Welcome to Episode 101 of the Box Gathering Podcast! Stuck in traffic on the way to work, we takes this opportunity to explore how we as can optimize the typical hour or two-hour training sessions, making every moment count. This episode discusses whether our coaching can be more or less effective using an example of the traditional warm-up routines and suggest a more effective approach with more dynamic and representative activities that prepare both physical and mental faculties for the challenges of boxing.
Harnessing Time and Effectiveness in Boxing Training
Rethinking Warm-Ups for Enhanced Boxing Performance
In boxing, as with many sports, how we start can often determine how we proceed. We aim to maximize every moment in training to yield the best results in performance during our main session but do we do the same for our warm-up. We turn the lens on the traditional boxing training warm-up—questioning effectiveness, time management, and how these factors can be optimized for better outcomes in the ring.
When it comes to coaching rather than simply considering different approaches as right or wrong, we can think of them on a sliding scale of effective versus ineffective. For example, an approach deemed “right” might not be the best (or effective) if it doesn’t suit an athlete’s unique needs and contexts.
Effective coaching is about prioritising real-world impact and that foster skill development. Here we explore how, rather than sticking to conventional, physically-focused warm-ups, coaches might more effective by delivering activities that replicate scenarios that are far more representative of actual boxing.
Rethinking the Traditional Warm-Up
Is the Old School enough? Traditionally, boxing warm-ups have focused on getting the heart rate up and the muscles ready through activities like skipping, jogging around the gym, and basic calisthenics. Standard practices, yes, but do these truly prepare boxers for the dynamic tasks they will face in a session or bout?
While these exercises do provide important benefits like preventing injury and increasing heart rate, they often fail to engage the brain – a crucial element often left out of the equation. While we’ve prepared the body, we haven’t prepared the mind. So while the traditional warm-up might be effective for preparing the body, and it does tick a lot of boxes, it might be considered less effective in preparing the mind.
Engaging Both Body and Mind
To be effective, our warm-ups need to include cognitive and perceptual engagement. Are we preparing the mind? Are we preparing the perceptual system? And if not, we need to design exercises and activities that mimic the decision-making and attentiveness required in a real fight context.
This might including games like shoulder tag or other nuanced, intentional movements that directly simulate the unpredictability a boxer will face. By doing so, the traditional warm-up changes into an active mental exercise, preparing the boxer not just physically but psychologically. It’s not, ‘instead of’, it’s an add on.
Maximizing Time: An Investment in Quality
Time is a finite resource in each training session, and how it’s invested can crucially sway the effectiveness of the entire session. If your session is an hour long, and the warm-up takes 15 minutes, then 25% of that session is a warm-up. If a quarter of the time on the gym-floor is spent warming up, then it is critical that we make sure the warm-up is as effective as possible. If the warm-up activities are not aligned with the session goals, a significant chunk of training time is lost to inefficiency.
Implementing Effective Changes
For coaches and boxers keen on embracing this ideology, starting with simple but meaningful changes can lead to significant benefits:
- Shoulder Tag with Consequences: To ensure focus and challenge, introduce a point-based system or specified consequences for being tagged. This maintains the critical element of not getting hit—a core boxing skill.
- Range and Motion: Activities focusing on range control and perceptual cues ensure boxers practice skills that translate to real fights, like managing distance and identifying openings in live scenarios.
- Fluid Transition in Session Segments: Move towards a training structure where each segment naturally leads into the next—warming up, skill acquisition, and application phases should blend seamlessly to maintain engagement and consistency.
Closing Thoughts
Rather than going through the motions during large periods of their training, what if all of a boxer’s training was done with a bit more intention? The warm-up is only one aspect of training to consider through the lens of effective vs ineffective. One way we can improve our coaching is to ask ourselves – how can we make what we are doing real? Does it look like the sport of boxing?