Typical Boxing Workout, Training Guide for Fighters and Civilians

You can't find out who the best is in a fight if both fighters aren't in shape. You will never know your true potential as a fighter unless you're in superior shape. Fighters like Mike Tyson, Ali, and many more, lost some of their fights due to lack of training, both of which, have admitted to this. Despite being the best, they lost to men who weren't as good, but in much better shape at the time. That is why fighters train and should, always walk around in fighting shape.

Contrary to prior opinion, when you’re not in peak physical condition, it isn't just your stamina that suffers. So your worries aren't just lasting longer in the fight. Your speed, power, explosiveness, and range all suffer along with it. It isn't just the later rounds that are affected, always keep that in mind. In fact, the better shape you are in, the more likely you are to finish the fight early. The irony, right?

That being said, whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned fighter looking to take your game to the next level, this is a good workout guide for you.

First, I’ll discuss the type of workouts that are typically part of a boxing workout and why they’re done. Then we’ll break down a few sample routines you can follow and get into some boxing routines of the best.

In summary, here are some things that are included in a typical boxing training regimen:

• Running
• Jump Roping
• Shadow Boxing
• Heavy Bag
• Pad Work
• Strength Training
  • Calisthenics
  • Compound Lifts
  • Resistance
  • Isometrics
• Sparring
• Plyometrics and explosive movements
• Supplemental exercises like a speed bag, reflex bag, double-end bag, cobra bag, etc.

That’s the outline of things we will discuss. You can feel free to jump ahead to the workout or famous fighter's routines.

Now let’s get into each workout.

Typical Boxing Exercises

Before we get into what a typical boxing workout looks like, it's important to know what some of the exercises are in the workout, as well as what they're good for.

Running

About 99% of boxers out there do this activity on a daily basis, with the exception of Deontay Wilder. Running is the staple of a boxing workout for many reasons. Champions past and present include this at either the beginning or the end of every workout, running 3 to 10(or more) miles a day. Roy Jones was quoted as saying:

“Running happens early in the morning – maybe around 5 am/ 5.30 am. How long I run for all depends, but it's usually between five and seven miles.”

Part of Mike’s daily routine at 4 am was going for a run when his enemies were sleeping. In fact in the book “Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D'Amato” Mike talks about waking up at 4 to run  4 miles before he went to school that day!

So why run?

Mental toughness

Running is great for a few reasons. The first surprisingly has nothing to do with the physical aspect of it. As most fighters will admit, fighting is as much mental as it is physical, if not more. Running helps build mental toughness. When you set a goal for the number of miles you want to run, you have to push yourself to get through it. Push yourself to do it daily whether it's rain, sleet, or snow, whether you feel good, bad, or just lazy. Doing your miles every day will build the mental toughness and mental endurance that is necessary for the grueling nature of every battle.

Bruce Lee ran at the same time every day no matter the weather conditions. I suggest you do the same.

Endurance

While the mind is important, your body has to be able to do what the mind wants it to do. Even if your mind is ready to do a long battle, you need to make sure your body is conditioned enough to comply. Doing your miles will help build endurance in your lungs, legs, and overall body. It teaches your body to bring oxygen to your muscles and keeps you in the game longer.

You will build more endurance in your legs and it will help keep you on your pivot in the later rounds instead of getting flat-footed.

The consistent pace of running also gets your lungs used to a nonstop workload, which will make you recover quicker between rounds.

Running preps you for a tough battle, both physically and mentally.

Jump Rope

Over my years of training, I’ve seen many amateurs skipping this workout(no pun intended). Which is a bad idea.

Jump roping is one of the best exercises a fighter can do for footwork and agility. It’s one of the workouts that many people who first start boxing, skip because they're afraid of looking like third-grade school girls on the playground. The reality is, the first time you do it you will probably look worse. Those third graders would put you to shame. But you can't get good at anything unless you're willing to get through the embarrassing phase of sucking really bad.

The first few times out you will probably catch yourself having to double-hop to jump over the rope once like a cute little bunny. It will emasculate you and make you look like a sissy. But that's okay because it is temporary. If you stick with it eventually you will end up looking just as badass as Tyson, Floyd, Ali, and Holyfield when on that rope.

This is another workout that will help you stay on your pivot throughout the fight and teach you how to be agile with your footwork. It forces you to stay on your toes, which is a must in boxing, in a much more literal sense than in life. Do it for at a minimum of twenty minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, to keep your calves/legs in good enough shape to keep your footwork sharp for the fight.

Another reason to jump rope is that it’s just plain old fun. Especially once you get good.

Shadow Boxing

This is a workout I often cringe when I see boxers and MMA fighters alike engaging in it. If you want to improve your speed, power, movement, defense, offense, this is the BEST workout you can do, IF, you do it right.

Shadowboxing is where habits are born, this goes for both good and bad habits. There are a few things you want to do while shadow boxing to do it right and make sure you are learning good habits.

Always throw to the best of your ability. Make sure you are throwing sharp, solid, fast punches. No sloppy and lazy punches. You will build the wrong type of habits doing if you aren't putting your best foot forward each time.
You also want to make sure you're moving your head and your feet. Take rounds off of throwing punches and just focus on head movement and footwork. You will see guys like Floyd Mayweather and Guillermo Rigondeaux doing this a lot.
At the end of each combo ask yourself if that was the fastest or hardest punch that you can throw. If not, throw again harder and faster.

Shadowboxing will help you build the right reflexes into your systems. It’s a great time to practice feints, parries, and movement. It will also aid your coordination and help you throw punches that won’t leave you off balance when you miss, but still have enough power to knock the other guy's head off.

Heavy Bag

The biggest temptation in life isn’t money, food, or fame. It's walking by a heavy bag and trying not to hit it. It's the most fun you can have without getting in trouble, but just because it’s fun doesn't mean it isn’t one of the best workouts for a fighter. It’s what most people think of when they think “boxing workout.”

Outside of stamina, speed, coordination, and range, the heavy bag is amazing for power. This is where you get to unload and hit the bag as hard as you can. It’s great for working on form and increasing punching power. The best bet is always to punch through the bag. Practice your combos and work on perfecting your mix of speed, power, and the form of your punches. The side effect will be sweat and satisfaction.

Pad Work

The closest you can get to simulating target practice in boxing without punching a live person is on the Pads, better known in the boxing circle as Mitts. Working the pads is the best workout to get your timing, range, and combos worked on. The one thing that makes this different from the exercise we mentioned so far is that it requires a partner and preferably one that knows how to hold the pads and catch your punches.

When working the pads focus on accuracy and keeping your hands up. Your partner should slap you with the pad every time you leave yourself open. This will be an easy negative reinforcement strategy that will prevent you from getting knocked out in a fight.

Strength Training

There are a lot of myths about boxers and strength training. One of them is that boxers don't do it at all, focusing more on speed, agility, and endurance. The other side thinks that boxers don't leave the weight room due to their muscular physiques. The truth is that both are wrong.

All boxers, the good ones anyway, do some form of strength training. Your body has to not only be able to give out a beating but take one. So you’ve got to be made of bricks, no matter the weight class.

Here are a few ways fighters strength train, normally not limited to just one:

Calisthenics

Calisthenics is the most popular form of strength training amongst fighters. This is because most weight lifting exercises focus on too much isolation of muscle groups while calisthenics is more a compound exercise. Pushups, for example, don't just work your chest, but your back, shoulders, arms, and core. It builds connectivity and explosive power while also working your endurance. Bodyweight exercises are all in one exercise when done right. They help build strength without slowing you down, making you too tight, or building too much muscle. It allows you to develop power and explosiveness without losing speed and agility. Mike Tyson was famous for not lifting weights and sticking to calisthenics, saying that “weights have as much to do with boxing as cheesecake.” Great analogy Mike. Considering he was one of the biggest punchers of all time, I’d say calisthenics can go a long way in training your body.

One of the best bodyweight workouts you must do is neck bridges. Training your neck will help you take a mean punch.

Compound Lifts

The next best thing to bodyweight exercises is compound lifts. These strength training exercises focus on power and explosiveness. These include mostly powerlifting exercises. To avoid building too much muscle, either stay light or stick to 1 to 2 rep maxes, much like Bruce Lee did. Sticking to low reps allows you to avoid building too much muscle and help maintain speed while adding to explosive power. If you implement this exercise be extremely careful with injuries. Always take proper caution before implementing this routine into your fight training. Fighters like Anthony Joshua, Bruce Lee, and George St Pierre have been known to do these.

Good Old Fashioned Weight Lifting

You won’t catch too many boxers on weight machines and curl bars because it's one of the most shunned activities across old-school boxing gyms. However, it’s more about how you do it rather than what you are doing. The biggest reason coaches don't want you to build muscle is so that you can stay in the lower weight classes and have better endurance. More muscles mean more weight and more oxygen that needs to be delivered to feed them during a fight. However, guys like Shane Mosley, Evander Holyfield, and Floyd Mayweather are examples of guys who have done it successfully.

Evander used weights as a way to move from cruiserweight to heavyweight and build the necessary strength and physique to compete with giants he technically shouldn't have been able to be in with, on paper. Roy Jones did the same thing to be able to go up in weight from 175 to the heavyweight division. See a pattern?

Guys like Floyd however, lift light weights, imitating bodyweight exercise where they are working on strengthening the body and the lungs without packing on muscle. This helps build stronger joints, more density, and prevents your body from tiring quickly in the fight. Also, it is really important to take a beating. Anyone that's fought a body puncher knows, it’s not just the stomach and kidney shots that hurt. Getting roughed up to the body can wear out your shoulders, arms, and fatigue you pretty quickly.

So when it comes to weight lifting, if you're in the lower weight classes and would like to stay there, then it’s best to stick to light weights or stick to calisthenics. But if you're looking to bulk up and be able to take on the big boys in the wight classes above, then lift away, just steer clear of exercises that focus too much on aesthetics and focus more on exercise that is more functional.

If you want power, lift heavier, if you want to maintain speed, lift light and lift fast.

Just remember lifting will hinder your fluidity a bit and you will see yourself punching a bit more rigid. Always take opportunity cost into consideration when picking a strength training routine.

Isometrics

This is something everyone should do regardless of sport. One of Bruce Lee’s favorite exercises and with good reason. Isometrics build strength in muscles, tendons, and everything in between. Isometrics exercises can be done with any of the above-mentioned strength training exercises. All you have to do is take any of the above, like pushups, situps, pullups even shoulder press and just hold the position midway for as long as you can.

Here is an example of it:

This kind of exercise will build connectivity strength like no other and make your body stronger and less injury-prone. Of course, you can opt for an easier one than Bruce up there. Anything like holding a pushup position or midway down on a squat is considered isometric.

Other

There are other things you can do for strength and explosiveness. These include flipping tires and sledgehammer workout(which also utilizes the tire). These are both whole-body workouts that also work on endurance, so it’s good to include as a good ending to your strength training routine to finish things off.

Sparring

If you had a fight coming up and you can only do one workout to prepare for it, this would be it. This is the ultimate boxing workout and should be taken the most seriously amongst fighters in any discipline. Before I get into why sparring is the greatest thing since sliced bread, here is a short warning message:

WARNING: IF THE GYM YOU'RE IN TELLS FIGHTERS TO GO “EASY” IN SPARRING, GRAB YOUR GEAR, WALK OUT THE DOOR AND FIND ANOTHER GYM.

No matter how much training you do, you can’t get good at fighting if you don’t fight. That’s what sparring is for. So sparring “easy” is going to build habits that will also make you fight “easy.” Which is good practice for losing if that’s what you’re into.

Sparring works things that no amount of pads and a heavy bag can do for you. It's fighting a real live person who is fighting back, defending, in an unpredictable way(compared to your coach calling out combos).

There is range and timing that you develop an intuitive feel for when you spar. That intuitive nature of fighting can only be learned in a real fight and that is why it’s important for you to simulate a real fight when sparring. If your opponent is out on the ropes then you don’t want to hit them, safety is important, but make sure you’re giving it all you got, both you and your partner.

Sparring is where you get to test the hypothesis that you develop during training. If you’ve been working on your pull counter while on the pads, this is the time to see how to actually implement it on someone that’s trying to take your head off and not calling out every punch they’re about to throw.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of guys don’t spar on days they aren't “feeling it.” These are the guys who work 9 to 5’s and say things like “I used to box.” So if you’re actually trying to be a fighter, don’t ever catch yourself not doing something because you don't “feel it” that day. One day you might not feel it on fight night and you still have to go out there and do what you have to do. Cus D'Amato once said that a professional is someone who “can do what is required to be done, regardless of how he feels within, that man is a professional in whatever field he is in.”

Boxing Workout for the Average Civilian

Before we get into the workout fighters should be doing, let's get into a workout the average person who works in an office can do. If you're a fighter, feel free to scroll down.

You can still get the benefits of working out like one without putting 6-8 hours in the gym. You can get good results in your physical attributes without worrying about having to be in good enough shape to fight for your life. The one thing we want to keep in mind is boxers train to have strength, speed, agility, and endurance all in one person. This is tough to accomplish and will require a specific type of training. You will be able to gain muscle that is both functional and has endurance, and is neither bulky, nor invisible, but a beautiful sculpture of lean mass that looks and performs well.

Here is the workout for the average civilian:

You will split this workout into workout A and workout B, which will be alternating days, and you will do this 6 days a week with one day off.

Workout A

Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM) Calisthenics

• 5 Sets of pushups
• 5 Sets of squats
• 5 Sets of Pull-ups
• 5 Sets of Dips
• 5 Sets of Leg Raises
• 5 Minutes of Jump Rope

This entire strength training routine should take you 25 minutes since you will be doing it every minute on the minute. You will then end this with 5 minutes of jump roping. Jump roping is much more effective than running in burning calories and is great for your endurance and those calves that no one ever works.

Workout B

3, 2-minute rounds of shadow boxing

5 2-minute rounds on the punching bag, you can see fun heavy bag drills here:

5-minute alternating dumbbell shadowboxing routine, you can see it here:

5 Minute Arm Circuit - You will do bicep curls, triceps pulldowns, and shoulder raises to failure until the 5 minutes is up, going from one exercise to the next every time you fail. This can be done with dumbells or resistance bands. This is the end of your workout.

The Boxing Workout for Fighters (Amateur or Pro)

You can’t find out who the best is in a fight if both fighters aren’t in shape. You will never know your true potential as a fighter unless you’re in superior shape. Fighters like Mike Tyson, Ali, and many more, lost some of their fights due to lack of training, both of who, have admitted to this. Despite being the best they lost to men who weren’t as good, but in much better shape at the time. That is why fighters train and should, always walk around in fighting shape even if it’s not the peak they reach during a fight camp.

Contrary to the prior belief by most fighters, when you’re not in peak physical condition, it isn’t just your stamina that suffers. So your worries aren’t just lasting longer in the fight. Your speed, power, explosiveness, and range all suffer along with it. It isn’t just the later rounds that are affected, always keep that in mind. In fact, the better shape you are in the more likely you are to finish the fight early. The irony, right?

Let’s get into the workout. 

Workout A. Monday, Wednesday, Friday 

This doesn’t all have to be in one go, you can separate your boxing training from your other conditioning work in two parts of the day. If you’re an amateur fighter and are limited for time, chop down how long you do some of the non-boxing activities or cut out a few nonessential exercises which would include supplements like sway bag or speed bag. 

Jump Rope 10-20 minutes 

Shadow Boxing 

• 2 rounds loosening up
• 3-6 rounds hard 
• 30-second breaks 

Heavy Bag 

• 4-6 Rounds 
• 3-4 minute rounds 
• 30-second breaks

Padwork 

• 4-6 Rounds 
• 3-4 minute rounds 
• 30 seconds breaks 

Strength Training 

• 20 sets Pushups EMOM 
• 20 Sets Pullups EMOM 
• 20 Sets Squats EMOM 
• 10 Sets Dips EMOM 

You can do these all in one go or break them up per earlier breakdown. 

Work to increase your reps range per minute. 

Sway Bag 

• 3-4 Rounds
• 3-4 Minutes 
• 30 seconds breaks 

Plyometrics, Kettle Bell Swings, Sledgehammer Training, or another form of explosive movements.  Training these while tired from the workout will teach you the second win rather than depending on pure will. 

Running - 3-5 Miles 

You can step up the numbers if you’re prepping for a fight. I prefer you to do your running early AM, or late evening and completely separate from the training. 

Workout B. Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. 

The focus on these days will be on your sparring and 

Shadow Boxing 

• 2 rounds loosening up
• 3-6 rounds hard 
• 30-second breaks 

Sparring 

• 6-12 Rounds 
• 3-4 minute rounds 
• 30-second breaks

Strength Training 

• 20 sets Pushups EMOM 
• 20 Sets Pullups EMOM 
• 20 Sets Squats EMOM 
• 10 Sets Dips EMOM 
• 10 Sets (to failure) Situps
• 10 Sets (to failure) Hanging Leg Raises 

Defensive Drills (Head Movement, Parries, Slips, Counter, etc.)

• 3-6 Rounds 
• 3-4 Minutes 
• 30-second breaks

Plyometrics, Kettle Bell Swings, Sledgehammer Training, or another form of explosive movements

Speed Bag 

• 3-5 Rounds
• 3-4 minute rounds 
• 30 seconds breaks 
• (or 15 Minutes Straight)

Isometrics/Stretching

This is the perfect way to end your training day. Do isometric holds followed by a stretching routine to make sure nothing tightens up for tomorrow.

Running

3-5 Miles Morning or Evening, separate form training. 

Sundays Off 

That's a good boxing program to follow if you don’t have one already. This one is particularly for guys training to be fighters. If you’re just trying to use boxing to be an in-shape civilian, stay tuned for that workout coming soon.

Remember this is just a sample, so use it as an idea and feel free to brainstorm your own.

In the meantime, here are some workouts of the world's greatest fighters to give you more ideas.

Famous Fighters Boxing Workout Routines

While we may not always get all the details of how some of the past and present champions trained. We get glimpses of what they did in interviews. Let’s look at what some of the best fighters to bless this planet did in their training routines. Keep in mind most of this is hearsay and we don’t really know EXACTLY what they did at their peak, but this gives a good idea of what some of them did.

Roy Jones Jr. Workout

While he was a young kid training with his father we’ve heard stories of him dodging nail boards and getting his thighs blasted with metal pipes during sprints, but and older Roy sat down for an interview for a fitness magazine and said this was his workout preparing for Joe Calzaghe:

• Wake up at 5:30 am to run 5 to 7 miles, followed by squats.
• Strength training consisted of pushups, pullups, and dips.
• 12 rounds of pads, heavy bag, and sparring, no detail on rotation. 4-minute rounds.
• 16 minutes of the speed bag.
• 1200 reps of abs which he increased as camp went on.
• Stretching

The training lasted 6 to 7 hours a day.

The only time Roy Jones was known to lift weights was to gain weight for the Ruiz fight when he went from light heavyweight to heavyweight.

Manny Pacquiao Workout

This was more Freddie Roache's routine than Pacquiao’s, but given that he is his coach, I'm sure it's not too far off.

• Early morning 5-mile run, the distance decreased as sparring rounds increased.
• Shadowboxing
• 8 rounds on the heavy bag
• 3 rounds of the double end bag
• 3 rounds of jumping roping
• 12 rounds of sparring for Pacman
• Cooldown

And from what we have seen on HBO’s 24/7, Pacquiao does a lot of strength and conditioning revolving around Calisthenics and Plyometrics on top of his boxing.

Floyd Mayweather Workout

Despite Floyd's famous public workouts, he is actually very secretive about his real training regimen. Here is some of what we gathered from a few different sources.

• Wakes up at 2:30 pm
• Sparring 9-minute rounds according to him it the first thing he does.
• Hits the bag 30 to 40 minutes, only water for breaks, no timed rest.
• Strength training consists of situps, pullups, dips, and pushups. We’ve also seen him do weights like pulldowns in 24/7.
• Mitt work
• Speedbag
• Jump roping
• Neck Work
• Pads
• 5 to 7 mile run as the last thing of the day. He believes you shouldn't spend most of your energy on running but in sparring, so he leaves the running for last.

Muhammad Ali Workout

Ali did an interview in which he revealed some of his training regime, which was 6 days a week.

• Wake up at 5:30 am to run 6 miles
• Shadowboxing: 5 rounds x 3 minutes
• Heavy bags 6 rounds times 3 minutes
• Sparring, more rounds as camp went on.
• Floor exercises
• Leg raises
• Bicycle crunches
• Sit-ups with the medicine ball
• Leg raises
• Speed bag for 9 minutes
• 20 minutes jump roping

Ali didn’t lift weights but was seen doing pushups. Not sure how often or how much. But he was quoted saying that he doesn't start counting until it starts hurting.

Mike Tyson Workout

Mike Tyson was a physical specimen, which is probably why he has the most searched boxer workout on the planet. Based on what I gathered from some of his interviews, books, and resources online, here is what he did. It’s important to note his workouts evolved over time (eventually devolved).

In his new book about Cus, he recalls during his school days where he’d wake up at 4 am to run and then get home and do 400 pushups and sit-ups after a 4-mile run, this was before he went off to school that morning.

In another interview, he said he would wake up at 4 am to run 4 miles and then walk 10 miles.
He would come home and do 2,500 sit-ups. Do pushups, Spar 8 to 10 rounds, and then do abs again.

According to an interview with Cus, here is what he did. He trained 50 to 60 hours a week, more than some of your work in an office.

• Woke up at 4 am - 3 to 5-mile jog
• Breakfast
• Sparring 10 rounds
• Calisthenics (push-ups, dips, sit-ups and shrugs and 10 minutes of neck work )
• Lunch break
• Six rounds of sparring, bag work, slip bag, jump rope, pad work, and speed bag.
• More calisthenics
• Shadowboxing focused on technique, often just one.
• Cumulative reps for the day calisthenics were 2000 situps, 500 pushups, 500 dips, 500 shrugs, and about 30 minutes of neck bridges. These were broken up into multiple sets throughout the day.

In jail, he was known to get to 100 pushups in one set for the first time and had a pretty interesting calisthenic squat routine. You can see the full Mike Tyson workout here.

Mike took Sundays off. Deservedly so.

That’s All Folks

This should give you an idea of what you need to do in the gym daily to get better at your craft. Boxing is a combination of body and mind. So make sure when you're training your mind is in it. Don’t just work to be able to throw punches, but work on the punches, the form, the technique, each time you do it. Each punch should be thrown better than the last: faster, stronger, with more precision. Constantly try to beat your best and become a better you. When you’re done with training, spend your time studying your favorite fighters. Don’t just look at what they’re doing right. Instead, think of strategies to defeat them.

Conquer With Confidence

Every time you hit your goal markers you will see that your confidence increases. Nothing builds a confident mindset a fighter needs like demolishing his training goals and staying consistent with his training regime. Hard work is something no one can take away from you. So if you want that confident “I will smash your face” look when the ref is reading the instructions, do your rounds. When you see your opponent having a concerned look in his eyes, it means he didn’t do his.

Work Harder.

Braw all day!