From Coach Mohr:
The coaches here at GMAAC are often accused of trying to look like models for Men’s Health. The worst insult in the world? No, but you get the point... We can't help our good looks, but it is true that we do actually expend effort, and put a premium, on ‘leanness.’ Let it be known, however, that it is not for cosmetic purposes, or at the expense of training time that could be better spent improving athleticism.
It should not take much discussion to convince a reader that there are good reasons to ‘maintain shape,’ and compete in a lower weight class if possible, (while maintaining the same amount of muscular bodyweight) in sports such as boxing, armwrestling, and GS.
However, I take the same approach to cycling and running events. My “walking around weight” is 175 or so in the off-season, but experience has shown me that in order to ride most effectively, I need to be at about 165. More specifically, losing as much of one's belly fat as possible really helps (me) with cycling because you:
1) weigh less, which helps with climbing,
2) have less frontal area, which helps lessen drag, and
3) can ride in a better tuck without your quads hitting your abdomen on every pedal stroke, which minimizes inefficiency and, again, lessens drag.
I can’t overstate how much the reduction in drag, from #2 and #3 above, can mean to a competitive cyclist. If we crunch some quick numbers based on a few quick assumptions, we get this:
a) If you are a ‘decent’ cyclist with an estimated 230 watts of power output,
b) And by losing your ‘belly fat’ you reduce your frontal area, and get a better tuck, and thereby reduce your drag from 8lbs to 6lbs at 30mph,
c) You will shave over 5 minutes off of your 40km time!
Those mathematical findings are HUGE! Again, these are based on assumptions, so your mileage may vary, literally, but the numbers are sound.
If absolutely nothing else, and you think I am being overly optimistic, I ran an A to B comparison on this website: http://bikecalculator.com/veloMetricNum.html
The comparison kept everything the same, except I went from 82 kilos to 75 kilos and reduced my frontal area from 0.40 to 0.39 (which assumption I tried to base on logic surrounding a ~1" circumference delta to a 5'9" cylinder). Even these modest numbers look like an overall improvement of 40 seconds, or about 1.3%.
And, the more important point is that it is ridiculous for an athlete to go out and spend $12,000.00 on aero wheels, aero frames, an aero helmet and aero bars only to gain a minute or two on your time, when you could get a similar, or even bigger, return from what essentially boils down to some dietary discipline and smart training.
So incorporate some table push-aways into your training, and start tracking your weight and BF%, even if you are not in a weight-class sport!
28 May 2010
17 May 2010
The *what*?
From Coach Keen:
Yes, the ValSlide... no, we here at the Gold Medal Athletic Club are not taking up the mantle of celebrity body sculpting, but you have to recognize a useful product when it comes along. http://www.valslide.com/
The ValSlide is essentially a tool to rest your foot on which turns any carpeted surface into a slide board. Slide boards, if you were involved in the fitness industry in the late '90s, became sort of the "it thing" for a while in terms of lateral training and core training, but quickly fizzled out due to the space they take up and the price. Enter the ValSlide... actually, don't. While the ValSlide is high quality, and the 'hardwook floor attachment is nice' (we do own a couple pair of name-brand ValSlides), we here at GMAAC use the "Sliding Robots" for en masse athlete workouts, which you can get for $5 for an 8-pack at CVS. [ Where does the "robot" part come in? ]
With that out of the way, what does a boxer want with these? Two exercises with these beauties are absolute musts for the competitive boxer, and many other athletes:
1) Single-Arm Push-Ups [ First exercise, about 15 seconds in... ], and
2) Reverse Lunges [ Weighted reverse lunge... ]
The single-arm push-ups are great, because so many boxers suffer so much for all their internal rotation at the shoulder joint. Using a sliding disc to do this exercise in this manner allows the boxer to 1) get a little variety in the workout, 2) progress to a more challenging push-up variation, 3) 'open up' the shoulder joint a little bit, and 4) work glenohumeral extension strength. What more could you want? At least as a hurdle to put it in the 'exercise toolbox,' anyway...
The reverse lunge is also a good movement, primarily because unilateral lower body work is so underemphasized even with the likes of Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, et al. banging that drum until everyone out here in workout land is deaf. This movement allows the athlete to work 1) single leg strength, 2) balance, 3) stabilization, and 4) hip flexor mobility all at once. It is not a replacement for the squat or front squat, if what you need is some seriously loaded lower body pushing, but outside of that specific need it is a pretty good bang-for-the-buck exercise, and goes great in circuits.
And, oh by the way, these things are obviously highly portable, so they are yet another tool that helps ward off the "I was on the road / I was stuck at work / I fell asleep reading to the kids and it was too late to go to the gym, but I don't have anything at home" excuse parade.
Enjoy!
Yes, the ValSlide... no, we here at the Gold Medal Athletic Club are not taking up the mantle of celebrity body sculpting, but you have to recognize a useful product when it comes along. http://www.valslide.com/
The ValSlide is essentially a tool to rest your foot on which turns any carpeted surface into a slide board. Slide boards, if you were involved in the fitness industry in the late '90s, became sort of the "it thing" for a while in terms of lateral training and core training, but quickly fizzled out due to the space they take up and the price. Enter the ValSlide... actually, don't. While the ValSlide is high quality, and the 'hardwook floor attachment is nice' (we do own a couple pair of name-brand ValSlides), we here at GMAAC use the "Sliding Robots" for en masse athlete workouts, which you can get for $5 for an 8-pack at CVS. [ Where does the "robot" part come in? ]
With that out of the way, what does a boxer want with these? Two exercises with these beauties are absolute musts for the competitive boxer, and many other athletes:
1) Single-Arm Push-Ups [ First exercise, about 15 seconds in... ], and
2) Reverse Lunges [ Weighted reverse lunge... ]
The single-arm push-ups are great, because so many boxers suffer so much for all their internal rotation at the shoulder joint. Using a sliding disc to do this exercise in this manner allows the boxer to 1) get a little variety in the workout, 2) progress to a more challenging push-up variation, 3) 'open up' the shoulder joint a little bit, and 4) work glenohumeral extension strength. What more could you want? At least as a hurdle to put it in the 'exercise toolbox,' anyway...
The reverse lunge is also a good movement, primarily because unilateral lower body work is so underemphasized even with the likes of Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, et al. banging that drum until everyone out here in workout land is deaf. This movement allows the athlete to work 1) single leg strength, 2) balance, 3) stabilization, and 4) hip flexor mobility all at once. It is not a replacement for the squat or front squat, if what you need is some seriously loaded lower body pushing, but outside of that specific need it is a pretty good bang-for-the-buck exercise, and goes great in circuits.
And, oh by the way, these things are obviously highly portable, so they are yet another tool that helps ward off the "I was on the road / I was stuck at work / I fell asleep reading to the kids and it was too late to go to the gym, but I don't have anything at home" excuse parade.
Enjoy!
13 May 2010
Isokinetic Training - Practicality
From Coach Keen:
Many of the questions we get directed at us are based on the fact that we recommend isometrics and isokinetic exercise as regular parts of a boxer's strength and conditioning program. While the modern 'trends' in strength work seem to be toward polar stances supporting purely a 'powerlifting-based' methodology or 'functional/stability' strength work, any coach or program that neglects sport specificity, and intentionally overlooks the scientifically- and anecdotally-proven methods of isokinetics and isokinetics, is either ignorant or in denial.
The isometrics have been easier for folks to figure out, both in our gym and based on external comments we get. If you are still searching, here are a couple of quick resources:
Sandow Plus, which has much isometric info from various authors...
Quick video from BodyweightCulture on doing ISOs...
Our favorite, doing ISOs "Jay Schroeder Style"...
However, people seem to get lost, fast, when it comes to isokinetic work. And rightfully so, because there is not much information out there. We will avoid discussing programming with isokinetics right now, as that is a topic for another time. But, suffice it to say, if you can work isometrics into your schedule, it should not take much thought to figure out how to use isokinetics.
The BIG question is always "how do I *do* them?" with the "how" really asking how to perform them, apparatus-wise.
There are a few good answers to this question, we have found.
The first: eBay!
That's right, most of the Gold Medal Boxing Academy's isokinetic equipment comes from eBay. We have purchased an old Doug Hepburn platform-style isokinetic unit and two Mini-Gyms ( Video of Mini-Gym for wrestling... ) for less than $50 each. Also, we have who-knows-how-many Apollo Exercisers and Isorobic units that we have never paid more than $10, plus some shipping, for. The Mini-Gym, if you can find one, is the best of the bunch, quality-wise. The fact that the resistance is *truly* isokinetic, and that it rewinds the cable on its own, is huge. The Isorobic and Apollo units, however, are hard to beat when found for $5.
The second answer: the pool!
If you don't know that Rocky Marciano claimed to do a MINIMUM of 7 miles of roadwork per day for endurance, and a lot of underwater punching for power, you aren't much of a boxing training historian. That aside, his ideas about punching underwater for power are not lost on the current generation. While isokinetic water training is definitely not mainstream, there are people out there doing it, and most of them swear by its effectiveness.
The simple method of implementation: just hop in the pool, and box! You can shadowbox in shoulder-deep water and get good results, or if you are so inclined you can choose to do some movement/muscle training in the water. Here are a couple of resources for both adding resistance and an idea of some movements to use in that respect:
Overview of Marv Marinovich's pool training...
AquaLogix bells and fins...
Speedo Hydro Resistance trainers...
Good luck! Incorporate a little isometric and isokinetic training, and not only will you keep boredom out of your gym, but handspeed and power will go through the roof!
Many of the questions we get directed at us are based on the fact that we recommend isometrics and isokinetic exercise as regular parts of a boxer's strength and conditioning program. While the modern 'trends' in strength work seem to be toward polar stances supporting purely a 'powerlifting-based' methodology or 'functional/stability' strength work, any coach or program that neglects sport specificity, and intentionally overlooks the scientifically- and anecdotally-proven methods of isokinetics and isokinetics, is either ignorant or in denial.
The isometrics have been easier for folks to figure out, both in our gym and based on external comments we get. If you are still searching, here are a couple of quick resources:
Sandow Plus, which has much isometric info from various authors...
Quick video from BodyweightCulture on doing ISOs...
Our favorite, doing ISOs "Jay Schroeder Style"...
However, people seem to get lost, fast, when it comes to isokinetic work. And rightfully so, because there is not much information out there. We will avoid discussing programming with isokinetics right now, as that is a topic for another time. But, suffice it to say, if you can work isometrics into your schedule, it should not take much thought to figure out how to use isokinetics.
The BIG question is always "how do I *do* them?" with the "how" really asking how to perform them, apparatus-wise.
There are a few good answers to this question, we have found.
The first: eBay!
That's right, most of the Gold Medal Boxing Academy's isokinetic equipment comes from eBay. We have purchased an old Doug Hepburn platform-style isokinetic unit and two Mini-Gyms ( Video of Mini-Gym for wrestling... ) for less than $50 each. Also, we have who-knows-how-many Apollo Exercisers and Isorobic units that we have never paid more than $10, plus some shipping, for. The Mini-Gym, if you can find one, is the best of the bunch, quality-wise. The fact that the resistance is *truly* isokinetic, and that it rewinds the cable on its own, is huge. The Isorobic and Apollo units, however, are hard to beat when found for $5.
The second answer: the pool!
If you don't know that Rocky Marciano claimed to do a MINIMUM of 7 miles of roadwork per day for endurance, and a lot of underwater punching for power, you aren't much of a boxing training historian. That aside, his ideas about punching underwater for power are not lost on the current generation. While isokinetic water training is definitely not mainstream, there are people out there doing it, and most of them swear by its effectiveness.
The simple method of implementation: just hop in the pool, and box! You can shadowbox in shoulder-deep water and get good results, or if you are so inclined you can choose to do some movement/muscle training in the water. Here are a couple of resources for both adding resistance and an idea of some movements to use in that respect:
Overview of Marv Marinovich's pool training...
AquaLogix bells and fins...
Speedo Hydro Resistance trainers...
Good luck! Incorporate a little isometric and isokinetic training, and not only will you keep boredom out of your gym, but handspeed and power will go through the roof!
07 May 2010
Would You Look at That...
From Coach Hand:
So I guess we were right about Floyd Mayweather winning... And why wouldn't we be? The instinct of some to pick "he has good power for his size" over near-flawless defense and phenomenal handspeed and accuracy is based on romantic notions versus logic and boxing common sense.
The problem is, that same thinking can easily pervade your workouts.
Boxing can, at stretches, be a boring sport for sure. When you have been boxing for 5 years or more, and probably even just 8 months or more, there are days when the thought of hitting a heavy bag or doing 6 rounds of hard sparring just about wants to make you gouge your eyes out. However, what you CAN NOT do is allow that thinking to make you turn to the latest fad, or neglect the fundamentals, in your training.
There are really two factors, as we usually see them, at play in these scenarios:
1) The tendency to always look for the "next big thing"/"secret weapon"/"quick fix" in training programs, and
2) boredom.
Number one above is more dangerous than number two, as it is borne of laziness. There are coaches and boxers who never quite put together a good enough string of fundamental training, just because they are hoping that maybe by shadowboxing with a belt that has rubber bands attached to the feet and hands they won't have to spar as much, or that if they do some plyometrics with a weighted belt on they won't have to jump rope.
These folks need to be reminded that while a good coach keeps a sharp eye on innovation and science, in many sports the fundamentals are, in fact, "the fundamentals" for a reason. When you look at the greatest athletes in any sport, they are invariably gym rats. And when you look at those gym rats, are they doing crazy stuff? No. Michael Jordan is out shooting. Floyd Mayweather is hitting the mitts and sparring. Peyton Manning is out doing throwing drills. If you have coaches or boxers who don't understand this at your gym, help them understand. If, after a while, you determine they truly are lazy and just won't put the work in, write them off. That sounds harsh, but in an individual sport where every punch counts, you can't have dead weight dragging down the atmosphere of your team or your gym.
There is absolutely a time and a place for isokinetics in the pool, jumping onto plyometric boxes, and pretending to punch with kettlebells, but NOT as the basis for your training when you have an actual sport to train for; remember, SPECIFICITY IS KING.
The folks affected by #2 above have an easier fix; they already know they need to preserve the fundamentals, and they are willing to put in the work; they are just sick of it, or sometimes it has quit working. Change it up enough to make things fresh, but not so much that you lose focus. It is OK for a boxer to replace one 'regular' gym workout a week with a workout of shadowboxing only, where he alternates rounds of wearing 3# hand weights with rounds of wearing nothing on the hands. It is also OK to do one workout a week where, when you hit the heavy bag, before every single combination you throw you have to jab/spin/back out, back up two steps, and then come forward two steps and circle towards the imaginary opponent's lead hand / closed side and then throw.
The trick is this: keep working the fundamentals in slightly altered form, and alter them in such a way as to target *other* primary areas of need. The heavy bag example above is a perfect illustration; you can get some heavy bag work in, but also increase the movement and footwork component of that work greatly, which is sorely lacking in a lot of boxers. The best of both worlds.
The graphic below was used by the USA Boxing performance staff to illustrate what the important areas in long-term development of a boxer are, and I think it is also a good graphical representation of how time during a workout should be allocated. Take it, and run wild...
So I guess we were right about Floyd Mayweather winning... And why wouldn't we be? The instinct of some to pick "he has good power for his size" over near-flawless defense and phenomenal handspeed and accuracy is based on romantic notions versus logic and boxing common sense.
The problem is, that same thinking can easily pervade your workouts.
Boxing can, at stretches, be a boring sport for sure. When you have been boxing for 5 years or more, and probably even just 8 months or more, there are days when the thought of hitting a heavy bag or doing 6 rounds of hard sparring just about wants to make you gouge your eyes out. However, what you CAN NOT do is allow that thinking to make you turn to the latest fad, or neglect the fundamentals, in your training.
There are really two factors, as we usually see them, at play in these scenarios:
1) The tendency to always look for the "next big thing"/"secret weapon"/"quick fix" in training programs, and
2) boredom.
Number one above is more dangerous than number two, as it is borne of laziness. There are coaches and boxers who never quite put together a good enough string of fundamental training, just because they are hoping that maybe by shadowboxing with a belt that has rubber bands attached to the feet and hands they won't have to spar as much, or that if they do some plyometrics with a weighted belt on they won't have to jump rope.
These folks need to be reminded that while a good coach keeps a sharp eye on innovation and science, in many sports the fundamentals are, in fact, "the fundamentals" for a reason. When you look at the greatest athletes in any sport, they are invariably gym rats. And when you look at those gym rats, are they doing crazy stuff? No. Michael Jordan is out shooting. Floyd Mayweather is hitting the mitts and sparring. Peyton Manning is out doing throwing drills. If you have coaches or boxers who don't understand this at your gym, help them understand. If, after a while, you determine they truly are lazy and just won't put the work in, write them off. That sounds harsh, but in an individual sport where every punch counts, you can't have dead weight dragging down the atmosphere of your team or your gym.
There is absolutely a time and a place for isokinetics in the pool, jumping onto plyometric boxes, and pretending to punch with kettlebells, but NOT as the basis for your training when you have an actual sport to train for; remember, SPECIFICITY IS KING.
The folks affected by #2 above have an easier fix; they already know they need to preserve the fundamentals, and they are willing to put in the work; they are just sick of it, or sometimes it has quit working. Change it up enough to make things fresh, but not so much that you lose focus. It is OK for a boxer to replace one 'regular' gym workout a week with a workout of shadowboxing only, where he alternates rounds of wearing 3# hand weights with rounds of wearing nothing on the hands. It is also OK to do one workout a week where, when you hit the heavy bag, before every single combination you throw you have to jab/spin/back out, back up two steps, and then come forward two steps and circle towards the imaginary opponent's lead hand / closed side and then throw.
The trick is this: keep working the fundamentals in slightly altered form, and alter them in such a way as to target *other* primary areas of need. The heavy bag example above is a perfect illustration; you can get some heavy bag work in, but also increase the movement and footwork component of that work greatly, which is sorely lacking in a lot of boxers. The best of both worlds.
The graphic below was used by the USA Boxing performance staff to illustrate what the important areas in long-term development of a boxer are, and I think it is also a good graphical representation of how time during a workout should be allocated. Take it, and run wild...
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