The start of 2016 has seen somewhat of a trend for boxers adding body mass and moving up weight categories. The more notable examples start with Amir Khan stepping up to 155 lbs fight Canelo AlvarezDavid Haye making his comeback one stone heavier and Carl Frampton considering a move up to featherweight to face Leo Santa Cruz.

Does adding muscle slows you down?

In traditional boxing training philosophies, adding muscle mass to a boxer will slow them down – in which strength and conditioning coaches have argued against during it’s rise in popularity.

Depending on the training method selected, both boxing coaches and S&C coaches are correct.

Boxers are at risk of slowing down if they move up weight categories by putting muscle bulk on like a bodybuilder. However, gains in muscle and speed can go hand in hand if an effective strength and conditioning program is put in place.

This article series will explain 3 different training methods to help gain muscle and speed.

Lets look at how NOT to do it.

How not to do it

If you are an athlete in any sport, your training has to have positive transfers to competition.

This means that a boxer cannot train like a bodybuilder to put on muscle. They still require a functional approach to improve movement, speed and co-ordination.

Traditional methods to increase muscle hypertrophy often consist of high rep ranges and training large volumes. This type of training is likely to stimulate slow twitch muscle fibres and activate motor units at lower thresholds.

This could negatively affect the speed of muscle contractions, and when you couple that with an increase in body mass, resulting in a much slower athlete.

Click below for Step 1

Pages: 1 2 3 4