Introduction to

Strength and Conditioning

Edited by

Danny Wilson, BSc MSc ASCC

Alan Ruddock CSci MSc

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Boxing Science
Boxing Science is the world's first website dedicated to sport science in boxing and is an
established social enterprise based in Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Our team consists of experts in strength and conditioning, applied physiology, nutrition and
psychology all working at Sheffield Hallam University.
All of the team work in various fields of sport and physical activity, as well as supporting the
university's boxing sport science program Combat Conditioning, which has provided service to
over 80 amateur and professional boxers in the region.
The mission of Boxing Science is to share their experience and knowledge with the boxing
community through interesting and informative articles online. On the website we will be selling
products such as low-cost programs, books, posters, and videos, with profits reinvested into
funding educational workshops, programs and athlete sponsorship.

Contents
Boxing Science ................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3
Movement Training for Boxing........................................................................................... 4
Mobility Exercises .............................................................................................................. 5
Strength Training for Boxing .............................................................................................. 6
Strength Exercise Types ..................................................................................................... 7
Strength Training for Boxing Lower Body ........................................................................ 8
Strength Training for Boxing Upper Body ...................................................................... 10
Core Training for Boxing................................................................................................... 12
Movements of the Core ................................................................................................... 13
Conditioning for Boxing.................................................................................................... 15
Train like a champion ....................................................................................................... 18
The Experts ...................................................................................................................... 19
The Boxers ....................................................................................................................... 20

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Introduction
Like other sports, boxing requires skill, technique and tactical awareness. Most boxing champions
started training at a young age to master their trade. But, it's one of the toughest sports in the
world and an elite fighter needs fitness, speed and strength.
Take a second and imagine you're the ultimate boxer. A boxer who has everything. All the
physical attributes that makes a champion. Movement, strength, stability, balance and fitness.
You have the knockout strength when you want it. The movement to dance around your
opponent how you like. And the fitness to keep popping punches at will for 12 rounds without
tiring.
You don't have to imagine this anymore. These qualities are not fixed. You are not given them at
birth. You can train them.
And in this ebook we'll show you how to develop these qualities to become the boxer you dream
about.
Are you ready to start your transformation into an elite athlete?

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Movement Training for Boxing
You practice shadow boxing, do pads and technical sparring. You do this to develop boxing
specific movement and footwork skills.
But you're probably not aware of the importance of general movement and mobility training. You
should include movement and mobility work into your training.
Movement training can:

Improve punching range

Improve muscle strength and speed

Train you to use the correct muscles for a specific movement (e.g. glutes)

Reduce the likelihood of injury

What's the main focus of Movement Training in Boxing?

Our boxers tend to have poor hip and shoulder mobility, as well as issues with rotation. This
reduces the force they can put into punching by limiting rotation and hip extension.
To improve movement ability we focus on loosening the hips and shoulders by using isolated and
dynamic exercises such as these.

Click here to read more about movement training

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Mobility Exercises
Hip Mobility
Hip mobility exercises are important as hip flexor tightness can cause many different
injuries and dysfunctions, including lower back pain and glute strength.

Spiderman

Hip Flexor Stretch

Shoulder Mobility
Poor shoulder mobility often creates over-active anterior deltoid and upper traps,
causing the middle and lower traps become weak which affects the natural movement of
the shoulder and arm. This can also cause shoulder impingement, rotator cuff
weakness/injuries and lower-back injuries.

Floor Slides

Overhead Wall Touch

Rotational Mobility
To develop rotational mobility, the boxers perform exercises that separate lower and
upper body movements. This develops trunk rotation for both left and right sides, likely
to improve the role of the core during jab punches.

Eagles

Lunge and Twist

Glute Strength
Glute strength is important contributor to forceful hip extension and rotation, this is
needed during running, jumping and more importantly, PUNCHING.

Goblet Squat

Glute Bridge

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Strength Training for Boxing
You don't need us to tell you that your punch needs to be hard.
We know from scientific studies that a hard punch occurs when you generate a lot of force in a
short space of time.
At impact, a hard punch also has a lot of snap. To get snap youll need to create something called
effective mass.
Like all types of training, how hard you punch isnt fixed. You can train it by developing technique
and getting stronger.
What's the focus of strength training?
From our own research, we think that a few things contribute to punching force. These include:
Lower and upper body strength,
Ability to rapidly produce force and;
Function of the core muscles.
To develop these characteristics we use sprint, resistance and Olympic weightlifting training.
These methods improve hip extension force that's important for punching hard.
You can also punch harder by improving the way muscles, joints and limbs co-ordinate. This is
another benefit of mobility and movement training.

Click here to read our strength and conditioning articles

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Strength Exercise Types
There are hundreds, if not thousands of exercises used for developing athletes, people
may get carried away involving too many exercises with little structure. Here are the
different exercise types that should be in every strength and conditioning program
Squat
Performing squat variations are important to load the quads, hamstrings and
glutes important in developing impulse of the lower body.
Hinge
Strengthening the ability to hinge at the hips develops hamstrings and glute
strength, contributing to hip extension and concentric force production.
Push
Pushing exercises develop anterior muscles such as pectorals and shoulders,
important for producing hand speed and 'stiffening' upon impact.
Pull
Pulling exercises improve strength of the posterior chain, such as the lats and
posterior shoulder muscles. This is important as a pre-stretch during single and
combination punches, as well as promoting shoulder health.
Uni-lateral
'Uni-lateral' means single arm or leg exercises. These are important to prevent
imbalances to reduce injury and improve a boxers ability to punch with both
arms.
Core
We believe that the core should be developed through the big exercises,
however we should also include isolated exercises to really target the core.
Introduction to the big moves
Compound exercises are often considered as the most important ingredients in an
athletic development program.
Compound moves activate the most muscles; therefore more weight can be lifted the
stronger you can be.

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Strength Training for Boxing Lower Body
Back Squat

Start Position

The Descent

The Ascent

Hands evenly spaced shoulder

width apart on bar.

Take a deep breath in before

pushing hips behind heels and
knees flexing in-line with toes.

Forcefully drive through heels.

Bar rests on the top of the back

muscles.
Feet are positioned just outside
shoulder width apart with toes
pointing slightly outwards.

Go down until upper legs are

parallel with the floor.
Balance onto heels and point
knees out over the toes.

Why Do We Squat?
Because it develops the core, quadriceps and glutes,
the squat can improve lower limb muscle size,
strength, speed and acceleration. These are all
important in punching.

Extend knees and hips, with knees

pushed out over the toes and
squeeze glutes at the top.
Keep chest up and shoulders back
to maintain a straight back.

Squat Checklist
Feet shoulder width
Knees over toes, Sit onto heels
Hips below knees at the bottom
Drive through heels, squeeze glutes

Deadlift

Start Position

The Ascent

The Descent

Set up with feet hip width apart

and the bar to be in line with first
lace of your trainers.

Drive through your heels.

Take a deep breath and brace

core in before unlocking the hips.

Hips slightly above the knees with

the chest pushed out and neck in
a neutral position.

Hips and knees extend

simultaneously, squeezing the
glutes at the top
Keep bar close to your legs.

Why Do We Deadlift?
Performing a deadlift with good technique requires
the co-ordinated activation of the posterior chain.

Slide the bar down your thighs,

bending your knees and sinking
your hips down.

Deadlift Checklist
Squeeze shoulders throughout
Drive through the heels
Keep the bar close to your legs
Punch hips forward at the top

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Build the foundations
Before we hit these big moves in our programs, we need to build the foundations using
these exercises.

Squat Foundations
Exercises below aim to develop deep
squat pattern
Goblet Squat

Exercises below develop the core and

posterior chain during a squat
Goblet Squat to Press

Box Squat

Overhead Squat

Deadlift Foundations
Exercises below aim to strengthen
muscles in the posterior chain

Exercises below isolate and ingrain

the hip-hinge movement

Sumo Deadlift

Glute Bridge

Romanian Deadlift

Hip Hinge Sync

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Strength Training for Boxing Upper Body
Bench Press

Start Position

The Descent

The Ascent

Hands just outside shoulder

width apart

Retract shoulders and lower the

bar in a controlled motion.

Forcefully push your body into

the bench

Keep the abs tight forcing the

lower back against the bench.

Elbows at a 45 degree angle until

the bar reaches the lower to midlower chest.

Bar travels up at speed

Feet driven into the floor.

Ensure full extension of the

arms.

Benefits of the Bench Press

Bench Press Checklist

Bench pressing is important to improve strength, increased

muscle size, improved athletic function, and improved general
fitness of the upper body.

Squeeze shoulders and brace core

Control tempo, elbows 45
Smash the bar up

Close Grip Pull Ups

Start Position

The Pull

The Descent

Hang from the bar with a

pronated grip on the appropriate
handle.

Keeping your back straight and

chest out, pull yourself up by
flexing the elbows squeezing
your shoulder blades together.

Your head should come over

the bar/apparatus.
Lower at a controlled tempo
until arms are straight.

Arms straight core braces and

feet elevated just behind the
hips.

Benefits of Pull Ups

This exercise develops the lats, these are important for
punching, particularly during combinations. Pull ups also
strengthens the arms and core.

Pull Up Checklist

Squeeze shoulder blades

Brace core, dont swing
Full range of motion

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Build the foundations
Before we hit these big moves in our programs, we need to build the foundations using
these exercises.

Bench Press Foundations

Exercises below aim to develop core
and scapula stability

Exercises below develop strength of

the chest and triceps strength

Plank Row

Press Ups

Single Arm DB Floor Press

DB Chest Press

Pull Up Foundations
Exercises below aim to develop
bodyweight strength

Exercises below develop Lat

Size and Strength

Hanging Row

Eccentric Pull Ups

TRX Row

Bent Over Row

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Core Training for Boxing
Whether it is sit ups or leg raises, you've seen core training in most boxing sessions.
But why do we do it?
Our testing results suggest that the stronger the core, the harder the punch! This makes core
training important for boxers.
The Kinetic Chain is a term used to describe parts of the body that contribute to punching.
The core is a key part of the chain as it connects the upper and lower body. In other words
it transfers energy from the legs to the arms.

Click here to learn more about the role of the core during punching

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Movements of the Core
There are four types of movement, flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation. But, if you take
these to their limit the core will crumble and might cause injury. You should perform core training
to prevent this.

Type

Action

Boxing Specific

Exercises

Anti-Rotation

Actively resisting
rotation of the lumbar
spine

Stronger rotation during

punches due to use of
stretch shortening cycle.

Pallof Press,
Landmine Rotations
(both pictured)

Anti-Extension

Actively resisting
extension of the lumbar
spine

Anti-Lateral
Flexion

Resisting lateral flexion

of the lumbar spine

Hip Flexion
with Neutral
Spine

Bracing the core to

create a controlled
flexion at the hip without
flexing the spine.

To protect the back when

performing large amounts
Plank (pictured),
of punching activities during
Hand walkouts.
training.
Control lateral flexion during
Landmine rotations
uppercuts and head
(pictured), Suitcase
movement such as ducks
Deadlift, Side Plank.
and slips.
Stronger posture when
working to the body.

Deadbugs
(pictured) Straight
leg sit ups

Click here to see a video of a core circuit

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Try out these exercises
Pallof Press

Anti-Rotation

Suitcase Deadlift

Anti-Lateral Flexion

Plank Row

Straight Arm Straight Leg Sit Up

Anti-Extension, Anti-Rotation

Hip Flexion with Neutral Spine

Rotational Plank

Anti-Extension, Anti-Rotation
Glute Bridge

Hip Flexion with Neutral Spine

Landmine Rotations

Anti-Lateral Flexion, Anti-Rotation

Plank with Arm Reach

Anti-Extension, Anti-Rotation

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Conditioning for Boxing
Boxing isnt an endurance sport. The only slow-plodding boxers do is during the
ringwalk.
Its a repeated high-intensity intermittent-impact sport.

The red zone is between 90-100% of your maximum heart rate. You will experience the red zone
during sparring and competition. So you'll need to develop your ability to perform at high
intensity.
If you don't have a heart rate monitor, you can use the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale to
assess the intensity of your training.

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No Man's Land
Often we see athletes who either; 1) don't train easy enough or 2) don't train hard
enough. So they'll train between 3 and 8 on the RPE scale. When they do this we say
they're in "no man's land".
Training in this way is inefficient and there's no clear purpose to it. Train easy for a long
period of time. Or train hard for a short period of time. It's that simple and your body's
adaptive responses won't get confused. Avoid "no man's land" by following this simple
guide.

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Extraction & utilisation phase 0 to 3 weeks Sprint interval training

30 second, maximum efforts, on a cycle (if youre way off fighting weight), treadmill, or
hill. Rest 4 min. Repeat 4 to 6 times. Aim: exercise as hard and as fast as possible.
Why? Research has shown that training sessions like this activate enzymes that turn on
switches to create mitochondria (our metabolic energy plant).
Delivery phase 3 to 10 weeks high intensity interval training
4 to 8 min efforts at 90% maximum heart rate or 9/10 effort. Rest half of exercise time.
Repeat 4 to 6 times. Aim: spend as much time >90% maximum heart rate as possible.
Why? Research has shown this type of training places strain on the heart and the
cardiovascular system such that you can deliver more blood carrying oxygen to the
muscle.
Taper 10 to 12 weeks
20 seconds maximum effort, 10 seconds recovery, repeated 6 to 8 times. Rest 3 to 4 min.
Repeat twice. Aim: Exercise as hard and as fast as possible.
Why? Research shows us that maintaining intensity but reducing volume in the final 2
weeks of training can have beneficial effects on performance.

Click here to see a video of a sprint session on The Curve

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Train like a champion
These training methods are used by elite standard boxers, such as IBF World
Welterweight champion Kell Brook.
However, even the best in the world are yet to recognise the importance of high quality
strength and conditioning.
By getting to this page you've already started on journey to elite performance.
Welcome aboard we look forward to having you along for the ride.

The Boxing Science Team

Click here to see our articles on Kell Brook

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The Experts
Danny Wilson | Co-founder and S&C Coach | @Wilson_SC91
Danny is a United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association accredited
strength and conditioning coach and has a Master of Science degree in Sport
Science at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He has coached over 70 professional,
national/regional senior and junior amateur champions preparing for
competitive bouts.

Alan Ruddock | Co-founder and Physiologist | @AlanRuddock

Alan is a physiologist at Sheffield Hallam University with a wealth of experience
in sport science. Alan has worked extensively within Boxing at the highest level,
in particular Kell Brooks IBF welterweight world title victory. Alan is a BASES
accredited sport & exercise scientist, doctoral researcher and one of the UKs
first chartered scientists in sport science.

Dave Hembrough | Director and S&C Coach | @Dwhembro

Dave is the lead strength and conditioning coach at Sheffield Hallam University
and a weightlifting coach. Dave has worked with an array of top level athletes,
including support to world level boxers such as IBF Welterweight World
Champion Kell Brook.

Dr Pete Olusoga | Sport Psychologist | @PeteOlusoga

Dr Pete Olusoga is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Psychology and a BPS Chartered
and BASES Accredited Sport Psychologist, based at Sheffield Hallam University in
the UK. Pete believes that boxing is a sport that demands discipline, control,
focus, confidence, and mental toughness of the highest level.

Lee Rickards | Sports Nutritionist | @LRStrength

Lee Rickards is a nutrition consultant and sport scientist currently working at
Sheffield United Football Club and with professional combat sport athletes. Lee
is an accredited body composition analyst by The International Society for the
Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK).

Rory Mack | Sport Pyschologist | @RoryMack3

Rory is a sport and exercise psychologist in training, and current PhD student at
Sheffield Hallam University. Rory has experience working in both sport and
exercise settings, and as a lifestyle advisor. His main areas of interest include
athlete well-being and, maximising sport performance.

Mayur Ranchordas | Sport Nutritionist | @Diet4Sport

Mayur works at Sheffield Hallam University as a senior lecturer in Exercise
Physiology and Sport Nutrition. From 2006 to 2010 Mayur also worked for the
English Institute of Sport providing performance nutrition support to Olympic
and World Champions in various sports.

Click here to see more about the experts

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The Boxers
The experts from Sheffield Hallam University have coached over 80 boxers of all ages and
abilities. Here are some of the boxers we have worked with.

Kell Brook | IBF Welterweight World Champion

In the summer of 2012, Sheffield Hallam University was assigned to
deliver sport science services to Kell Brook in the build up to his
eventual world championship success. Dave Hembrough structured
effective strength and conditioning programs whilst Alan Ruddock
delivered physiology training interventions, which consisted of high
intensity treadmill runs and detailed physiological monitoring.

Jordan Gill | 14-0 Professional, Featherweight

"The experiences Ive had working with the guys at Hallam university,
and the program has been extremely beneficial to my boxing. Every
fighter has to push their body to the limit, but here its in a controlled,
specific, measurable, technique focused way. The team pioneer new
training methods to improve the physical capabilities of boxers. Im
positive that this facility and its team are the best in the country, and Im certain that
this will soon be nationally recognised inside the boxing circle."

Callum Beardow | 2012 National ABA Junior Champion

One to one Strength and Conditioning support has opened me up to a
whole new level of physical fitness. I now see S&C as a main part of my
preparation for competition to ensure optimal performance at a
lighter weight

Brendan Warburton | Sheffield City ABC Head Coach

Sheffield City ABCs involvement with Sheffield Hallam Universitys
sport science team has seen marked improvements in our boxers
athletic performance. I am sure that the program will benefit the
Junior and Senior amateurs in their future boxing careers. I have
received extensive and detailed feedback on our boxers that has been
very helpful for competition preparation.

Click here to see more about the boxers we work with