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

The Details

You can argue all you want, but no single group of athletes is more impressive athletically than boxers.  Not an ounce of fat, with shoulders and arms literally carved out of wood. The legs are lean and slightly muscular from all the roadwork and jumprope. The small muscle groups of the lower leg complex such as the peroneals conditioned from all the lateral movement and work spent in the ring. The ring, if you didn?t know, is soft and cushioned; if you have ever spent time running on a beach then that would be what it feels like in a boxing ring after a few rounds.  Now, do that running sideways and let me know how it feels. Get the point? The legs are surprisingly a very important and not overlooked aspect of the game. When the legs tire they are like a tree with weak roots. No matter how strong and sturdy the top appears, with a weak or exhausted base a fighter is doomed.  My own trainer has me sporadically run sideways down the street to build my speed and endurance in lateral movement.  I, being the personal trainer, one-up his instruction and whenever I see a long gradual hill, jog up it sideways. Your forward movement and lateral direction change will definitely improve if you push yourself.

Abdominal training is far from the complexity of, say pilates, but remember, Joseph Pilates was a boxer first. Many of the most popular pilates exercises such as the Roll-Up or the 100 look awfully familiar to many of us, and any vintage 1920's era footage is bound to show alot of impressive core training practice. My trainer, Terry, has spent time at Olympic Training Center and here is my favorite move we do for core strength.

The Reverse 100

Start from a dead hang on a pull-up bar with your palms facing backwards. Remaining completely stable and with no swinging gently raise your legs with toes pointed about 25 degrees engaging your core and placing your lumbar in an almost flat position. With legs straight do small 6 inch flutter kicks while maintaining perfect posture and without creating any swing. Do 100 reps 3 times. For those lacking in the grip strength department, Ab-slings may be added.

Strength Training

Though old school fighters, like my trainer, adhere to the old adage that weight training slows down fighters, most fighters do some level of weight training. In my opinion, weights can be a very beneficial tool in developing fighters. Everyone is different and some people just naturally hit harder than others.  For those who are just starting out especially, a good resistance training program can be huge.  Muscle groups that usually require additional attention are ? forearms, both extensors and flexors, deltoids, lats, biceps, glutes, hamstrings and of course, the entire abdominal group. Every fighter is different so it is impossible to make even the most general advice as far as weight and rep schemes. It's up to the trainer to diagnose what's best for each client.  I feel a combination of dumbbells, olympic lifts, calisthenics, kettlebells and plyometrics is ideal.  Be careful not to overtrain your fighters!

Morning Roadwork

Once again, the boxers were right without really knowing why. Here is what I have I say to my clients in regard to this - When Oscar DeLaHoya has a fight coming up and millions and millions of dollars are at stake, he gets up early and puts in the miles. You will not find an elliptical machine at his Bear Mountain training camp. Getting up early and going running has a variety of benefits. Number One, as we all know is that running boosts the metabolism. The earlier you do it the more beneficial it will be. Number two is that fighters almost always train again later on in the day so the earlier they work out, the more rested they will be later on for the next workout. Roadwork also ensures the fighter is in bed early and stays in his fighter?s state of mind. The loneliness of the early morning allows the boxer the opportunity to meditate on his upcoming fight. There is a ton of mental/spiritual conditioning in boxing, and roadwork is just another place where a fighter  "gets his mind right".  When it comes to personal training clientele, anyone whogets up at 5:30am and runs 5 miles is definitely skipping the bagel and cream cheese enroute to work. It's all about focus.

Rest, recovery and wives tales...

As you can see here that a boxer's regimen is stacked with work. Anywhere from 6-10 workouts per week is common. Therefore recovery is imperative if you are to avoid overtraining. Warning signs usually start with a sneeze or a sniffle.  Nagging muscle soreness is also a flag. Make sure your fighters get a massage once a week and soak in the sauna or jacuzzi whenever available. Epsom salt baths are also great. A lot of professional fighters in training camp will sleep for a few hours after their roadwork and before their afternoon training. 

And here comes the controversy!!! No booty before the fight. Yes guys, I have done it and yes it felt like a beast after the first week. You can argue all you want, but it goes back hundreds of years in cultures around the globe that a man fights harder if he is less distracted. The soft comforting company of a woman is the last thing a fighter needs before going to war.