This article has been written by featured personal trainer, Clay Burwell, contributor to FitFiend.com and founder of High Performance NYC.

Intro

The boxer's workout is a complex one. The boxer is that rare breed of athlete who combines speed, power and endurance with grace and toughness.Some of these attributes you may be born with, and in boxing, you can create your style around it. Say you are the guy who ran short distance track in high school, and you still enjoy the occasional 10 mile jog. You are definitely going to fare well in the endurance department. The other areas...we may need to work on.

Let's take a look at what an average fighter's day at the gym entails and why he goes through this process from both a personal trainer's viewpoint and a fighter's.Even fitness professionals will be surprised at how truly old school these fighters' workouts are, and also how this old school approach is dead on. Many of the practices boxers have been doing for years, such as tires and woodblock chopping, are now being brought back to the mainstream by renowned trainers like Juan Carlos Santana.

Gym Entrance

When a fighter enters the gym they make their way around the gym lightly touching knuckles with every person there. The fighter has respect for all practitioners of the science. He also spends so much time in the gym that these people are an extended family, so it is only right to go around and show a little love for everyone there. Respect is why these men and women go into the ring.

Jumping Rope

Most fighters begin a training workout with a few rounds on the rope; more if they need to cut weight. I definitely jump a lot of rope and see enormous benefit to it. Combining cardio training with timing and hand-eye, hand-foot coordination is an excellent way to warm up the mind as much as the body.

Jumping rope requires an enormous amount of coordination and the uncoordinated would do well to put in a lot of time into mastering the rope. The most amateurish mistake I see is also a surefire way to hit a plateau. That mistake is what I call the 2 step. This is where an unconfident jumper hops twice before bringing the rope around once. Spend some time practicing in front of a mirror and try to stay as relaxed as possible. Any pent up tension, particularly in the upper trapezius, is a surefire way to gas out.Get jumping and just relax into it.Sometimes that could even mean shutting your eyes softly. Remember boxing is a sport that revolves around the concept of economy of movement. If you are jumping a rope that is a 1/4" thick then you should optimally try to keep your hops in the inch to inch and half range. As far as the tricks are concerned I teach my clients the following tricks in the following order: Jumping Jacks, running in place, cross-ups, double jumps, successive double jumps, side to sides and lastly deep squats. You can find video of an advanced practitioner online at sites like YouTube, my favorite being Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather's. Check it out. It's a must see IMO.

Shadow Boxing

Shadow boxing is the act of throwing punches at an imaginary opponent. Most fighters spend anywhere from 3-6 rounds (or more in some cases) shadowboxing. It is also an excellent way to warm up and is THE way to warm up for sparring or for a fight. It is in shadowboxing where fighters get into their own little zone and let their hands go. It is important to not be distracted and to throw your punches with picture perfect form as well as move your feet, head and body correctly while exhibiting a high degree of balance and correct stance at all times. Hearing this you may now have a better understanding of how important this aspect of the training is. It is very important while practicing this that you are very aware of your defense and stance. Too many beginners forget to move their head in between combinations. The reason behind this is the sheer fact that anytime you punch someone the very first thing they are going to do is punch you back and the place they are going to be throwing is where they'd last seen you before getting hit. So remember that in the very least you should add a little 6? squat between your combos. Stay balanced and throw another combo after. That?s shadowboxing baby!

Padwork

Ahh the most fun part of the day!!If you are as lucky as me to be training with a true master of the punch mitts like Terry Southerland then this is going to be the highlight of your day guaranteed. Padwork is grueling work though. Your trainer will be working the mitts with you by having you throw combos on the pads while working your defense and footwork. Heavy volumes of punches per round ensure your arms burn like fire and your mind learns how to function properly while completely exhausted. I have done a lot of tough sports, but none test my endurance the way Boxing does and no aspect of the training, aside from hard sparring, is more challenging than the mitts. It is totally worth it, however. Your punches become crisp, your defense and your entire arsenal becoming more and more diverse as the weeks go by. If you are a trainer and are thinking of doing some boxing with your clients, be careful of overuse injuries on yourself, particularly bi-lateral epicondylitis of the elbows.I've heard of shoulder injuries coming up too, so just be careful. If you stick to one to two clients a day and you will be fine.

Heavybag

Heavybag work builds endurance and power, and enables heavier fighters to really let their hands go where they may be forced to hold back a little on the mitts. For movement training and defense it is excellent, especially since the fighter needs no one but himself for an excellent workout drawing on every aspect of the game, save for toughness. Circling and getting out of the way of the bag are great as it allows you the chance to practice moving and then quickly resetting your feet for the next combination. It's easy here for new people to gas themselves out rather quickly. It is imperative that you learn how to read your own fuel tank and know exactly what pace you can go at to last the whole round. I have some very politically incorrect terms I use that I will omit from here but you get the point. Go the distance!

Double End Bag

The double end bag is the small teardrop or peanut shaped bag tethered to the floor by bungee cords. The bag is punched with moderate power and the goal is to be able to throw clean crisp combinations without disrupting the back and forth wobble of the bag.

Here a fighter hones their hand eye coordination and in particular their timing. Each time they punch they try to time the next moment the bag will be centermost when their next punch meets it. Here they can also work on head movement by getting close enough to the bag that their face is in direct line with it when it returns from a punch. As the bag quickly swings back, you slip your head aside it and catch it on the way back. On a light day I would do two to three rounds and for fight prep go as high as five or six.

Speed Bag

What would boxing be without the speed bag?!I can remember Mickey telling Rocky how he was going to need to hit the speedbag 40 billion times to beat Clubber Lang. That was a movie, but it does smell a lot like the real deal. Old school trainers love it and the older they are, the more they love it. The only time you don't hear the steady rhythm of a speedbag in a boxing gym is between rounds and on Sundays when the gyms are closed. The speed bag is a lot like the rope in that you really haven't trained as a fighter unless you can exhibit at least a basic level of proficiency with it. Hold your elbow up in a fixed position, focus and practice hitting the bag with precisely the same force each time. Give it some time and you will get the hang of it.