I agree that video is amazing for motivation. No question about it. All I want to make clear is it’s not the whole story and we don’t need video and the video can be staged and most don’t have equipment like some of these schools we see. I mean seriously? I never had any equipment in my early development, nor did Charlie, nor did Charlie’s athletes until very late in the game. Med balls and a track and some very old weights.
I want coaches and athletes alike to understand need vs want and prioritize both as it pertains to training in the beginning and for some time into one’s own development.
And I loved Olympic lifting but I also remember Charlie speaking about the practicality of this for most. Remember, he did not have a paid staff. When he did have money he gave it all to the people who had been helping him for free in the beginning. These schools and professional teams have alumni money and facilities that are incredible.
I don’t think cut and paste viewing is helpful. It creates anxiety and promotes against sitting and learning or taking the time to develop. I see lots of things with Bolt in that video that I don’t like and don’t look good technically. Who am I to say except I have seen the very best and I also understand the reasons why doing thing with method over time are so beneficial. Bolt would be smart to stop running now IMO.He has done a great job and avoiding serious injuries and he is number one.
So much common sense here. Fads and tradition seem to drive a lot of this.
I listened to some more confirmation of proper sport prep this week from a former pro kickboxer. He is Canadian and seems to have a used a solid strength coach to help him.
He was a champion in the best organization in the world. He never ran any long distance at all. NEVER. He would do 10m sprints on occasion at the end of his prep cycle. He never gassed or lost a fight because of conditioning. He let the sport training take care of his conditioning and weights/plyos/medball take care of his strength and some power.
He also didn’t cut weight with ultra low carbs. He would drop his protein down and still maintain some carbs.
Indeed, as I’ve written and lectured about extensively, all of the running that so many athletes do whose sport demands either minimal accelerations or no sprinting/running at all, are simply products of the misinformed sport culture that has rendered the concepts of “road work”, 110’s, 300yd shuttles, gassers…commonplace. When in reality, they are pointless and often damaging.
Most boxers/fighters I know that run do so because “it’s what you are supposed to do.” Most of the old time pros that used to run advocate not running real hard and not doing it for 30min or so. It’s basically recovery work. But harder on the joints style recovery work.
I can see a little value for long duration endurance requirements for pro boxers that go 12 rounds. I do see more value in swimming or cycling which some guys are doing now. All this does is build basic endurance abilities. In some ways though, it’s still the sacred cow thing…have to fight for 36 minutes so I need to run for 36 minutes. No one says I play football for 60 minutes, so I need to run for 60 minutes.
I have never ever replicated anything close to the feeling of any sparring or even really hard fight paced mitts/bag work through any running. You can mimic the lactic feeling in the legs by running but that’s not what most boxers are doing and there are easier and more specific ways of gaining this quality.
The toughness required for fighting isnt built through running either IMO, though there may be some carryover of “pushing through the burn.” That is built through sparring, hard pads, and between the ears.