Yes, it has been “ a long, long time…” and for that we apologize. Again, real life (competing and coaching) has gotten in the way of, well, *writing* about competing and coaching.
One of the main reasons we have been devoid of new posting is that Coach Keen is, again, ‘downrange’ for some work on behalf of the USG. But, in one of our infrequent phone calls, we recently discussed his minimalist training while deployed to a country with no electrical grid, no comm grid, no internet, and thus obviously no commercial gyms. It was a great conversation, so I demanded a follow-up write-up. What a great thing the occasional sat-phone-enabled e-mail article is…
“
What I am training with down here is only as much as I wanted to carry with me. That amounts to my original version PackWeight, a JungleGym II/XT, some JumpStretch bands, and a mini double-end ball.
What anyone brings when you train on the road should depend upon what the specific goals are, as always. When I am in a place where I know there will be no facilities, and the eating will be bad, I plan accordingly. So, my goals for this 200 days is to not be any worse of a masters boxer when I return, and to weigh 180ish, leaner than I was when I left. (weighed about 195) These goals are what drove the tools I chose.
As you know, I focus on power-endurance as the “strength and conditioning” physical quality that really improves performance in the ring. Therefore, I rely on the JumpStretch bands and the PackWeight rather heavily as my conditioning tools. Also, as our GMAAC members know, I do a lot of isometrics, and so I can use varying combinations of the heavy JS bands and whatever suspension system I choose to bring for that, as well. I like to do band-based max tension isometrics, the Jay Schroeder extreme position holds, and even some fundamental static position stuff from gymnastics. The rest of it is rounded-out with strength-based bodyweight training, sort of a hybrid between the Convict Conditioning stuff and Building Gymnastic Bodies material… there are specific pieces I have taken from each of those, but about 50% of it is mine.
For boxing-specific work, luckily for me, I am an old guy. I don’t need to hit the heavy bag anymore, I just need to get my wind, and keep the hand-eye sharp. One of the benefits of globetrotting with fellow officers is there is always a few guys who have boxed before, even if it is just for the PT class at one of the service academies. Regardless, this means you can almost always find someone to do some ‘touch sparring’ with, if you don’t have gloves, and folks are always interested in learning how to do a little bit of “Mayweather mittwork,” and once I teach them the patterns then I have them feed me.
Finally, as I already mentioned, I like to use the mini double-end ball I got years ago on Ebay. I used my Google Fu to find a place where you can still buy them:
http://corporate.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=101468&c=254814&i=52695577
This thing and my ‘Joe Practice’ device have always been my favorite travel-training-tools for boxing, and that little sucker moves pretty fast, and will keep your handspeed where it needs to be. A month or two of real sparring in a canvas ring at home is all I need to be ready to fight.
In the end, the actual schedule all looks like this: Mon/Thurs AM – Roadwork and ‘Output’ Mitt Work; Tues/Fri AM – Mitt Work, Sparring, DE Ball; Mon/Thurs PM – Lower Body S&C; Tues/Fri PM – Upper S&C; Sat & Sun – light, long jog both days, with some ‘fun’ sparring
“
There you have it. Some more of Coach Keen doing “what he can, with what he has, where he is,” as he always likes to say.
One of the main reasons we have been devoid of new posting is that Coach Keen is, again, ‘downrange’ for some work on behalf of the USG. But, in one of our infrequent phone calls, we recently discussed his minimalist training while deployed to a country with no electrical grid, no comm grid, no internet, and thus obviously no commercial gyms. It was a great conversation, so I demanded a follow-up write-up. What a great thing the occasional sat-phone-enabled e-mail article is…
“
What I am training with down here is only as much as I wanted to carry with me. That amounts to my original version PackWeight, a JungleGym II/XT, some JumpStretch bands, and a mini double-end ball.
What anyone brings when you train on the road should depend upon what the specific goals are, as always. When I am in a place where I know there will be no facilities, and the eating will be bad, I plan accordingly. So, my goals for this 200 days is to not be any worse of a masters boxer when I return, and to weigh 180ish, leaner than I was when I left. (weighed about 195) These goals are what drove the tools I chose.
As you know, I focus on power-endurance as the “strength and conditioning” physical quality that really improves performance in the ring. Therefore, I rely on the JumpStretch bands and the PackWeight rather heavily as my conditioning tools. Also, as our GMAAC members know, I do a lot of isometrics, and so I can use varying combinations of the heavy JS bands and whatever suspension system I choose to bring for that, as well. I like to do band-based max tension isometrics, the Jay Schroeder extreme position holds, and even some fundamental static position stuff from gymnastics. The rest of it is rounded-out with strength-based bodyweight training, sort of a hybrid between the Convict Conditioning stuff and Building Gymnastic Bodies material… there are specific pieces I have taken from each of those, but about 50% of it is mine.
For boxing-specific work, luckily for me, I am an old guy. I don’t need to hit the heavy bag anymore, I just need to get my wind, and keep the hand-eye sharp. One of the benefits of globetrotting with fellow officers is there is always a few guys who have boxed before, even if it is just for the PT class at one of the service academies. Regardless, this means you can almost always find someone to do some ‘touch sparring’ with, if you don’t have gloves, and folks are always interested in learning how to do a little bit of “Mayweather mittwork,” and once I teach them the patterns then I have them feed me.
Finally, as I already mentioned, I like to use the mini double-end ball I got years ago on Ebay. I used my Google Fu to find a place where you can still buy them:
http://corporate.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=101468&c=254814&i=52695577
This thing and my ‘Joe Practice’ device have always been my favorite travel-training-tools for boxing, and that little sucker moves pretty fast, and will keep your handspeed where it needs to be. A month or two of real sparring in a canvas ring at home is all I need to be ready to fight.
In the end, the actual schedule all looks like this: Mon/Thurs AM – Roadwork and ‘Output’ Mitt Work; Tues/Fri AM – Mitt Work, Sparring, DE Ball; Mon/Thurs PM – Lower Body S&C; Tues/Fri PM – Upper S&C; Sat & Sun – light, long jog both days, with some ‘fun’ sparring
“
There you have it. Some more of Coach Keen doing “what he can, with what he has, where he is,” as he always likes to say.
