Boxing
is an anaerobic sport. The sport has been estimated as approximately 70-80% anaerobic
and 20-30% aerobic. Anaerobic means to conduct an activity without oxygen. Anaerobic exercise, like boxing, stresses the muscles at a high intensity for short periods of time. A perfect example is a fast
combination that a fighter throws in the ring. The only aerobic part of the fight is when you are not throwing punches or when you are in the corner between rounds. The aerobic part of your exercise has to prepare you to last through the anaerobic part of the fight without running out of gas.
Your training has to mimic the fight. If you plan to fight hard (and you should) you need to train in the same manner. You need to constantly move your head, move your hands, and move your feet. You must be able to multi-task. While training you have be able do several boxing skills at the same time.
When an object is in motion it's easy to keep it in motion. When you keep your head moving and a punch is thrown at you, your head is already moving so it's easier to slip that punch. When your head is not in motion you can still slip a punch but it just takes a little longer to start the motion to get your head out of the way. The same is true with your hands and your feet. If you can keep your head and your hands moving while slipping a punch you position yourself to fire a combination at your opponent. Yes, there are times that you will have to plant your feet and throw a hard punch or a hard combination, but anybody can do that. A person that has never fought can stand in one place and throw hard punches. It's the technique of successfully moving your head, throwing punches, and renegotiating your angles by moving your feet that as athletes we have to master.
Anaerobic exercise is 80-90% of your max out put. Benefits include an improved VO2 maximum (the ability to use a greater amount of oxygen during exercise) and thus an improved cardio-respiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. Since the intensity is high, more calories will be burned. Although more calories are burned in this zone, 85% of the calories burned are from carbohydrates, 15% from fat and less than 1% are from protein.
The most skillful fighter will have difficulty contending with an opponent who has superior anaerobic endurance and power. This is why you must make anaerobics a part of your conditioning program.
Boxing is an explosive, ballistic sport. The only way to prepare for this sport is by training in a manner, which mimics the demands that you will encounter inside the ring. The ring is a lonely place for the fighter who is not in shape.
The anaerobic zone is when you have thrown multiple punches and you have run out of gas because of exhaustion. You have just reached your Lactic Acid Threshold.
What to do about that Lactic Acid Threshold:
First of all we have to raise that lactic acid threshold. I remember when I was a lot younger the first time I tried to swim under water. I wanted to see how far I could swim while holding my breath. When I realized that I could not swim very far I repeated the effort everyday and each day the distance that I could swim while holding my breath increased.
That's a simple representation of how you will build your Lactic Acid Threshold. When you throw fast punches, or sprint for example after about 20 seconds your body starts creating lactate in order to slow you down and make you rest. Your body does that because you are pushing it so hard. When you are training at a slower aerobic pace your body has time to process the converting of carbohydrates and fats into glucose. When we train or fight and someone says you ran out of gas; glucose is technically what represents that gas. Glucose is what the body burns like gas.
Remember that when you are operating in the aerobic zone because your body can process oxygen; it has time to convert carbohydrates and fats in to glucose. Just like holding your breath to swim further everyday. You must train in the anaerobic zone in order to increase the length of time that you can throw punches. Start with 20 and 30 second sets otherwise your training will be counter productive. First you have to build maybe three or four 20 second flurry's into each round. Then you have to make sure your body has what it needs to perform. Carbohydrates are what the body breaks down and stores in the muscle as Glycogen. When your body need energy (gas) and it doesn't have time to process it because you are working so hard and fast; your body will find the gas stored in your muscles as Glycogen. That's the reason runners especially sprinters load up on carbohydrates in thier diets. The body need energy fast so it turn to the Glycognen that is stored in the muscles. Glycogen
does not stay stored in the muscles so you will need to make sure to load up on the carbs regularly especially if your are training hard everyday.
It is imparative that you incorporate anaerobic training into your routine. This will allow you to increase your Lactic Acid Threshold. A important point to remember is that your body can only supply 60 to 90 minutes of energy each day when you are working at this level. As a boxer anaerobics is a most to improve energy, endurance and strength. If you are not using anaerobic training please do so immediately or you will fail as a boxer.