Marciano's Inhuman Training Regimen

From http://rippeder.com/content/rocky-marcianos-training

He trained using a custom made 300lbs punching bag.

He used a speed bag but not like you would expect, he would hit it with hooks and slow power shots to work on his accuracy.

He would power clean a heavy stone and toss it forward with both hands.

He did crunches that also combined kicking a heavy medicine ball out to the trainer

He liked to run uphill in training (full speed) and then run backwards back down. Did this over and over.



He was known to do two hours of continuous calisthenics.

Sometimes Rocky went shoulder deep in a swimming pool and threw hundreds of underwater punches for about 45 minutes.

Jogged 6-7 miles every morning.( His uncle,Charlie Piccento, said he even did this on Christmas mornings as well.) Ben Bently, Rocky's press agent, said after signing for a fight he would increase to 9-10 miles. And then the last week before a fight he would increase 12-15 miles. And all this in hilly country!

When training for a fight he was like a Monk - He secluded himself from wife and family sometimes up to 3 months before a fight, watched his diet, weight and muscle tone. A week before a fight he would see no mail, take no calls, meet no new acquaintances, not even shake hands (probably to avoid getting sick) or go for a car ride, and no new foods.

Archie moore - "...he just had more stamina than anyone else in those days. He was like a bull with gloves."

 

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=147889

"He does it (runs) every morning even if he doesn’t have a fight…five or six miles. Been doing it for six years, every day. Even does six or seven miles on Christmas morning." Charlie Piccento, Rocky's uncle, to a reporter for Fight Magazine 1953, just before Walcott II.
"You throw a lot of punches, kid. Maybe you’ll have to pace yourself. You could get plenty tired in a ten rounder." Charlie Goldman to Rocky when he was training for his fight with Johnny Pretzie."Don’t worry about that," Rocky told him. "I’m in better condition than any of them. I can go as many rounds as I have to."
Rocky spent hours punching the special heavy bag he'd had made for him. It weighed 300 pounds, much heavier than a normal heavy bag, and he had to hit it even harder to move it around. He wanted to be able to move 200+ pound heavyweights around with his body punches.
Ben Bentley, Rocky's press agent and friend, told me Rocky would normally run at least 5-6 miles a day year round, but when a fight was signed he'd increase the distance to 9-10 miles, and usually the last week up it to 12-15 miles. On top of this, he liked to walk another 5-10 miles in the late afternoon or evening. And he did all this in the hilly country around Grossinger's, where he trained.
It was Rocky's obsession with conditioning that kept him training 365 days a year and this dedication gave him stamina never seen before or since in a fighter. It allowed him to set a blistering pace that no fighter could match. A good heavyweight throws on average 40-45 punches a round during active rounds, and about half that when tired. Marciano averaged in the 80-85 punch range, and it wasn't unusual for him to throw over 100 punches a round.

 

Well, steak makes you stroppy...….

 

Do you know who Rocky's friend/press agent said this to and when he said it?

 

"Charlie Piccento, Rocky's uncle, to a reporter for Fight Magazine 1953, just before Walcott II."

Next quote below was from his manager early in his career.

 

I mean, it wouldn't *surprise* me if a 1950s athlete had a couple eccentric training habits that he believed worked. Gym lore is full of this stuff in all kinds of sports.

 

This raises my suspicion, but besides that Rocky was an animal. He always motivates me to add some psychotic twist to my training

 

Not sure what exactly his training regimen was, but I do know that he never appeared to be out of shape or gassed in any fight. So something was done right.

 

I meant the quote about Marciano ramping up to 12-15 miles per day prefight--the one attributed to "Ben Bentley, Rocky's press agent and friend." Was that also made just before Walcott II, or did he say that much later?

 

This was from a 1993 article? I wonder what his sources were.

 

This.

 

Silly post.How could rock fight for 15 rnds without tiring without being in suburb physical condition? People accuse Marciano of plenty ! Being unfit isn't one

 

I don't know...the timing of that point wasn't made in the article.

 

My first thought when I read this years ago, was that it sounded more like the training regime of a 1900 era fighter, like Fitzsimmons, Maher or Jeffries.

It is a training regime more befitting a 20 round fight.

 

He quoted Angelo Dundee on some of the boxing info. Then lots of friends regarding his lifestyle. The Sports Illustrated article was mainly about Rocky's lifestyle outside of the ring...his crazed cash requirements (he hated checks), his rumblings with (many) women, his interactions with the mob (never threw a fight, but as an American of Italian descent he certainly knew many of them).