My boxing preparation

[Loser]

Hey guys, my name is Paul and I'm 21 years old. I want to be an amateur boxer and I have never trained before with weights neither boxing itself. But I want to compete. Technique training is not a problem, I found a gym that produced one olympic gold medalist and two olympic silver medalists.

The problem is my strength routine - since I am 5'7" manlet, I shall compete in lightweight (up to 132 lbs). Here is my modified SS routine, with an emphasis on myofibrylar hypertrophy, maximum CNS stimulation and weight-to-power evolvement. I do not want to put any unnecessary muscle, created by bulking type routines.

So, here is my strength plan:

Week I:
a) Monday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- weighted dips (3x3),
- power clean (3x3),
- weighted chin-ups (3x3),
c) Wednesday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- push press (3x3),
- deadlift (3x3),
e) Friday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- weighted dips (3x3),
- power clean (3x3),
- weighted chin-ups (3x3).

Week II:
a) Monday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- push press (3x3),
- deadlift (3x3),
c) Wednesday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- weighted dips (3x3),
- power clean (3x3),
- weighted chin-ups (3x3),
e) Friday:
- high bar back squat (3x3),
- push press (3x3),
- deadlift (3x3).

Warm-up - 2x5 with an empty olympic bar, 1x5 z 40% of work set weight, 1x3 z 60% of work set weight, 1x2 z 80% of work set weight. This is applied to high bar back squat, deadlift, push press and power clean - should I do the same thing for weighted chin-ups and dips?

Resting? Three-minute rest between sets and exercises (excluding warm-up sets where rest is replaced by changing weights on a bar).

Progression:
- high bar back squat, deadlift - 2 kg (4.4 lbs)/week,
- push press, power clean - 1 kg (2.2 lbs)/week,
- weighted dips, weighted chin ups - 0.5 kg (1.1 lbs)/week.

Basically it will be lifting 3x3 for 90% 1RM.
I'll deload every four weeks for one week. 50% intensity of normal workout.

A year or maybe one year and a half later (ater this general strength building plan) I will change it to an olympic weightlifting routine for power.

I have a question. Do you think that being 21 too late for a boxing career? I don't want to be pro, only a successful amateur. I'm ambitious and I learn fast. What is your opinion?

For any other tips and opinions, much appreciated. And I'm sorry for my grammar, English isn't my native language.

[evilzombie123]

Personally I think a 3 minute resting time is a bit much. Your body cools down too much. Try a minute to a minute and a half so that your body adjusts to needing to recover in that time. In boxing you have 3 minutes in the round and one minute rest between rounds.

What about bag time? Its amazing for building endurance and it does help you condition your muscles for what you need to do. You can get a cheap bag at amazon then fill it with stuff from a local lowes or home depot.

Also start doing daily roadwork and just add the time into your routine in the morning before things get started. Road work helps a lot if you do it in intervals and do shadow boxing during it too.

As hard as it is to believe, not many boxers focus on power lifting or weight training, most of them do bodyweight workouts and endurance training. The key to a good punch in boxing is the speed of your punch, not the power behind it. Pushing your fist is harder than reaching quickly with it. And with putting bodyweight behind it using proper technique you wont need to resort to just pushing over and over again.

Read Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey. The man was a 185 lbs heavyweight world champ that fought against people weighting over 250 lbs. Bodyweight shifting and speed is key according to him.

Hope some of this helped. I am not as experienced as many people on here but if I can help then awesome.

[Loser]

Volume is not big, but intensity is very taxing on CNS. That's why there is a 3 minute rest.

Thanks for bag time suggestion, but I wansn't asking about an endurance program.

I'll implement cardio (roadwork and other stuff) in my non-lifting days.

Punching power is mainly focused on technique and speed and I agree with that. But without having a solid base in strength speed is pretty much useless.
In my opinion, novice should always develop a base level of strength before moving onto (for example) speed, power and plyometrics. If plyometrics are done instead straight away, what muscle fibres are being used? The weak ones that have never been trained.

Since you've mentioned Dempsey, I'll move to another topic. A friend of mine has a trainer who - on every workout - slams his stomach with a medicine ball and tells him to do countless push-ups. Do trainers (especially those old-school guys) are that stubborn and dumb when it comes to weights? I won't even mention novice (and even very advanced) athletes - because majority of them will not survive without trainer at any case. I'm not talking about technique drills, because it is essential to have a trainer with you on that point. I'm talking about strength and conditioning topics. These people need to be hold by hand at all times, they're not independent. Lack of knowledge is the worst thing you can have. That's why I''ll tell my trainer straight - leave strength and conditioning for me. You're the technique guy...
Thanks for your insights, man. Appreciate.

[Wuckoo]

I'm sorry but you need to wait until you get to a proper gym. Technique is your biggest strength. Lifting that much when you could do more boxibg specific excercises seems a bit silly. And I would advise against telling the trainer that he is "the technique guy" because it will come across as disrespectful. Improving your conditioning in your own time is a great idea and believe me trainers will notice. Just go to the gym and see how you do. Strength training is only one of the components of a good training routine.

[Loser]

Well, usually I'm polite, so no disrespect for anyone. I'm going to gently suggest my idea. That's all.

I agree with you on the technique statement - it is very important part of boxing. But you seem to me like I'd said that technique and other ingredients of proper training - except of strength - are useless. I never intended to do that, I was just asking about opinion on my strength schedule. That's all.
Peace.

[evilzombie123]

Well, usually I'm polite, so no disrespect for anyone. I'm going to gently suggest my idea. That's all.

I agree with you on the technique statement - it is very important part of boxing. But you seem to me like I'd said that technique and other ingredients of proper training - except of strength - are useless. I never intended to do that, I was just asking about opinion on my strength schedule. That's all.
Peace.

In regards to pure strength training then that does look like a pretty good schedule, I do powerlifting at my gym so I do understand that strength is important. Might I suggest also adding leg curls and weighted calf raises to your workouts? Are you considering core workouts to be part of just general training or are you incorporating them into your strength training? Building raw muscle on your entire core helps a ton in boxing in my opinion to help your resistance to body shots as well as your punching power due to increased rotation speeds.

But yes, overall nice schedule.

[HedonisticFrog]

That's a lot of leg work when you factor in the squats, power cleans and deadlifts together. I would alternate deadlifts and squats or at least don't have 1/2 to 2/3 of your lifts be just legs every time. I would throw in ab work as well since core strength is very beneficial to boxing.

It's not that much volume so it shouldn't impair your boxing drills either.

[Loser]

Yes, I'll apply some core exercices, like overhead squats, russian twists. You know that stuff, but in olympic weightlifting schedule, after gaining some general strength. Lots of core exercises, thanks for the advice. They are the most important human part along with the spinal and leg muscles a boxer can have, so I'll put my focus on them.
Perhaps I'll add some assistance exercises, like you said. But after few months.

I think that legs can endure the highest fatigue, comparing to other muscles in human body. I'm not afraid, and if it really it's going to be that heavy, I'll cut out some of the exercises.
Core work will be the number 1.

Appreciate for the advices, guys!

[Ray Corso]

Listen up young man.....at your age you have no time for playing with weights. You need to concentrate on BOXING!
Sorry but that weight routine is a waste of time if you really want to compete.
Good luck your starting really late to be able to learn techniques and develop a method to compete and win.

I trained amateur and pro boxers that won on state, regional and national levels. I've worked with world champions and your schedule has little to nothing to do with learning to box.
If your getting in shape and want to use weight training and some boxing
training that's fine but your kidding yourself if you think a 21 year old can learn what he needs to know in a year or two. The champions you see today have been boxing since they were children. At 21 your 10 years late!
Ray.

[Loser]

Ok, I might be older. So what? Does that mean I won't be able to beat other people in a competitive manner?

I don't think I'll learn all the techniques perfectly in a year or two. But - learning curve is INDIVIDUAL. Please remember that. If I can concentrate on something very hard, then I'll be able to box successfully. If I'll work harder than the others, I beat others. Period.
Someone who trains 5 years can be better than someone who trains 10 years. It's a minority, but there are individuals like that. So don't write me off.