If you know someone who is training as a fighter (for competition or fitness), it can sometimes be tough to know how to support them in meeting their goals. Short of training along side them and showing up to their matches, there’s not a whole lot you can do.
Get started on your holiday wishlist by checking out our recommendations below.
Help your fighter take a step toward the next level, by picking up something from the list below. Of course, if you are a fighter yourself, you can still take a peek. Maybe there’s something you should add to your wishlist.
We’ve pulled these products from a list of our staff favorites. All of these are either new items that we launched over the last year, or perennial fan favorites that every fighter should have in their bag.
And if you want to skip the reading and go straight to the window shopping, we put all of these products into a single 2019 Holiday Gift Guide page for you to check out. Enjoy.
Top athletes have a combination of talent and inner drive that goes a long way toward making them great. Without some inherent talent and the discipline and determination to work on your craft, it’s next to impossible to become your best self and beat out the competition. At certain points, though, you need some help, and that’s where a coach comes in.
This is particularly true in boxing, a sport that demands peak physical fitness, refined technique, and lots and lots of toughness. Without a coach who knows what makes you tick, it’ll be easy to hit a wall. As you start your boxing training as a newbie or alter it to get to a new level, do yourself a favor and consult our tips for finding a boxing coach who suits your skill level and goals. Continue reading “Find the Right Boxing Coach for your Skill Level and Goals”
Boxers will face more hand injuries than other single type of injury over the course of their career. Because there are so many small bones in your hand, it is absolutely imperative that you take every precaution available to protect them. Proper hand wrapping is the best method of preventing an injury that could keep you out of this great sport. We recognize the importance of protecting your hands and have provided the following instructions to teach you the proper method using a standard hand wrap. Please keep in mind that this is a general guide and other methods do exist. We feel that the method below is a good starting point and covers all the basic points of proper hand protection.Continue reading “The Proper Way to Wrap Your Hands”
NOTE: This article was edited on 2/18/19 to include more information about Velocity Based Training (VBT) and common devices used to measure movement speed for use with VBT.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while then you know that boxing training constitutes more than just physical strength. We’ve discussed speed, movement, endurance, and mental preparation.
Now, we’re going to take a look at the science that supports the training that goes into boxing. If you understand the physical principles involved, then you will be able to better identify ways to maximize strength, speed, and your overall boxing prowess every time you put on your headgear and step into the ring.
GUEST POST: To talk to you this week, we reached out to a local expert on the topic of using foam rollers and massage balls to recover after a fight or workout. Foam rolling and other forms of trigger point therapy are growing in popularity throughout the sports world. As Dr. Love shows, they are incredibly effective for treating some of the unique stresses of boxing and mma. You can reach Dr. Love at Love Chiropractic, the practice she shares with her husband, Dr. Adam Love.
When you’re in the ring or shadowboxing, maintaining a proper fighting stance keeps you ready to react, allows for fluidity of movement, and maximizes proper transference of force. However, holding that body position can also lead to fatigue and tightness in muscles throughout the body, especially in the legs and shoulders. After a hard workout or an intense competition, this tightness and fatigue can turn to pain or reduced mobility if left un-addressed.
To help reverse these issues, athletes in many sports have turned to foam-rolling and other forms self-myofascial release. In fact, focusing on release of trigger points or adhesions (small areas of tension in the muscle or fascia surrounding the muscle that impede smooth movement) has been shown to be incredibly important to reducing muscle soreness, improving flexibility and enhancing range of motion following exercise—especially high intensity workouts. An October 2018 study just showed that self-myofascial release is beneficial in reducing fatigue-induced losses of power and velocity.
Read on to learn about two of the main types of self-myofascial release exercises: foam rolling and massage ball releases. I’ve highlighted three exercises in each category that will work the most common areas of tightness in boxers and MMA fighters. Continue reading “Foam Rolling for Boxers – Improving Post-Fight Recovery”
To say the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has skyrocketed since UFC’s first event in November of 1993 would be an understatement. The UFC was valued at about $4 billion in 2016. It now consistently draws more pay-per-view buys than boxing and a comparable number to the WWE.
The popularity of the sport has inspired many people to start learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in hopes of one day stepping into the Octagon. But before you set your sights on becoming a great MMA fighter like Conor McGregor or Demetrious Johnson, let’s consider what it takes to get there. Follow these eight tips to becoming a successful MMA fighter to give yourself a shot at the glory. Be warned though—you will need to put in a LOT of hard work. Continue reading “8 Tips to Help you Succeed as an MMA Fighter”
While so much of what makes a great boxer or MMA fighter is technique, speed, and mental toughness, it doesn’t hurt to have a powerful punch. No matter how the fight is going, it can turn decidedly in your favor if you can land one devastating punch.
