Thursday, January 12, 2012

Best Boxing Skill Development Training Plans


Boxing is a dynamic sport, requiring skills such as speed, reaction, agility, hand-eye coordination, power and strength. Because of the variety of skills needed to box effectively, there are many components required in the training in order to be successful. A dedicated boxer needs to plan his many workouts carefully to avoid overtraining and injuries. He also needs to have proper nutrition and rest.
Cardio Fitness
Cardiovascular fitness is one of the foundations of boxing fitness. A boxer must be able to keep breathing effectively and moving continually for three or more minutes at a time. Beyond regular cardio fitness, a boxer also needs to train anaerobically since the sport requires short, intense work periods that use the anaerobic energy system. Effective anaerobic training forces the body to work at a maximum intensity level for 60 seconds at a time, then a recovery time, then repeating the cycle. As an athlete gets fitter, the recovery times can get shorter and the anaerobic work times can get slightly longer. A great way to train is to run, adding intervals of all-out sprinting until you can not sprint anymore. Recover with an easy jog or walk until your breathing is regular, then repeat the sprint cycle.
Strength and Power
A boxer needs to have a regular strength training program. It is good to train heavy for four weeks, pushing maximum weight limits for all the large muscles, and then switch to a dynamic and functional workout for two to four weeks before going back to a heavy lifting program. By switching between the two types of training, your body will get good recovery from each mode and also will quickly see gains each time you switch your program. A heavy program includes max bench presses, squats, leg presses, and pull-ups, as well as other complementary exercises. A functional workout will integrate full-body movements with balance, core strength and and joint stability movements such as lunges with rotation, Bosu ball squats and balances, and stability ball core exercises.
Agility and Speed
Agility is the ability to move quickly, quietly and efficiently without large, unnecessary movements. It is what makes a boxer avoid his opponent and quickly switch positions to get a punch in on the enemy. It requires training in a drill-like manner, repeating movement patterns multiple times and refining the movement, continually improving body mechanics until the movement is effortless. Agility ladders, cones and jump ropes are all good tools to set up variety foot patterns and practice them for time and efficiency. Speed training can be combined with agility drills by timing drills and setting goals to beat a set time. Speed can also be trained by straight-out sprint drills, which demand pure quickness. It is best for a boxer to combine both sprint style training and speed agility drills for the most effective training program.
Reaction and Hand-Eye Coordination
Reaction drills are similar in the style of training to agility drills, but add in the unexpected element. For example, when training a foot pattern in an agility ladder, you can place cones in random squares and when you get to those squares you have to quickly jump over or around them. Reaction is often trained with a partner who can add to the unexpectedness when training. Hand-eye coordination can easily be combined with reaction training by utilizing a partner who holds pads for the boxer to hit. The pad holder moves the pads into different areas, at different speeds and requires the boxer to react to that sudden change and find the target to hit. The more a boxer practices, the quicker he sends messages from the eyes to the hands, and the faster they hit.
Nutrition and Rest
Proper nutrition is necessary to fuel the intense and frequent workouts required to be a boxer. Meeting with a registered dietitian to learn individual nutritional needs, get specific supplement suggestions and perhaps even meal plans is very valuable. A high-level athlete needs to eat large amounts of quality calories at specific times to fuel workouts and encourage recovery. Rest is as important as nutrition for getting maximum results from the hours of physical training. Without rest, muscles do not recover properly and you are more prone to injury and poor quality workouts. With all the workouts a boxer needs to perform, proper nutrition and rest have equal importance in the overall training program

 
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