I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

Get a great boxing workout by Chicago's lakefront

Most of the shoreline is bordered by deep concrete steps, which are perfect for a boxing Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: Boxing workout

Hey Readers! I’ve been comin across some crazy stuff the past few days from a few different blogs around the web which I just had to share with you. Check em out below…

Friends: Boxer 'didn't pull any punches' in life

If another boxer was sparring or working the speed bags, Forrest would say, "Let the other guys work out. I'll start next round," McGirt said. …   Read the rest of this entry

Technorati Tags: Boxing workout

In this video, the European lightweight champion, Anthony Mezzache from France, is working out in a boxing gym in Philadelphia. Shadow boxing is used for warm up but also to perfect technical combinations and moves. Observe the foot work and quickness of the different combinations. It is very important to stay very loose and relaxed when throwing combination punches: quickness and speed can therefore be improved. A good foot work is also critical for quick moves in attack or defense. Use always great focus when shadow boxing.

Technorati Tags: Boxing, Boxing workout, Lightweight, shadow boxing

   Competitive fighters need boxing punch power.
Anyone in a boxing workout want to improve the boxing punch.

Is it possible to improve it?

For many coaches of the "old school" it is impossible, or almost, to improve the boxing punch.
They are right on one side: it is very difficult to improve speed and explosiveness as there are genetic factors that cannot be changed.

But one of the factors of speed and explosiveness is strength, and if you are working on the right program, it is easy to improve it in a few months.
If you improve strength, knowing that you keep your speed, you will gain in power, so you’ll improve your punch.

Speed is more difficult to improve, but it is possible with a very specific, qualitative and planned training program.
But most coaches (and boxers) don’t do what is required:
Can you answer this question?
What percentage of training do you spend on strength and speed?
What percentage of training do you spend on endurance?

Let’s be clear: a boxing match is not a marathon, it is not the same type of effort, and if most of your training is based on endurance-type running, stop and begin to place priority in strength and speed.

Too much endurance reduces strength and speed, it is a physiological process: endurance develops slow fibers and it is always at the expense of fast fibers.
The key is to find the right balance between a very specific endurance and explosiveness that you can use throughout the fight.

Then there are two major qualities you must develop in a boxing workout:
- Accuracy: without accuracy you cannot be effective. Work at the bag can be done with visual cues, work with paos is also very positive.
- Coordination: A good technique is essential and it is based on a perfect coordination between the legs, abs and arms. A lack of coordination means always a loss of energy, so a lack of transfer of power and efficiency.

Do you want to improve your boxing punch? It is possible, not easy, but possible.
In your boxing workout, work on the heavy bag with very short sets, get extensive recovery at the beginning. Intensity should be close to 100%. Working on the heavy bag at 50% is useless, you’ll not punch at 50% in combat …

Technorati Tags: boxing punch, Boxing workout, strength and speed