The problem most amateur boxers face is that training and experience vary greatly from club to club. On a professional level, a fighter has years of experience and has already fought dozens or hundreds of amateur matches, he has a good sense of what works and what doesn’t. Your opponent may be someone who trains in a gym with professional trainers and wrestlers, and while you do some basic training, they get sparring and training tips from some of the best in the game. That said, there are no rules on how to train, so if someone has the time and energy to train like a professional while still fighting at the amateur level, then they will certainly become proficient in the sport.
Below is a training template for amateur boxers looking to succeed in the early and middle stages of their fighting career. In the advanced stages, a fighter must know what works for him, and the training can become quite intense and variable. If you want to get an idea of how much to do and what to do, then this is a good framework. This template assumes you’ve spent some time in the gym, you already have the basics in terms of hitting, defense, and footwork. It also assumes that you have access to a regular coach, team, and training partners. In addition to what is shown below, you should get some work from your trainer on a regular basis in the final weeks leading up to the fight.
1) You must be in the gym 5 days a week.
2) Ideally, you should separate your training. Conditioning in the morning / afternoon and boxing training the other half of the day
3) Practice 3 times a week in the 4 weeks leading up to the fight. Otherwise, once or twice a week is fine, and it doesn’t always have to be a difficult match.
4) Training:
– Jump rope for 10 to 15 minutes
– 4 to 6 rounds of shadow boxing (one round dedicated to footwork and one round dedicated to defense, including head movement)
– 6 rounds in the heavy bag (4 of them at fight pace)
– 4 rounds in the double ended bag
– 4 round speed bag
– 100 burpees in groups of 20 (try to do them in less than 5 minutes)
– 3 abdominal exercises in sets of 100 (choose your three favorites)
– 100 bounce push-ups (do as many as you can in each set until you reach 100)
– jump rope from 10 to 15 min
– 15-20 minute stretch (DO NOT neglect this, flexibility means speed).
Running program
1) One day a week, do an easy run for 45 to 60 minutes.
2) One day a week do 6 series of 800m at high intensity
3) Twice a week do Tabata sprint sets (20 second sprint, 10 second rest for 8 sets)