Strength training of some Old School Fighters

actually i think that the second one is the origional joe wallcott

 

The body doesn't really know whether you are lifting a stone, a sack of flour, a barbell or your own bodyweight. These are all forms of resistance training. It is wrong to say that lifting a stone would be beneficial to a boxer but lifting dumbbells would be detrimental to him. It all depends on how you do the training. A 3 rep-max heavy, and thereby necessarily slow, weight might be good for powerlifting but the carry over value for boxing would be almost nil and might even be counter productive.

Weights came to be selected as the preferred method of resistance training because of the convenience, ease of progression and monitoring of the same it afforded. Once lifting a certain stone 12 times became easy a stone weighing 5 pounds or so more would be needed. See the problem. On weights, just add the extra five pounds (even less if needed). However, the old methods of resistance training also had its advantages. Like developing better balance, GPP, etc besides making training more interesting

The old methods of resistance training shown in the pictures fell by the wayside in the last forty years or so. But it is now making a big comeback. Some of the best modern trainers advocate a combination of both properly designed weight training as well as some of the old methods in the overall training plan for the best gains.

 

Arka, you seem to have a good knowledge of strength training methods.

Regards.

 

Am I right that Pavlik hits a tyre with a sledge hammer? I'm sure I read that somewhere.

 

Yes, there is pictures and videos of it on the net

 

On the weight matter Bruce Lee had an opinion. One of his most prized books was How to Box written by the 1940's boxing instructor at the University of Minnesota. He found he could do all the techniques with increased speed and power by lifting light weights quickly. Before he died this is what he advised fighters, boxers included, to try. Just throwing this in for fun.

 

This refers to Edwin L. Haislett's 1940 classic simply titled, "Boxing: A Self Instruction Manual," which is extensively illustrated with excellent line drawings.

When John J. Walsh, Ed Haislett's legendary counterpart at the University of Wisconsin published "Boxing Simplified" in 1951, he brought Haislet's line drawings to life by using his students as flesh and blood models in photographs of the same positions Haislet's book depicted, thus reinforcing the viability of this approach.

If is is accepted that a classic book is one that does not need rewriting, consider that Walsh never revised his text, even though he lived for another half century after publishing it. Haislet retired in 1976, also having not seen the need to update his guide in the 36 years since releasing it.

Randy Turpin was widely noted for his uniqueness in utilizing weight training as part of his conditioning regimen. Less publicized is that Olympic style lifting was employed in his case.

Light dumbells have long been a staple of boxing conditioning, as have been weighted pulleys.

Striking a tire with a sledgehammer was reportedly a method Archie Moore had Earnie Shavers employ. Shavers later got involved in training with weights, but apparently has stated that it did not enhance his punching power much. Jerry Quarry and Ken Norton both commented during broadcasts of Shavers fights that they felt his weight training compromised his endurance. (Norton said this during the rest period between rounds six and seven of Earnie's classic with Tiger Williams.)

 

Your body does know the difference..When your using a forein object stone, log.Your using different flexors in your hands and forearm muscles..It also gives you more strength in awkward situations and gives you stronger balance..Weights are ok but there not nearly as affective for boxing as doing irregular awkward lifts

 

Remember too that in the old days even most of the good fighters still had jobs.

The hard work performed by James Braddock during his time-out enabled him to come back bigger, stronger and with two good hands, including a jab he'd never had before. The type of work he performed was not unlike some of the pictures earlier in this thread.

 

And that development of his jab during that hiatus as a stevedore is particularly telling when one compares his excellent performances against Baer, Louis and Farr against the way the older and shorter armed Tommy Loughran jabbed him silly in 1929. (All four of these contests are usually readily available for on-line viewing.)

CHB, this is a superb example you have brought forth for our consideration. When Jimmy Braddock later did decide to leave for good on his own terms, it wasn't bad hands but declining mobility which clinched his choice to retire. (Specifically, arthritis was hampering his ability to move backwards, a key factor in his late career success.)