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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 on  work 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 felt  as 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.

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