Donaire's Scientific Training

In the Ring:

"Donaire has been working with Korchemny and supplement guru Victor Conte since his December 2010 fight with Volodymyr Sydorenko. How many miles does Donaire run per week? 25, maybe 20? Try zero. He’s seen great results, abandoning running for sprints, which develops fast-twitch muscle rather than slow-twitch muscle fiber. Coupled with a specialized nutrition program with Conte, Donaire has seen performance gains in the gym and in the ring."

"Conte introduced Donaire to hypoxic training, where Donaire is hooked up to an oxygen mask that gives him a deficit of oxygen, simulating the effects a boxer would get from running in high elevation. It results in an increase of red blood cells in the athlete, giving Donaire increased stamina.

“I can go 20 rounds. One thing that I gained with the hypoxic training is it makes you do circles and go 12 rounds in Mount Everest,” said Donaire. “It increases your red blood cells, you’re able to take more oxygen in your system no matter how tired you are. The guys that I’m sparring , they’re no walk in the park, they’re good prospects. They go all out in sparring and then I have another guy fresh coming in and I feel good and I can tire them out no matter what."

Donaire can be tested at any time by VADA and Conte said Donaire jumped at the opportunity to show he’s a clean athlete.

“There’s been a lot of guys that have tried to come into the VADA program and have had sponsorships offered to (do so) and they always gotta talk to this guy or that guy. Nonito is his own man,” said Conte, who sponsors the athletes he works with, rather than being paid. “He makes his own decision. It wasn’t about calling and asking Bob Arum if he can do that VADA testing. He’s a true leader and he’s leading by example with VADA and he deserves a lot of credit for it.”

Conte has Donaire wearing a memory belt during training. It measures caloric expenditure, breath frequency, V02 max, ventilation, heart rate, etc. They collect the data both during Donaire’s track work and then when he’s in the gym sparring and training. The information is loaded to a television in the SNAC conference room where they examine the data at the beginning of camp, in the middle of camp and at the conclusion. He also collects the date with Donaire both on supplements and off supplements. After comparing, they have an index of Donaire’s physical fitness, so Conte can fine tune his nutrition program and training schedule and Donaire can make bigger gains in the gym. It’s this kind of next level training that has helped propel Donaire to greater heights in the sport.

“Most boxers train twice-a-day, six days a week – way over trained. The greater the intensity of the training, the greater requirement for the recovery interval,” explained Conte. “The first change that I made in Nonito’s training was to tell him ‘you’re going to train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday you’re out of there.’

“The training load is way greater when he’s on the supplements. The greater the training load, the greater the recovery interval. He trained less, but more intense, but rest more.”

Aiding Donaire with his training is of course a strict supplement program specially designed by Conte. Donaire takes mostly SNAC products, over 20 in total. He uses ZMA to aide in recovery, Vitalyze to give him increased stamina and then also takes a number of other supplements: PhysioBalm, Proquick Tubs, Super Citrimax plus ChromeMate, Aerobitine and HypOxygen, among others. These products, coupled with the training program, have helped to give Donaire the explosiveness he seeks in the ring come fight night.

 

Its interesting to see he trains only 4 days a week. And no running at all, only sprints. Its hard to tell where talent begins and science takes over.