlete is unable to optimally adapt and recover from large numbers of stimuli (abilities) at the same time. Elite athletes need to concentrate on loading a particular ability. However, this method will lead to decreases in other underdeveloped necessary abilities. The solution is to develop one ability while maintaining all others with minimal volume. Hence why a conjugate style is used to work on specific components of fitness during set blocks of training whilst maintaining other physiological adaptations (Plisk & Stone 2003).

A power training session will be based around using exercises that are compound movements working in the range of speed, strength development and explosive power. These exercises will have a small volume but be of a high intensity nature, either using heavy loads or short rest periods. To develop power, a periodised approach needs to be taken as it incorporates strength training heavily. Strength training, being predominately neural, requires a periodised approach as the CNS will fatigue very quickly and motor units will not fire correctly (Fleck 1999).

The microcycle for a week will include heavy, moderate and light days so the boxer doesn’t show any signs of overtraining (Bradley-Popovich 2001). A mesocycle can be defined as a number of continuous weeks where the training program emphasis is on the same type of physical adaptations (Willoughby 1993). E.g. Strength and Power Phase - three weeks of training with a deload week which would vary in intensities to allow for CNS to adapt or to recover.

A macrocycle refers to an annual plan that works towards peaking for the competition of the year (Plisk & Stone 2003). There are three phases in the macrocycle: preparation, competition, and transition. The overall yearly plan will be based around competitions, training and tapering for these events. Tapering is defined by Mujika as “a progressive non-linear reduction in the training load during a variable period of time, in an attempt to reduce the physical and psychological stress of daily training and optimise sports performance” (Mujika 2000).

Munijka summarises that a taper will minimise fatigue and improve fitness, maintain training intensity, reduce training volume by 41-60%, maintain training frequency at >80%, individualise taper duration between 4 and 28 days, use progressive tapering designs, and expect performance improvements of around + 3%  (Muijka and Padilla 2003).

If volume load is not quantified for the subject, then any potential power improvement made may be due to another factor. More importantly, we don’t want to burn an athlete out or lead to overtraining/overreaching unintentionally. The external stress (the weight x sets x reps) will be recorded to gauge when an athlete feels good or fatigued. The physiological stress (internal load) will be quantified for participants using the modified resistance training Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) method (Genner & Weston 2014). This method is RPE x Duration of work (Foster et al 2001), duration for work only (Genner & Weston 2014). Boxers will be subjected to using the centimax scale (Borg et al 2013).

For these boxers a number of RPEs will be taken. These include -

-          Standard RPE for total fatigue

-          Technical RPE for how good they rated their movements

-          Upper Body RPE for upper body fatigue

-          Lower Body RPE for lower body fatigue

A yearly training cycle would look like this -

-          Base Phase 4 weeks (strength/hypertrophy phase)

-          General Pre-Comp Phase 4 weeks (Strength/Power phase)

-          Specific Pre-Comp Phase 4 weeks (Power phase, reduced volume intensity is highest)

-          Competition Phase of 36 weeks (maintenance of adaptions working more on skills)

-          Active Recovery 4 weeks (reduced intensity and volume to allow for full recovery)

(Baechle et al 2008, Bompa et al 2005 and Fleak et al 2014)

Recovery & Injury Prevention

Ice baths are used to flush out lactic acid and get fresh blood into the muscles to aid in the healing process. This is very important as they want to get rid of any bruising from a previous fight. The cold temperature constricts the blood vessels flushing the waste by-products away and speeds up the healing process (Higgins et al 2011). Recovery drinks with the necessary nutritional requirements, aid their training demands. These can include carbohydrate and protein shakes. Sports massages are used post training to help speed up recovery as deep tissue massage can be used to remove any tightness and increase range of movement around a joint.

Boxers may want to watch their diet closely as they are in a weight class sport. Creatine loading could be an option to increase ATP stores during the power/strength phase. This will allow higher intensity work be done. However, it should be noted, that some people may be non-responders to using creatine and have no performance gain (Syrotuik & Bell 2004).

The last thing that coaches must not do, is to over train the boxers and cause a decrease in health and performance. This being in the period of overreaching which can be used as an intentional phase of training to encourage the super compensation (Kreider et al., 1998) model to occur.

Summary

By reviewing all of the literature, it can be concluded that power is an important part of a boxer’s training regime as it influences many other components of fitness. The research shown throughout this essay proves that by doing complex training which incorporates resistance and plyometric training, power will increase. Performing exercises that will increase power is important, however, doing them in similar planes of movement to an actual fight, is sports specific and will yield the greatest carryover. If all of the above is followed, the boxer’s performance will improve in a steady, planned manner with adequate recovery periods to allow for rest and regeneration for any training session or fight.

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Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

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