So when was competing I was always researching for way to become better at my sport. So I ran into Elliot Hulse and this what he said on the topic of Knock Out, Speed, and Power. It made sense to me and I added it to my workout routine
“Elliot Hulse” says “Strength and ultimately power is a function of the nervous system and not necessarily muscle. Now yes, you do need muscle to move weight and to generate power, but its the electric current running in to that muscle that matters more than the actual size of the muscle contracting. So this means, we got to build a more efficient nervous system. We want a strong, powerful, neurological impulse to reach the tissue in a particular motor pattern.”
Boxing motor pattern. The nervous recruitment pattern
Now my application
My boxing stance is the nervous recruitment pattern I am training so that it generates a ton of force to strike with lightning speed and power. The very first thing is to develop a foundation of maximal strength. That is heavy lifting for 1 to maybe 3 repetitions in movements that are conducive to the boxing motor patterns. In this workout routine there are 4 exercises where I will try to develop my maximal capacity for lifting in those 4 movements in reps of a 10 singles up to triples. The bench-press would be one of the 4 exercises (with 60 or more seconds in between sets).. I stayed away from rep ranges that are above 5.
Dead lifts, bench press, front squats, over head presses.
I split the 4 exercises into to 2 on Tuesday and the other two on Thursday..
If your looking for a in person trainer or virtual trainer email me at boxingcoachjuan@gmail.com to set up a date and time to chat or meet.
This is not the way I learned the muscle up, but its the way I teach it. I was never able to get over the bar by just doing a standard pull-up so I did routines to strengthen the pull-up; like weighted pull-ups (heavy weight-low reps), or go on the lat pulldown machine put it on 210 pounds and same (5 sets of 5 reps) “keep in mind I only weigh 135 pounds”. I strengthened my pull-up and yet couldn’t get over the bar. One day at the park after a warm up I grabbed the bar with both hands for my first muscle up attempt, before I pulled though while still holding the bar with both hands I stepped forward with both feet, so now my body is slanted. I held the position for a few seconds and pulled as for going for the muscle-up and boom, my upper body went around, over on the bar, did my dip and that was my first muscle-up. Thats when I learned my body had to be at an angle to get my upper body around and on the bar. I will add, being able to do pull ups and dips is necessary for performing or practicing the muscle-up. In my experience I learned that if I can do 50 pull ups and dips in under 15 minutes with ease I am ready to move on to the muscle up progression move. I would practice the progression move by completing 50 reps broken up into set of tens and fives twice per week till my upper body is finally over and on the bar.
If your looking for a in person trainer or virtual trainer email me at boxingcoachjuan@gmail.com to set up a date and time to chat or meet.
I really don’t know or remember how I came up with this teaching format. I just know that I want my students to have a good workout and at the same time practice good boxing technique.
A way I get my students to practice good technique is through repetition of basic punching combinations every round on the punching bag / heavy bag. So first of all, are you left handed or right handed?
Now we find a strong conferable boxing stance with dominate hand behind, being held furthest from the punching bag / heavy bag. The first combination I teach students is “double jab 1,2,1,2” over and over for the first round till round ends. Second basic punching combination I teach is “1,2,3,5,4,3”. Third basic punching combination I teach is “1,2,3,4,5,6”. Last combination I like to teach is “play with the jab first and when you feel ready get a good grip of the ground and shoot 3 uppercut and finish with 3 hooks then go right back to playing with the jab, repeat”. These are the basic punching combinations I teach and drill it till the point where students aren’t counting the numbers in their head, just freely letting their hands go with speed, power and good technique. A Drill I use for punching conditioning, stamina and endurance on the punching bag / heavy bag is for two rounds I make students throw 300 punches, 100 straight, 100 uppercuts, 100 hooks and if done with all 300 punches before round is over freestyle till end of round. Another drill I use for punching conditioning, stamina and endurance is one I call the “shoot / box”, which is a freestyle round with 10-15 seconds punching sprints on the punching bag / heavy bag, so through out the round I would yell shoot and the student will attack the bag non stop with both hands till I yell box and now they catch their breath while boxing. This is more or less the format I use and not only I see progress in my student boxing technique I also see huge progress in their fitness / conditioning. After boxing drills are done we end the class with a 10 minute strength and conditions fat burning circuit, 10 exercises, 1 minute each exercise.
Boxing stance and punches by name
If right handed you lead with left arm and left leg, keeping right arm and right leg behind.
punch / attack’s name plus short name
straight left / jab = 1
straight right = 2
left hook = 3
right uppercut = 4
left uppercut = 5
right hook = 6
If left handed you lead with right arm and right leg, keeping left arm and left leg behind.
straight right/ jab = 1
straight left = 2
right hook = 3
left uppercut = 4
right uppercut = 5
left hook = 6
44 minute full body workout.
Ten 3 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest in between each round equals 34 mins followed by a 10 minute fat burning circuit.
Round 1 and 2) Jump rope as a warm-up
Practice of combo attacks on punching bag or shadow boxing.
Round 3) jab jab 1-2, 1-2.
Round 4) 1-2-3-5-4-3
Round 5) 1-2-3-4-5-6
Round 6 and 7) 100 straight punches, 100 uppercuts, 100 hooks. try to get a good grip of the ground and put knuckles
on target with some weight behind it. If done with all 300 punches before found ends finish the round free styling.
Round 8) play with the jab. Throw the jab and try to develop your own style and idea with it and when your ready
throw this combination attack in any order beginning with three uppercuts and ending with three hooks, and back to playing with the jab.
Round 9) freestyle round, do your own thing here and work on developing your own style.
Round 10) freestyle box 10 seconds, and 10 seconds of attack sprints till the end of the round.
Now end workout with a 10 minute fat burning circuit.
10 minute circuit / 1 minute each exercise
1) burpees
2) V’s
3) jump lunges
4) pushups
5) high knees
6) sit on ground russian twist
7) stay sitting on ground do knee raises
8) jump squats
9) planks all around the world
10) mountain climbers
The following is representative of my workout routine when competing in and winning boxing tournaments.
During my years as a professional boxer, I knew what type of fitness I needed and wanted when it came time to compete in tournaments. I perfected a Monday through Friday workout routine when training that convinced me, “all the hard work is already put in and I feel unstoppable.”
The key for me was not simply the specifics of the routine, but the mastery of it. My own routine. I developed this on my own, on my own time. Together, with my Coach’s extra pushing and monitoring of my fundamentals, my workout routine helped me build the confidence I needed to win.
Before sparring or competing, the main thing I focused on when training was getting fit to fight. I wouldn’t spar until I felt my conditioning was where it needed to be. In order to get there, I broke my training down into six components:
1. Road work
2. Jump rope
3. Shadow boxing
4. Heavy bag work
5. Calisthenics
6. Sparring
Road work
I ran. Running is important. It helps strengthen the lungs, heart, and legs. When it came to fighting, I knew my cardio fitness had to be up to par. In the ring, your nerves start to pick up, your heart rate rises, and your body begins to need more oxygen — breathing gets heavy and, if you’re not in shape, you expose weaknesses in more ways than one
Competitive boxing throws the human body into an unnatural state and helps running me grow accustomed to handling these extremes. By running, you’re training your body to control your heart rate and breathing, while also strengthening your legs at the same time. I also used runs as times to zone out with one focus in mind: “I will win, I’m a champion.”
When out of shape, I would start- with 2 miles, working my way up to 5 miles 3 times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) with 5-8 hours of rest before my gym workout. I believe that running and gym workouts should be two separate sessions. This is dependent onwork schedule, though I worked a grave yard shift once so, when I got home from work, I would go straight to sleep (at like at 8:00 am), wake up around 5:00 pm, eat a quick meal, and go straight to the gym. This was my routine every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Before training in the gym, I would run 5 miles outside. That was it. No exceptions.
Jump rope
Jumping rope is not only a great cardio workout but also a great way to warm up. When jumping rope, I keep a rhythm and jump for four rounds straight (or until I feel warm). As with running, jumping rope strengthens the lungs, heart, feet, and legs, too. I also use it for a cool down to end my work outs.
Shadow boxing
They say that, “repetition is the father of learning.” My take on shadow boxing allows for just that with equal parts technique and strength training. Two to three times a week for four 3-minute rounds, I would grab 3-pound dumbbell weights, stand in place, and throw 300 punches with them: 100 straight punches, 100 uppercuts, and 100 hooks. For the remainder of the round, I would drop the weights and shadow box without them until the end of the round. I started with just 1-pound dumbbells and worked my way up to 3-pound weights. I took my time while working my way up, a month or two before moving up a pound. I never felt the need to go heavier than 3 pounds. Competition gloves only range from 8 to 12 ounces, and sparring gloves range from 16-18 ounces. Heavier weights would just make me tense when throwing punches and combos, which is the last thing any boxer wants
Heavy bag work
For the punching bag, I always wrap my hands and put on my boxing gloves. I used and still use light boxing gloves on the punching bag. To me, the perfect training glove weight ranges from 10-14 ounces. Depending on your weight category however, is where the weight of your gloves really comes into play. I believe that if your weight is 140 pounds or below, you should aim for 10-12 ounce boxing gloves. If you’re heavier than 140 pounds aim for 12-14 ounce boxing gloves for punching bag training. The reason for using light gloves is to strengthen the fists and wrists without compromising technique with big, puffy, over-padded gloves.
When hitting the heavy bag, I always keep the following technique in the front of my mind to make the most of my training and, even more importantly, avoid injury. I keep some distance between myself and the heavy bag, the perfect distance being where I can fully extend my jab hand. That’s where I want to find myself every time I strike the heavy bag or target. Now, while striking the bag or target, I focus on feeling the power and weight coming from a solid lower body foundation extending from the ground to my fists over and over again throughout the whole round. I would usually practice my favorite punches and combinations for four rounds or until I felt myself reaching exhaustion. All the while, I practiced keeping my hands up – you have to protect yourself at all times.
Calisthenics (Bodyweight Training)
As a fighter, I want my whole body to be strong. That’s what I love about calisthenics. Even just basic calisthenics movements strengthened my body from head to toe to finger tips. After a month of implementing calisthenics, I noticed and loved how from my fist through my forearm, up to the shoulder all the way down to the ground feltas strong as steel when striking the target. With increased full body strength, I know that every punch is doing damage even if thrown without force.
Pushups, pull-ups, rows, knee raises, dips, squats, and lunges are the basic fundamentals of calisthenics/bodyweight training. I split the exercises into two days: three on Tuesday and three on Thursday. My standard goal for reps is 100 reps of each exercise. On exercises that are difficult (pull-ups, for example), I would cut that number in half and set a goal of 50 reps for a high number of sets with fewer reps (10 set of 5 reps = 50 reps) modified to whatever way best fit me. For easier exercises, I would keep the goal at 100 reps with moderate rep sets (10 sets of 10 reps = 100 reps), or high rep sets (4 sets of 25 reps = 100 reps). It’s important to be aware of where your fitness levels are and workout accordingly. Listen to your body.
Sparring
When sparring, I like to focus on being as smart as I can be in the ring. I keep a clear picture of me winning in my head — from where I’m going to win and how I’m going to win in the ring. When sparring, I remain calm throughout the whole session. At first I’m naturally overwhelmed by the situation. Regardless, I stay calm throughout, keep breathing, and practice winning the way I envisioned it.Every time I spar, I keep my discipline and stick to plan. The goal is to practice bringing that picture of victory to life. I practice winning. Practice doesn’t make perfect – perfect practice makes perfect.
Conclusion
My mindset is “smart hard work” — I’m training hard and smart, focusing on winning, how I want to win, and convincing myself that I’ve won already. I really end up seeing it.
It’s important to remember that this is just my experience and how I went about training when competing. Never be afraid of failure. When I failed, I went back to the drawing board right away. I tweaked my training and made changes where I needed to. It’s a process and you’ve got to respect it.
About two years ago, I was really getting into strength training workout routines comprised of low-rep and high sets. I was pushing 80% of my max rep for 4-5 sets of 3 reps, with 40-60 seconds rest in between. I liked this type of training routine because it increased my punching speed and power at the same time. I broke up this strength training workout routine as follows: Tuesday – bench press and front squats; Thursday — shoulder presses and dead lifts. I would perform the first 2 sets at 50% of my max rep weight for each exercise for no more than 5 reps. For the remaining sets, I performed them at 80% of my max rep for a maximum of 3 reps.
My body was weak the day I hurt my shoulder. I went for drinks the night before, had some Henny on the rocks, probably fell asleep around 3:00 am, and woke up around 7:30 am for my 9:00 am client. I finished work around 1:00 pm that Sunday. As always, I began my workout with a warmup of 10 minutes of jumping rope and then went straight into the strength training routine I’d planned for that day — weighted over-hand pull-ups, weighted under-hand chin-ups (5 sets of 5 reps each), and ended my workout with heavy bench presses (4 sets of 3 reps at 80% max rep.I felt no shoulder pain that day; however, I noticed the pain during my next training session of heavy bag work, and pushups, and even when sleeping on my side. This discomfort in my right shoulder continued for 2 years until I learned these shoulder stretches. I am now able to do pushups and punch the heavy bag again pain-free.But to get back to that point, I had to take a break from all pushing exercises, stopped punching the heavy bag, and focused more on rowing-type exercises — and most importantly, stretching my shoulders. I’ve only been using three stretches and they’re the best thing I could’ve done for my shoulder health. Now, not a workout goes by with doing these shoulder stretches both before and after my workouts and training.
If your looking for a in person trainer or virtual trainer email me at boxingcoachjuan@gmail.com to set up a date and time to chat or meet.
I call this punching bag workout “7 piece – 5 piece – 3 piece”.Three-minute rounds on the heavy bag, with a minute of agility ladder drills in between.
Round One: Play with the jab and footwork until you feel ready to throw any 7 piece punching combination, returning to the jab in between, and repeating with a different 7 piece punching combination until the round expires.
Round Two: Do the same for the second round but, instead of a 7 piece combination, it’s a 5 piece punching combination. Use the jab to reset before continuing as in round one.
Round Three. Repeat for the third round, 3 piece instead of 5 – every combination should be thrown fast (like a split-of-second fast).
As soon as the third heavy bag round is up, get right on the agility ladder for 1 minute and complete any drill you know. Personally, I use high knees for one round, shuffle for the second, and lateral movements for the third.Aim for two sets of this (build up to it, if you need). This is an intense workout if done right. This boxing drill increases punching speed, cardio health, and energy efficiency.
If you’re already fit but you want to take your fitness to the next level, calisthenics/bodyweight training is a good move. Let’s say you already run 3-5 miles 2-3 times weekly. You bench, you do pull-ups, push-ups, squats 1-3 times weekly. You’ve been keeping up with this routine for about between 1 and 3 years. You’d consider yourself fit, right? I think so, too.
Then, you start practicing gymnastics moves and you notice the transformation immediately. Even the beginner progression moves have a noticeable impact on you. I still find myself looking in the mirror like thinking, “I look different” or “my body’s changed.” I think gymnasts have hot bodies (only my opinion), and that’s why I like these exercises. You get stronger, too.
My favorite calisthenics/bodyweight training workout routine is 4 sets of 10 dips, 4 sets of 10 pull-ups, 4 sets of 10 push-ups, 4 sets of 10 rows, with knee-raises and sit-ups to close (4 sets of 25 knee-raises and 4 sets of 25 sit-ups). I try to work this into my routine twice per week or, if I’m trying to make significant advancements, a smart 3 times per week. I do this routine on gymnastics rings with a weighted vest now. If you don’t have gymnastics rings, do it on the bars.
Some other gymnastics moves I’ve learned are: muscle ups on rings and bars (I’m still at the tuck planche — I can’t wait to get the full planche); the front lever and back lever(that’s where I am so far); and handstands (I’m still working on these). I incorporate these moves into my teaching also. Try out my favorite calisthenics/bodyweight training workout routine for a month or two, and let me know what you think.
boxing footwork drill I use to teach how to move while maintaining a strong boxing stance in ready at all time to attack fighting stance. Do each drill for two 3 minute rounds with 30-60 seconds rest in between rounds. Your practicing boxing footwork and getting a cardio workout as well.
This workout routine can be done in or out the gym. Just follow the routine. To achieve best results. All are achieved 30-45 seconds rest in between sets
Decline sit-ups 4 sets x 15 reps
Seated knee raises 4 sets x 15 reps
Lying knee raises 4 sets x 15 reps
Knee-reach crunches 4 sets x 15 reps
Crunches 4 sets x 15 reps
Ab wheel 4 sets x 15 reps
Decline alternate side sit-ups 4 sets x 15 reps
Side raises 4 sets x 15 reps
Side leg reach raises 4 sets x 15 reps
