joe calzaghe How fit are you out of ten? When I start training ahead of a fight Im about a five on a boxers scale, which I guess is around nine for a normal guy. In the final few weeks before the fight I will be a ten. Boxing is all about peaking at the right time. Theres no point being a ten all the time because you just get stale. Has training become harder as youve got older? Im as fit now [Calzaghe is 36] as Ive ever been. Ive been boxing a long time, and you get better at listening to your body and what it needs. I know my body so well that I can adjust my training to get into the shape I need to be. Is it tough preparing for a fight after two months off? I suppose its like going back to work after being on holiday: the first week is tough but by the second youre back into the swing. Ive been training since I was nine and Ive a good heart and set of lungs, so its never too bad. More often than not Im hungry to get training again. Whats a typical days training before a fight? Ive never seen the point of going for a run at the crack of dawn, so Ill go for a 30-minute run at about 10am. Ill either do hill sprints or a jog through the Valleys. Ill then do 12 rounds on the gym speedball with some bag- and pad-work. Ill also bang out 200-odd press-ups and sit-ups most days. In the four weeks before the fight Ill do 120 rounds of sparring to sharpen up my speed and fitness. Whats the worst thing about training? The repetition. Ive been doing this for years now. Its also hard making the weight: Im naturally slightly more than 14st [89kg] but have needed to make 12st for most of my career. The worst part is being hungry the whole time. Training hard while cutting calories makes you feel like ****, but I channel the anger it gives me to my advantage. Your next fight will be your last. Are there other sports you want to take up? Im a big football fan so Ill be having some kickabouts and Im keen to get back on the golf course. I used to play every day but had to pack it in seven years ago after injuring my elbow. But I wont get back into boxing. Once retired, stay retired. I dont look like a fighter and I take a lot of pride in that. I want it to stay that way.
Found a new one .... EVANDER HOLYFIELD 2 Weight Training: initially (during mesocycle one) Evander followed a modified bodybuilding and basic strengthening program using a "variable split" format. A, B and C specify whether the workout is to be a very easy one (A), a moderately difficult one (B), or a high intensity one (C). This part of Evanderâs program was monitored by Lee Haney, multiple âMr. Olympiaâ bodybuilding champion, and a former student of mine. EVANDER'S VARIABLE SPLIT EXERCISE LISTING (precise schedule of when to do an A, B or C workout was adjusted to match Evanderâs recuperative abilities) Chest A workout -- bench press B workout -- add dumbbell bench press C workout -- add incline dumbbell bench press Shoulders A workout -- seated dumbbell presses B workout -- add frontal dumbbell raises C workout -- add lateral raises Back A workout -- bent rows, back extensions B workout -- add modified pull-ups C workout -- add pull-downs Arms A workout -- EZ curls, pushdowns B workout -- add hi, moderate and low rep system C workout -- add dumbbell curls, dips Legs A workout -- safety squats, keystone deadlifts B workout -- add lunge walking, glute-ham raises C workout -- add twisting squats, leg curls Midsection A workout -- Russian twists B workout -- add pre-stretched crunches C workout -- add sidebends In mesocycle two, Evander switched to a sports-specific weight training program.
Saw a brief thing about Haglers training in the ""Four Kings" book. Cant remember exactly but i recall he did all his body weight exercises for time not reps. 3 minutes each with a minute rest.
nice ****ed up to see how much hatton coming in so overweight affected his training to have to train for maybe 6 weeks before being around his right weight is ridiculous, how he didnt think this would have a negative effect on performance is darn right dumn
James J. Jeffries "To train for the bout Jeffries' daily training included a 14-mile (23 km) run, 2 hours of skipping rope, medicine ball training, 20 minutes sparring on the heavy bag, and at least 12 rounds of sparring in the ring. He also trained in wrestling." -- From Wikipedia, although I've seen mentions of it elsewhere. I'll leave it up to you whether you believe it or not.
Hatton prepared for the fight (Kostya) on a diet of seven high protein meals a day and four weight sessions a week, a regime little short of revolutionary in a sport where fighters usually starve themsleves to make weight and avoid heavy lifting because they think it will make them slow and stiff. The few that lift tend to use short, explosive movements that they beleive will cultivate power rather than the kind of slow, controlled bodybuilding movements that hatton employs so succesfully. The old timers theory might have survived a little longer if Hatton had lost. Even if he knocked out Tsyzu, the defending champion rated by many as the best pound for pound fighter fight in the world, they could have argued his weight training would have slowed him down later int he fight. But the fact that the Mancunian wore his man down over 11 of the most exhausting and exhilirating rounds ever seen in a British ring, proved beyond doubt that his methods of training enhanced rather than inhibited his performance. Hatton wasn't always enthusiastic about training with weights. In his early days he shared the fight games traditional scepticism towards dumbells and barbells and rarely touched neither. He paid little attention to sports nutrition, preferring to gorge on one or two big meals a day. But over the years his attitude has changed, largely becasue of the inluence of two men. One, his trainer Billy 'The Preacher' Graham, is well known in boxing circles; the other, bodybuilding guru Kerry Hayes, only got involved three years ago. Graham had a brother called Joe who entered bodybuilding competitions and was constantly advocating the benefits of the lifestyle. "I realised through him taht bodybuilders kne wmore than anybody else about the human body" says Graham. They have diabolical discipline abd are fanatical about sports science. When i was a fighter int he 1970's Joe pointed out to me how much betetr I would be if I trained with weights. The coaches were almost dead against it and he always had to drag me screaming down the gym but it improved me no end as a fighter." Sadly, Joe died in an accident a few years later. But when he became a boxing trainer Billy Graham never forgot what his brother had taught him. "boxing has stayed the same for centuries but I've always been open to combining new ideas with the best of old to give my fighters the best chances of winning" says Graham. And strength training is a massive ingredient for success. Graham began looking for someone like Joe who could prepare his fighters as thoroughly out of the ring as he does in it. He turned to kayes, one of his late brothers old bodybuilding friends. A karate enthsiast, kayes was seduced by bodybuilding in the 1980's and went on to win teh British over 40s championshp while guiding Britain's Dorian yates to the sports ultimate prize, the Mr Olympia title, the following decade. He now runs his own supplement company, CNP, and trains many of the countries leading bodybuilders at his Better Bodies gym in Denton ont he outskirts of Manchester. Kayes followed boxing and was keen to get involved but at first it wasn't practical. "Billy wanted me to work with him for a good few years but the oppurtunity never arose because the boxers used to train 5 miles away" says Kayes. "I gave him that odd diet sheet but I didn't do any more tahn that because I wanted day to day involvement." When graham relocated his Phoenix camp to a room at the back of Kayes' gym in early 2003 the problem was overcome. Hatton was already an emerging star with a perfect 30-0 record. His fights regulaarly sold out the 20,000-seat Manchestor arena, generating the kind of big fight atmosphere that didn't exist in British boxing since the days of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank. Hatton's aggressive style in the ring and likeable personality out of the ring made him the undisputed peoples champion. But while the locals loved him his WBU world title held currency in America. He craved a fight with Australian Tsyzu, the undisputed 10-stone king, whose scalp everyone wanted. When Kayes came on board hatton was preparing to take on the ageing but classy Vince Phillips in a contest that could take him one step closer to Tsyzu. "He had never done any seriosu weight training," said Kayes. "There was an old bench with a bar at his previous gym and he would do a few exercises-fast, as boxers do, but that was it. "Billy asked me to do some weights with him and because Ricky had been with Billy since day one he had total trust in him." But with fight night fast approaching, Kayes input at first was minimal. "I wasn't stupid enough to walk in and say 'everything you are doing with nutrition is wrong'." he says. "I changed things 40 per cent for his first fight, then another 50 per cent for his next fight so little by little I gained his trust". RICKY HATTON's WEIGHT TRAINING ROUTINE MONDAY-LEGS AND CALVES Leg Extensions 3x10 Partal leg Presses 4x10 Lying Leg Presses 1x10 Seated calf raises 3x8 Standing Calf raises 3x8 TUESDAY-CHEST AND BICEPS Pec Deck 3x10 Seated Becnh Presses 3x10 Lying Bench Presses 1x10 Lying Bench Presses (half movemnt) 1x10 DumbelL curls 3x10 THURSDAY-BACK AND HAMSTRINGS Close grip pulldowns to front 3x10 Cable Rows 2x10 Shrugs 2x10 Hamstring curls 3x10 Stiff-legged deadlifts 1x10 FRIDAY-SHOUDLERS AND TRICEPS Lateral raises 3x10 Rear lateral raises 3x10 Shoulder presses 3x10 Close grip presses 3x10 Smith machine presses from waist 3x10 RICKY HATTON'S TRAINING CAMP DIET Meal 1: Pro GF Meal 2: Porrige and four eggs (one yold) and Pre Peptide Train Meal 3: Pro-Recover Meal 4: Chicken rice and Vegetables Meal 5: Fish and vegetables Run six miles Meal 6: Pro-recover Meal 7: Chicken and Vegetables Hatton gave one of his best performances to date against Phillips and was quick to praise Kayes afterwards, saying it wa sthe fittest he'd felt and the easiest he had made the weight. but the hard gym sessions were only just beggining. In his first leg workouts under Kayes, hatton could partial leg press six 25kg plates and on a 45 degree machine; in his last workout before the Tsyzu fight he leg presses 20x25 plates. "He only does half the movement because fighters don't need to fully exten their legs all the way but nonetheless it is still an astonishing amount of weight, " says Kayes. "He was pressing over half a ton and did 10 reps at a bodyweight of 10 stone and 4 pounds." Kayes is big on leg training for boxers. "If I had one bodypart I could train on a boxer it would be quads becasue that is wer ethe power comes from if you look at the mechanics of a punch". he says. Hattons training has evolved to the point where he now lifts and eats almost liek a bodybuilder. He weight trains every Monday, tuesday, thursday and friday. He warms up with a relatively light weight before moving on to his work sets where he lifts as heavy as he can manage for 3 sets of controlled 10 repetitions. Kayes isn't convinced by that argument that lifting helps you punch faster. "There is only one reason to lift weights and that is to get stronger. There is only one way to get stronger and that is to warm up, do a medium set, an 80% maiximum and go to failure. You can't reinvent the wheel. Also, explosive movements increase the chances of injury and that is something I'm terrified of". Risk of injury and the light-welterweight weight limit inhibit Hatton's training slightly and prevent him from bulking up too much. "I can't give him excess calories because he has to weigh in at 10 stone" says Kayes. We can only give him enough food to keep his metabolism going and to feed his muscles." He prefers machines to free weights to avoid injuries and doesn't include high-risk squatting on leg days. "What it boils down too is that Ricky doesn't quite do the same volume of training or take as much nutrition as a bodybuilder and we sometimes use shorter movements taht work better for boxers. Apart from that it's very similiar," says Kayes.
