squats and deadlifts

What is your current routine?

 

It depends what you want to achieve but if you want to be the best possible boxer you can be then your routine has way too much weightlifting and not enough boxing. Focus more on calisthenics and plyometrics which are also better than squats and deadlifts.

Personally I think "leg days" as in squats and deadlifts don't improve you as a boxer, it's better to use your own weight so your legs get used to your body weight for all that jumping around, it's better to keep your legs flexible and mobile for better balance. You need to be as close to your optimal weight as possible and not putting too much extra muscle mass. I have huge leg muscles and I never did a deadlift in my life, it's all from boxing and all kinds of jumps and sprinting and it's all natural and functional muscles. Do some shadowboxing that focuses on footwork too. If you have chicken legs then that's just your genetics, nothing you can do about it. For example if your genetics are that you're a 145lbs boxer then that's what you are, bulking up to 200 won't improve you as a boxer and won't change your genes and bone structure.

 

First off, you need to either focus on boxing or bodybuilding. By training bodybuilding, your muscles aren't learning to work together. Have you ever seen a bodybuilder fight or box? They look wonky af. If you absolutely must do weight training focus on heavy compound movements.

 

I agree. Bodybuilding bulks you up while boxing needs fast twitch muscle fibers. Totally different type of muscles basically.

Weight training is good for once in a while for some general strength and to strengthen the muscles that aren't used that much in boxing so you don't have muscle imbalances, but it's not wise to mix it too much with regular boxing training, it will slow down your progress and make you stiff.

I like to train with weights once a month. Basically I take 3 days to go through all the muscle groups and then rest 2 days and continue with more boxing-oriented training. Weightlifting helped me to build more strength and I turned some useless body fat into muscle, but it always consisted less than 20% of my training routine.

The problem is that a lot of people simply can't accept the fact that their optimal boxing weight is low and they look "skinny", that's why many people who train boxing bulk up and then can't last 3 rounds. It's a matter of priorities. I don't think it's healthy to carry too much muscle mass btw, it's very bad for heart and joints.

 

Oh gawd :roll:

 

My training philosphy is to keep the workouts as closely related to things that can be directly translated to the ring. I would rather be the guy that can hit like a mack truck but not bench a hundred vs a guy that can squat a ton but hits like a pillow.

 

I'm not saying don't lift weight, I'm saying you can't body build AND box. Like I said isolating each muscle group during bodybuilding confuses them when boxing because they don't know how to work together. Mike Tyson didn't lift weight for most of his career. He was like a muscular 200 lbs at 14. Extremely genetically gifted.

What does your boxing routine look like?

 

So much stupid here. A back squat involves strengthening the muscles involved in the triple extension of the knees, hips and ankles in a coordinated manner while also requiring you to brace and develop trunk strength, while requiring good thoracic extension and shoulder mobility. All important physical qualities required for performance and injury prevention in boxing.
Anybody who says a squat isn't functional, is a bodybuilding exercise, impairs mobility, or is automatically going to bulk you up.... is a complete idiot.
You develop power/impulse from the ground, a squat is putting force into the ground while bracing and having good balance. If you can't see how that helps boxing...

 

What about doing resistance training regularly and doing your sport regularly... you know, like every other serious athlete in every other sport?
Tyson lifted weights his whole life. And what's the point of bringing up a genetic anomaly when you're addressing a general training principle. I don't understand how people think sometimes.

 

If you're training weights once a month you're not doing anything. How does moving more efficiently and easily, while being more powerful and injury resistant slow down your boxing progress? How does lifting weights make you stiff? If you were stupid enough to only lift weights once a month then you would feel stiff and sore afterwards. If you're like every other serious athlete you'd lift weights ~2-3 times a week (often in the same day as their sport practice) and not feel any negative effects as you have a body that has adapted to the movements and loads to a large extent.
It's almost impossible to bulk up if you're doing a lot of endurance training. Boxers aren't really fast twitch athletes the way a sprinter or weightlifter is, but they need to develop those fast twitch qualities and there's no better and safer way doing that than by lifting weights.

 

Physical activity changes gene expression and bone density. What the hell are 'functional muscles'? Do you think weightlifters can't jump? Do you think they aren't flexible? Do you think they were just born with their leg muscles? How do they compete in weight classes?