Burpees and KB swing combo

Here is more training that I use.

I do KB swings with a 45lb KB and alternating each hand and drop and do jumping burpees w/ pushup.

Descending sets starting at 12,11,10,9..etc

Working my way up to 25+ and incorparating my 20lb vest on my lower rep days.

You'll have plenty of time to wonder whether you are fiery or faint,pointed or pointless during the sets. My f'n hands are trembling from them....I'm going out for a run,enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!:bbb:hi:

 

:goodVery nice

 

Best article on combat sport training, by far.

http://www.maxcondition.com/page.php?96

 

I'm getting really pissed off at these waste of ****ing threads like "will push ups help my bench?" You know what? go to bodybuilding.****ing com for bodybuilding and supp info. These ****ing threads are pathetic and this is a boxing forum for combat f'n athletes not hot damn wanna be ****ing underwear models. For ****s sake.

 

:goodI agree and perhaps would throw my hat in the ring in the near future. I have been looking at some awesome homemade training equipment links that I will be posting soon.

Hope your training is going well.

 

****** Fortune: The Man
Who Conditioned Pacquiao
By John Garfield- Published in 2004


A fighter like Manny Pacquiao comes to just the right point in his training and physical perfection to do what he did to Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao came from the small island of Mindanao in the Philippines with an intense fighting spirit, great hand speed and power.

But the sharp sword that he was, had to be tempered just so for that night. Sharpened too finely, and the edge would be lost. Not enough was unthinkable. Nothing less than perfection would do against a great champion like Barrera.

Freddie Roach works on the master plan, the strategies; he's the battlefield general. It's up to ****** Fortune, his conditioning coach, to forge Pacquiao into the slashing blade that will cut tirelessly. But to hammer out such a weapon, steel must be worked beyond endurance. And, Fortune pushes fighters beyond where they thought they could go.

Fortune is a 5' 9" former Aussie powerlifting record holder and bouncer who fought Lennox Lewis in his 12th fight, and has the temperament and political correctness of Bobby Knight. He'd be the guy below decks on a galley pushing the shackled oarsmen to "ATTACK SPEED!" around the clock, and on their day off, announce: "The Captain wants to go waterskiing."

You may not like what he has to say, but there's no misunderstanding him.

Q: How did you get Manny in the shape he was? One of the knocks on him has always been his stamina.

JF: Brought him back to the shape all fighters used to be. Fighters these days got ****'n lazy. Too much money, and they're just lazy. Fighters used to fight in Manny's condition, so we took him back.

Q: What kind of regime did you put him through?

JF: Whatever he did in the ring, sparring and stuff, we did twice as much outside the ring-floor work, stomach, a whole range of different exercises, just to put him in condition so he could come out in the 12th round like it was the first round. He was in great shape--no doubt about it--but you need an athlete who's really dedicated and is willing to go through that sort of pain and suffering to achieve his goal. He did it...That's why he won.

Q: What's the key to getting a guy in shape?

JF: Nothing is ever the same. They never ever get used to anything we do. The body is constantly being shocked with different exercises. That's boxing. Guy wants to tear your head off standing in the other corner. So, you gotta be ready. That's what we do. We make them ready.

Q: How do you deal with lazy or reluctant fighters?

JF: I don't! I don't deal with them. If they're not willing to put in the work, then don't waste my ****'n time and I won't waste theirs. I got no interest in them. I don't chase a fighter. You know, we work with Freddie's fighters and they see the benefits of that work. And if I get a fighter that doesn't want to do it-****'EM! There's plenty of other fighters I can put my time and effort into. They don't want to do it, I tell them once-probably, ask them twice-third time: Never! Ever! If you don't do it, **** OFF!

Q: What are you picking up from Freddie?

JF: I pick up a lot of stuff off Freddie. I have a lot to learn off Roach. He sees things differently then what I see in the ring. I see something, Fred will say, "No, no, look at this." It's totally different than what I saw. I go, "OK, I didn't see it." I'm learning ring craft off Freddie, and strategy--which is very important. Conditioning, I have. Strategy is what I have to learn off Freddie. I have a lot more to learn. I'm only start'n. Fred's got like a 20-year jump on me. It's great work'n with him. I'm just hungry for knowledge, and he's the one I can pick it up off. He's got great fighters. Great gym. I'm very lucky.

Q: You were half a world away; what made you come to Wild Card?

JF: Virgil Hill fought in Australia. He hooked me up with Freddie. He trained me. Freddie is a good mate of mine and the best trainer in the world...and I'd rather be with my mates.

Q: What was it like fighting in Australia?

JF: I fought in the Enmore Theater in Sydney. The promoter was a junkie. Instead of putting on a feed at the weigh-in...the way everyone else does, they had a strip show, and a ****'n sex act. The ring girls were whores and they just peeled-off all their clothes. Girls were fighting with their boyfriends for staring at the girls--unbelievable! It brought boxing back 100 years! At the end of the fight, my check bounced and I got the promoter by the throat. It's comical.

The promoter used to take the deposits, payments, sponsor's money and go home... give his wife a slapp'n around. She'd call the cops. He'd get locked up...He'd have an excuse not to return any money. He was priceless!

Q: Do you see different things now than you did as a fighter?

JF: Oh, Yeah! You see everything. As a fighter, you only see the guy in front of you. You're very limited in what you can see. From the outside, you see weaknesses and strengths.

Q: How much of defense is setting traps? Or is it just reflexes?

JF: To a certain extent, it's reflexes; but it's more about the strategy of making the fighter do what you want him to do...It's controlling the ring and controlling the fight.

You do that with feints, movement-to set up punches. Some combinations will make him move into another combination. There's a whole range of things I'm learning off Fred.

Q: A great many fight fans judge fighters and their place in history by losses. How do you feel?

JF: You're as good as your last fight, that's it. You fight 20 fights and then you lose a fight. And, that's what fans see.

Morrison had a lot of great wins. But the fight they always judge him by was when he was beaten by Mercer. They continue to re-emphasis that fact. He got a good beat'n off Mercer. That wasn't his only ****'n fight. Fighters have bad days and bad ****'n fights. It happens to every ****'n sportsman. You can't be a winner 100% of the time, especially at the high level that these guys are. It's impossible. They'll more readily accept that in other sports than boxing. They're more brutal and judgmental on boxers than anything else.

When I fought Lennox Lewis, the English press absolutely murdered me. I don't give a ****. It doesn't bother me. The English press, they crucify their own ****'n people, their own fighters. They crucify everybody. The world knows that.

Anyone can get knocked out if you get hit on the button. Anyone can knock anyone out. You're supposed to go in and fight for your life, and that's it. You can't have a bad day, or they crucify you. After you cop a beat'n, the last thing you want to hear is a whole bunch of ****'n armchair sportsmen telling you how bad you were. You know how bad you were. You were the one that got beat'n up, for ****'s sake. Give'm a break.

People that have a go at a fighter are people that only dream--or wish--they could ****'n do what a fighter's doin'. Simple as that.

 

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with John Schaeffer, strength and conditioning coach for Welterweight prospect Kermit Cintron (17-0 - 16 KO’s). Mr. Schaeffer is a well-regarded trainer who has worked with over 50 world-class athletes throughout his career. His resume includes professional basketball, boxing, and football players and numerous Olympians, just to name a few. He has worked with several fighters including the power punching Ray Mercer and Alex Zolkin.

I first asked John about his current work with Kermit Cintron. He commented by saying, “Kermit is easy to work with. All I have to do is lay the program out and he does it to a tee. Some guys do not want to work. With Kermit, if anything, I have to hold him back. His hard work shows.”

I then asked John to comment on how aspiring boxers can learn from Kermit’s work ethic when striving toward their goals. John commented by saying “Work ethic goes along with how bad you want it. There are no limitations to your success if you have the desire to reach your goals. In addition, you must be led in the right direction when training.” I agree with John and his theory regarding work ethic. If you have the heart and desire to excel, you alone will decide your level of success. This premise holds true for boxing and life in general.

Steroid Abuse

John also commented on the recent steroid allegations against former World Champion Fernando Vargas. He stated that it is difficult to point fingers at this time. “At this point in time you just don’t know. Someone could have given him one dose in a protein shake that would show up in his system for 6 months.” He went on to say that the situation is difficult to comment on without knowing all the facts.

I then asked John why a boxer would take steroids. He stated that of all the supplements available, steroids would be the last thing he would supply to a boxer. Steroids actually detract from the boxer’s ability to fight efficiently for 12 rounds. Steroids will provide a boost for the first 3 or 4 rounds before negatively affecting the fighter’s performance. Steroids are great for the short-term, explosive athlete such as the sprinter Ben Johnson, who tested positive for steroids after his record-breaking 100-meter sprint in the 1988 Olympics. Johnson’s system contained the anabolic steroid stanozolol, the same substance found in Fernando Vargas.

What is the benefit of steroid use?

Steroids cut down on the recovery time necessary between workouts. You can train harder and expect greater muscle gains because of your increased intensity. In boxing however, cellular growth is not the primary objective. Boxers must increase strength while staying within the confines of their weight class. The boxer must train to increase ligament and tendon strength while initiating a response from a maximum number of motor units. The boxer can thus gain speed, power and explosiveness.

John continued to say that steroids would make a fighter more susceptible to knockout. Steroids cause an increase in blood flow and blood pressure, while reducing the body’s ability to clot blood. This equates to a fighter that is less able to go the distance and more vulnerable to knockout. John added that a problem with many trainers is their failure to understand the true science of conditioning. Each athlete is unique, thus requires a unique conditioning and nutritional program. Many trainers wish to help their athletes, but their actions often come back to hurt them. This may have been the case with someone from Fernando’s camp.

The Proper Way

Let’s put steroids aside and concentrate on the proper way to train for boxing. A boxer's objective is to maximize power and explosiveness, while maintaining his ideal fighting weight. Consider Kermit Cintron, John commented that his body fat is between 2 ½ and 3%. He added that body fat is not an important energy source for the boxer due to the sport’s anaerobic nature. “Kermit has the lean muscle mass of a guy 2 weight classes ahead of him.” This is one of the reasons that Kermit has been so explosive with his punching ability. Of Kermit’s 17 victories, 16 have come by knockout.

John also mentioned the importance of a boxer properly supplementing his diet for enhanced performance. He added that natural supplementation has dramatically improved in the past 10 years. Some of the most popular for boxing include Inosine, Creatine, and mineral supplements. A boxer in training will deplete mineral stores at an exorbitant pace. Minerals are vital to human life. Minerals are inorganic substances not produced by the body. They are required for proper bodily functions. To perform at optimum levels, you must supplement.

As a strength coach, John has been first hand witness to the amazing results that PROPER weight training can produce in athletes from all sports. When asked why so many boxing trainers object to weight training, he responded with the following. “Boxing has simply not evolved scientifically”. He added that other sports have evolved to the point where a 300 pound football player can now run a 4.5 second 40 yard dash. The fact remains that through proper weight training, you can hit harder, faster, and quicker.

In boxing, there is a 3 to 1 work-to-rest ratio. Each round requires 3 minutes of intense work with a 1-minute rest interval. A proper conditioning program will pattern itself around these time intervals. John agreed that those who run 5 miles each day are simply not training specific to their sport. By running 5 miles, the athlete does not condition the two anaerobic energy systems. Instead, boxers should focus their “roadwork” around sports-specific sprint and interval routines.

Many veterans to the fight game will read this in disbelief. Surely there have been several world champions that never subscribed to a weight training and anaerobic conditioning routine. John was quick to point out, “Just because someone was a World Champion, does not mean they were the best that they could have been”.

These are important words to remember, as you must always look to optimize performance. Eventually, you will meet an opponent with an equal skill set. The difference in the fight will often be determined by who is the stronger, better-conditioned man.

It is not enough to train hard, you must train smart.

John Schaeffer runs his own personal training center. His contact info is below.

 

:thinkI'm really digging the idea and we can get together on compiling it and lobbying for it to be a sticky.

I do miss Cross_Trainer and his threads.