Preserving Muscle - How Have Fighters Done It....

about the 3 percent body fat thing... Alot of it is genetics, besides proper nutrition & hard work. Like you said, there have been bodybuilders who've worked hard and taken illegal substances, but never have gotten that low of a percentage.

 

Creatine works, but most agree that it assists in gaining more muscle mass as you can push your muscles a bit further. However, the draw back or side effect, if you want to call it that, is that makes some people look a bit bloated, in comparison to when not taking it, since you retain more water.

 

Marciano was a big eater and he had a natural strength, same with Jeffries but Marciano was a relentless trainer and hit a 300lb HVY Bag

 

Sorry, I don't buy the 3% bodyfat thing for boxers. 8% is more like it, and judging by some heavyweights today, anything up to 20% is okay too.

I don't recall ever reading about Marciano running 15 miles. I know he used to walk about 5-8 miles daily, whether he was in training or not.

 

Not sure whether you mean no boxer, by no human being, but FTR Steve Ovett once ran 20 miles a day for a week just to see if he could do it.

He won an Olympic 800m gold medal and could sprint 200m in 21.6 out of the blocks - so naturally geared for speed but able to smash out mileage without any problems.

Dedicated ultradistance runners would laugh at a 15 mile run - it would just be a warm up!

But back to the point in hand. Marcianos endurance running contributed to his light size as Luigi said, and to his brilliant in ring endurance...

 

Ovett wasn't 5'10 and 185lbs, though - and being an Olympic 800m gold medalist (a middle distance race) is a good pedigree for running distance, anyways.

I can believe Marciano doing a ton of roadwork, but 15 miles a day seems excessive for a guy that's 5'10 and weighs 185lbs.

 

There is much talk about how nutrition and diets have improved to a great degree, but some of the 'old school' routines were educated and proven.

Just like Mike Tyson, Bob Fitzsimmons would conduct a warm-up, take a bath, go back to bed in a state of readiness, re-awake, have a proper breakfast of high protein eggs/taters, then run, floor work and spar.

The 'basics' have not changed much at all.

Fighters back then did much running to improve their wind but trainers were very wary of their fighters going 'dry' and 'stale'; they understood how one could be easily over-trained and concentrated on bringing you to the boil.

Many of these miles ran throughout the day were laced with sprints and walks - hiking was a popular exercise, so don't surprised about the actual mileage.

 

Jason, I thought you were of the opinion that banned members should realize that they were unwelcome, and ought to **** off.