breathing for boxing
Even though boxing is 70% anaerobic, your body’s ability to process oxygen is essential for good boxing. Being 70% anaerobic means that boxing simulates short sprints, explosive movements, and dexterous agility that requires a lot of energy on demand and needs less oxygen than more aerobic activity.
The optimal training formula for boxing is not set in stone, however, old-school long-distance road work remains a staple of many boxers’ and trainers’ regimens. However, most good boxers and trainers have realized that training has to simulate the intensity of the actual event. Anything other than training for how a fight feels will leave you with suboptimal performance. There is a slight distinction between breathing, oxygen use, and boxing efficiency, but they are all related. Below, one of my YouTube subscribers brings this issue to my attention and I will attempt to answer it based on a holistic view of performance training for boxing.
“I really enjoy your videos! It’s helping me a lot in all aspects. I was wondering about how to breathe in combat. The fun thing is when I hit the bags, the heavy bag, the double end bag, the body steal bag . I don’t have a problem. But when I train I have a problem. I guess I’m holding my breath. Can you give me some advice? Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
First of all, proper boxing breathing technique allows you to expel the air almost completely when you throw your punches so that the body’s natural instinct to breathe again takes effect. This way, he will have a constant supply of new oxygen. To do this you have to exert your exhalation from the lowest part of your abdomen. If you exhale and only apply pressure from your upper diaphragm or chest, you will get tense and tired very quickly.
The best way I’ve found to do this is to make a loud “hmph” or “huh” sound on each blow while keeping your mouth closed and exhaling through your nose. When the air comes out strong your body will call it back. It’s ideal to go back to breathing through your nose, I’ve had a deviated septum for years so getting back to breathing through your nose has always been difficult, but it’s ideal. The specific noise you make when you exhale doesn’t matter, a lot of the best boxers make an “SSS” sound when they punch, some like Ricky Hatton, make a loud “Hagh”. The key is that the air has to leave the lower part of your abdomen, this also makes your body a little more resistant and durable against counter attacks.
One way to test this and get a feel for it is to place your fingertips just below your belly button and let out a hard “Hmph”, do three or four quicks in a row like when you throw a combo, you should feel the effort out. pressure from your abdomen. Now try this, place your fingertips on your upper abdomen and exhale forcefully without letting your lower abdomen apply pressure, you will notice that it feels tight and you still have plenty of air left in your lungs to expel. In the heat of real boxing, this is how many people tend to breathe, it takes training, experience and conditioning to calibrate it properly.
However, there is a bigger problem for my future boxer, and bad breath may be the symptom, but it is not the cause. One thing I emphasize in training is to simulate the feel and conditions of the fight as much as possible. Many boxers forget, don’t realize, or lack the drive to get in proper shape for a fight. Hitting the bag is the equivalent of jogging, and fighting is the equivalent of sprinting. Sparring and wrestling are high intensity for the simple reason that the opponent moves and applies pressure through offense and his ability to dodge your attacks. It takes a lot of steam to launch an attack and retreat to safety, a bag only takes half the effort. Let me tell you in measurable terms: If you’re going to have a 100-punch output during a round of combat, you should be ready for a 300-punch round in the bag. This is roughly the equivalent I’ve found, it may be a bit less depending on your footwork and head movement, but you get the idea.
One thing I emphasize to fighters is hitting the bag to the beat of the fight. The fight pacing is fast, it’s dynamic, it incorporates head movement, in and out, side movement, in-fight, and fast, fast, fast combos! My recommendation is to have at least 2 workouts a week where you do 4 rounds at fight pace. This means you warm up for 3 rounds. And then when round 4 comes around, it’s a mad rage and a total tactical fight with the bag.
How will you know if you’re doing it right? By the end of the third round at fight pace, you’ll be begging for the bell to ring. Another way you’ll know is when everyone in the gym looks at you and wonders if they need to exorcise the demon within.
You need to simulate the feeling of a real fight in training. Another trick I used to do is when the bell rang for the round, I would do 20 burpees in a row before moving on to the bag. I would do this for every round. In these conditions you will learn to fight tired and fatigued. You don’t want to train this way all the time, I recommend twice a week. Remember in training to simulate the feel of your toughest rounds in the ring!