Kickboxing - Periodization

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I had a couple of questions about training for kickboxing/boxing/martial arts.

First, since a boxer doesn't always know when they are competing how do you

structure their workout so they can peak at a moments notice. If a boxer

found out they were competing in 3 months, would you go through all the stages

of periodization, or would you skip phases? Which phases? Since a boxer

doesn't have a regular season, this is difficult for me to structure.

Also, if the best training is the sport itself, how many days would you spend

outside the studio doing plyos, speed drills, explosive power drills (etc.)

How much strength training should be involved (excluding olympic lifts)

Any information would be very helpful. Thanks!

Bress

Denver, USA

[Guest guest]

1) Boxers not knowing when they will compete.

This is the difference between sport and combat oriented fighting

arts. Due to unknown date of the fight, in combat arts the emphasis

is on being able to fight any time, any place.

For example, samurais adopted " zanshin " , a balanced, aware state of

mind that was constantly developed and maintained, and an attitude of

accepting death any minute (from Hagakure).

Another training philosophy is to never train to failure or to

extreme fatigue (remember you could be fighting tomorrow!). So

punching until the arms can no longer be lifted is out of the

question. Contrast that with son, a noted martial artist in

Shoot wrestling, who practises " puke " drills - you perform a drill so

intensely that you inevitably throw up. But he knows exactly when the

competition is coming up!

So maintaining a relaxed, balanced attitude would be crucial for

unexpected competitions.

2) Boxers competing in 3 months.

Read the following article by Dr. Fred Hartfield who was consulted by

Evander Holyfield's training team. Coincidentally Dr. Hartfield

created a 12 week training program.

[surely you mean Fred Hatfield. Mel Siff ]

http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9709/hatfield.html

Notice the specificity of training for 3 minute rounds (maintaining

anaerobic zone for 3 minutes, recovering as quickly as possible in 1

minute rest period between the rounds).

3) Supplemental training to boxing.

The priority should always be refining techniques and learning fight

strategies. Notice how in Dr. Hartfield's article, Holyfield was out

of condition relative to the demands of the fight. But Holyfield was

already a champion, and what got him there was his techniques and

fight knowledge.

Having said that, plyos, speed drills etc should be used judiciously

for they work too well. They do really impose massive stress on the

body really quickly and really easily. The risk of burnout and injury

is very high, especially when they are coupled with regular intensive

boxing. So my opinion is to err on the side of undertraining, unless

you could get a qualifed person to really design a finely tuned

program to meet the needs of each boxer.

Another advise is injury healing and prevention: massage and

stretching (especially for joints). Too many training programs pay a

mere lip service to them. There are no 5 hours dedicated to massages

and stretching etc, whereas there are easily many 5 hours of training

this or that. Extremely critical.

[Our archives contain many letters on strength and flexibility training

for karate and martial arts, plus several articles on restoration. Do hunt

there for this information. Mel Siff]

Bob Yu

Montreal, Canada

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Bress wrote:

> I had a couple of questions about training for kickboxing/boxing/martial arts.

> First, since a boxer doesn't always know when they are competing how do you

> structure their workout so they can peak at a moments notice. If a boxer

> found out they were competing in 3 months, would you go through all the stages

> of periodization, or would you skip phases? Which phases? Since a boxer

> doesn't have a regular season, this is difficult for me to structure.

>

> Also, if the best training is the sport itself, how many days would you spend

> outside the studio doing plyos, speed drills, explosive power drills (etc.)

> How much strength training should be involved (excluding olympic lifts)

> Any information would be very helpful. Thanks!