Strength Training for Boxing

Strength training for boxing performance is essential.

Boxing has always underestimated the importance of weight training to improve performance. By training with weights, in a safe and efficient manner, we can increase:

Maximum strength
Explosive strength
Speed
Endurance
Agility
Flexibility

All these characteristics will be used on the frontal, sagittal and transverse plane.

If you are still thinking of Rocky Balboa’s training, you are far from reality.

Besides running and skipping the rope, It is crucial to use weights and resistance training to increase punching power and be quicker on your feet.

Initial assessment of the athlete

You need to know the starting condition of the athlete to measure progress.
You can start doing some test to check their level such as:

10-20 yard sprints
Vertical Jump for explosive strength
Spider Drill and Agility drills
Running 300 yards for Speed Endurance
Pull-Ups and Push-Ups for Upper-Body Strength
Planks for Core Stability
And many more

Strength & Conditioning training for Boxing will lead to an increase in all these parameters.

You can further test the athletes through the following exercises:

Functional Movement Screening ( Gray Cook)
Janda’s Test ( Janda)
Structural Balance (C. Poliquin)

The boxer should also be tested in terms of strength, explosive strength and endurance with specific exercises, for instance:

Squat
Close Grip Bench Press
Box Jumps
Chin Ups

When doing a boxing workout to prepare for competitions it is vital to train many components:

Maximum Strength
Speed- Strength
Strength- Speed
Starting Strength
RFD
Strength Endurance
Relative Strength

Frank C. Hatfield, Holyfields’c coach, was in 1977 a big supporter of training maximum and explosive strength and plyometrics:

Boxers have different styles that require many different physical qualities. Some trust their maximum strength, others their starting strength and most of them use a combination of these two.
F. Hatfield

Cardio and HIIT

Low-intensity running can cause a decrease of explosive strength and therefore is not ideal.

To improve resistance and to work on aerobic training, the boxer will need to turn to HIIT to see results at a cardiovascular level thus preserving or increasing explosive strength.

Running the traditional 30-60 minutes is not recommended, instead, we suggest sprinting for 10 seconds and resting for 30-40sec, then repeat.

The reason for this is that endurance won’t knock your opponent out, but punching power will, so you need to work on power.

Strength is the mother of all qualities and highly impacts:

explosive strength
endurance
risk of injury

Boxers will need to maximize maximum strength to increase all other parameters.

Quickness is not the most important quality, strength is.

Although athletes like Mike Tyson didn’t squat in the past, they were strong.
The average athlete will need to train harder and lift at high loads with low reps.

Training maximum strength will lead to improved striking speeds thanks to better use of the central nervous system:

Better rate coding
Motor units recruitment

I started lifting weights only in ’95 because my rivals were doing it. Everyone lifted. Everyone had a strength coach who made them do it.
M.Tyson

Explosive power in boxing

When strength training for boxing and trying to increase explosive strength to move more quickly and throw stronger punches, you will need t focus on:

Strength training
Olympic lifts
Dynamic Method
Ballistic lifts
Contrast method
Plyometrics

According to C. Poliquin, the speed of a jab can increase by up to 20%.

To do so, you will need to maximize explosive strength and both high loads at slow speed, and low loads at high speed.

If you don’t believe that maximum strength and muscle mass are fundamental in boxing, you should ask yourself why the athletes are divided into weight categories.

Superheavy weight boxers are more muscular and stronger, and light weights cannot physically compete.

Plyometrics for Boxing

If you are looking for great tools to work on maximum and explosive strength you should look into plyometric exercises such as:

Depth Jump
Drop Jump
Box Jump
Seated Box Jump
Lateral Box Jump
Bounding
Sprinting

Risk of injury in boxing

Most of the injuries in boxing happen in the ring and involve:

Neck
Head
Shoulders

To avoid such injuries you will need to work on:

Strength training
Mobility
Stability
Corrective exercises

Core stability in Boxing

The athlete will need to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body, therefore core stability and motor control are essential as they will allow the boxer to generate maximum speed and power.

Doing hundreds of crunches is not the most effective way to train the core and it can be bad for your spinal cord.

Isometric exercises like planks and side planks are better. You can always find ways to make them harder by increasing load or instability.

Periodization in boxing

A boxer should maintain optimal physical conditions year-round and be able to prepare for a match in 8-12 weeks.

You can divide the macrocycle into 3 phases:

1) GGP (General Physical Preparation)
The goal is to improve body composition, strength and endurance in general.
4 weeks
medium-high reps

2) SPP (Specific Physical Preparation)
The goal is to increase maximum and explosive strength
4 weeks
Higher intensity %
Lower loads
Use methods to increase power

3) Competition
Reduce workload
Sport-specific training to take the athlete to top performance
Last weeks before the match

After the match, it is highly recommended to leave 7-10 days of recovery time before starting a new cycle of training.

Exercises with weights for Boxing

There is a multitude of exercises that can be used, but I will mention the most relevant ones:

Squat
Box Jump
Bulgarian Squat
Deadlifts
Romanian deadlift
Hip Thrust
Chin Ups
Military Press
Olympic Lift
Floor Press
Bench Press
Rowers
Many more

When performing these exercises, the athlete will need to use the force-velocity curve in its full range to maximize gains in explosive strength.
He will need to work on maximal intent imposed on the load and use ballistic movements.

We will use different weight loads based on the qualities we intend to train:

Maximum Strength
Strength- Speed
Speed- Strength
Starting Strength

How many days a week should a boxer train?

In the GPP and SPP phase, we recommend 3 or 4 sessions using weights, while in the 4 weeks preceding the match, we would reduce weight training to 2 times a week and do more sport-specific exercises.

Holyfield trained with weights 6 days a week when getting ready for his match against Tyson.

The role of the Punch in Boxing

Strength training for boxing is not only limited to the upper body, even if you are trying to throw stronger punches.

We typically think that to throw stronger punches you need strong arms.
Approximately 40% of the punching power comes for the athlete’s legs, a high percentage from the torso and only a smaller percentage form the arm itself.

Punches are complex and rapid movements that include:

Extension of the leg
Torsion of the torso
Extension of the arm

The better the coordination, quickness and strength, the stronger the punch.

This is why to train for a powerful punch you will need to train legs as well as the upper body.