Strength and conditioning has been used in boxing for years but in a very basic form, the types of exercises I mean are calisthenics body weight exercises some of which are bur-pees, press ups, sit ups and pull up's these are good exercises for a basic level of strength and conditioning but to gain more effective results the exercises need to be beneficial and specific to the boxer (to make the boxer punch harder, faster or to help the boxer's footwork become faster).

The above mentioned calisthenic exercises have been used in boxing for years and have become traditional exercises and the more recent types of exercises that have been scientifically proven to improve a boxers performance, for an exercise to be effective it must be specific for example to improve a boxers power in the right hand you would have to perform a move that replicates the technique of the right hand for example a medicine ball throw against a wall, or to improve the boxers fitness it would be more beneficial to train specifically for the amount of time they compete for (if the boxer was fighting for 3 x 2 minute rounds it would be better for them to train in 2 minute rounds)

The best example of how effective strength and conditioning is for boxers is Manny Pacquiao who has boxed at several weight class's and always takes his power up to the next weight class.

At Elite Boxing we offer a full range of exercises including fitness circuits, strength and conditioning circuits and various other exercise programmes. All our lessons are small private class's and we coach boxing skills and Thai boxing skills also.

Tamas Munaski was in action recently for Halliwell ABC he boxed on Bolton lads and girls club amateur boxing show on the 21/01/11, he boxed Liam Griffiths who box's for the army and had an outstanding record of 3 wins all by knock-out!

Tamas put in a great performance out boxing his aggressive and game opponent winning every round and stopping him in the third and final round this is a great result for Halliwell ABC which is part of Elite boxing.

Tamas is one of our few amateur boxers from Halliwell ABC and Elite boxing, all our lesson are small private class's so it gives our boxers chance to progress a lot faster and gives the coach's chance to work on the boxers specifics.

This is our first amateur boxer of the year and has started with great success!!!

One of Elite Boxing up and coming boxers has been selected to kick box for England. Connor does his kickboxing at Shoray SCP karate kick boxing but also trains at Elite Boxing where we work on improving his hands and also his strength and conditioning.

He will be travelling to Spain to compete with other competitors from around the world including America.

We are all hoping Connor does well in this tournament and will keep you informed with the results!!!

At Elite Boxing we offer all types of training and tailor each persons training programme to suit them so whatever sport you participate in our training plan can improve your performance, as our results have proven!!

We has some quality sparring this month for some of the fighters at Elite Boxing we have had former British heavyweight champion Mike Holden coming down sparring with former professional heavyweight boxer Scott Mitchell, this is some of the best sparring around for our heavy lads everyone boxed well and this sort of sparring is only going to be improve our boxers!

We also have some quality sparring for the lighter lads with Alex Matvienko who is ranked number 7 in the country at light middleweight and is still the current holder of the british masters light middleweight belt who himself spars at the club and is always bringing local professionals down to the gym to spar and also some very good amateur boxers. Sparring is one of the best ways to perfect your skills so as far as that go's you'd have to go a long way to find better sparring than Elite Boxing.

Boxing training is fastly becoming one of the most popular ways to get fit, the reason for this is that because of the way you move and throw punches you are using all your body and getting a full body workout.

During a session at Elite Boxing we work through every body part with a full range of exercises including a variety of press ups, sit ups and other body weight exercises. At Elite we are always bringing new and exciting exercises which concentrate on different body parts, for example we use the plank and ab rollers to work the core area of the body this is massively important for any athlete to have a strong core as this is how we transfer our power from the bottom half of the body to the top and vice versa.

We also incorporate new exercise and training ideas into all our of our sessions a lot of boxing clubs use the same exercises to get you fit (sit ups, press ups and squats) these exercises are good for a base level of strength and conditioning here at Elite we use new strength exercises and equipment such as 'the prowler' (a sledge weighing 50kg) that is used to push or pull and also sledge hammers on tractors tyres, there are various exercises with the tyres but all help build upper body strength and cardio fitness.

Boxing training is also good for self defence, self confidence and is great to tone you up also do to the training we provide at Elite we have a lot girls who come to box and get fit you don't have to want to fight to take part in our boxing class's.

In a typical training session you can burn up to 500 calories combine this with the diet and nutrition advice we provide and you can see why we have such great results in weight loss.

Please check out our testimonials for examples of our success!!!

I was recomended to elite via a friend as I wanted to get fit and try something i have always wanted to do. I was visiting a gym 3 times a week with no actual goal or direction, i found i was putting weight on and getting no muscular definition. I was encouraged to come and take a look round and use the free lesson i was offered. after the first session i was hooked and signed up their and then. I found the gym had a friendly atmosphere. I found that the coaches have a very good knowledge of fitness and nutrition as well as boxing, i asked what my personal goal was and they assissted me in completing this.

I joined elite about 4 months ago to loose weight and gain fitness which i acheived as I lost 2 stone in the first 6-8 weeks aswell as getting muscular definition. Once my fitness was at a reasonable level i was able to really enjoy learning a sport i have grown up watching. As there is only around 6 people per lesson you feel that you are really getting one to one focus from the trainer which motivates you even more. You undertake so many different excersises the lessons dont get boring as you do so many different things. I was given help in acheving my goals as the trainers provided me with a diet plan which helped me shed weight effectivley over a period of time therefore keeping the weight off.

Whilst training you are pushed beyond your limits and you really do feel the benefit of pushing your self through the pain barrier. You soon really reap the benefits and notice the changes in your body!

I really can not stress the advantages of joining Elite, you will not be disapointed! There are all ages and all levels of fitness in the gym yet you are worked with to reach your goal. Whatever your aim is the trainers will work with you and you will achieve it!

You really have to take advantage of the first free lesson you will not regret it!!

Ali Rushton

This is just a basic bit of information about defence in boxing a boxers defence is arguably the most important part of his technique this is because no matter how hard you can hit someone or how fast your hands are if you cannot get out of the way of your opponents jab you won’t be able to get near them to start with.

There are three types of defences in boxing:

Hand defences – Using your hands to knock your opponents shot off target and also can put your opponent off balance which give you time to counter there attack. Some effective hand defences are the parry or the catch.

Foot Defences – Using your feet to defend against your opponents attack, these defences work really well by making your opponent fall short of their attack these are some of the simplest to do as you can make someone miss by just stepping back. Remember if your opponent can’t reach you they can’t hit you. Two more popular defences are pushing in and out and also laying back.

Body Defences – These are a bit more complicated to explain, basically you use your body to defend the shot by either moving to the side (slipping) and rolling underneath also ducking under a shot is a body defence. A lot of good professional boxers use these defences one of the best in the business is Floyd Mayweather Jr. These are some of the best defences to use as it leaves you in a good place to counter your opponents attack,

With all the above mentioned defence’s it is important to always to remember the basics that we have talked about in previous training tips articles - be in your stance because if you’re not then you don’t have your balance so would just get pushed over by your opponents attack and always keep your hands up!!!!.
Every boxer has a different style of fighting so each boxer would use different types of defences for example Floyd mayweather uses his body defences where as a boxer like Winky Wright prefers hand defences. It’s all about what works for you and your style of boxing.

A massive part of your defence is being alert and having good reactions remember always eyes wide open and you always want to anticipate what your opponent is going to do giving you time to get out of the way and come back with your won counter. The only way to perfect the defences is to practice them as much as possible to make it you natural reaction when someone throws a punch you catch the shot or lay back making the shot miss or block it.

Sparring is also a massive part of practicing your defence at Elite we make a point of every one of our boxers having a great defence and practice as much as possible remember practise makes permanent, so the more you practice the more natural the defence will be.

This is a basic bit of information about defence in boxing there is loads more information but please take a look at the above video to see some of the different defensive move and different boxing styles in boxing performed by one of the best defensive boxers ever Pernell 'sweetpea' whitaker

Top 10 nutritional tips:

1. Drink 2-3 litres of water on non training days to help boost your metabolism and training days up to 5 litres to ensure the body is fully hydrated as de-hydration can affect performance and concentration.
2. Stay away from fried foods and saturated fats as high in calories and hard for your body to digest.
3. Consume only essential fatty acids, Flaxseed Oil supplement or C.L.A.s
4. Eat plenty of good carbohydrates (porridge, wholemeal pasta, etc) and protein (tuna, fish, turkey etc)
5. Protein and recovery shakes are great after a hard workout and easy to carry
6. Eat 5-6 smaller meals spaced throughout the day this kepps your metabolism boosted and helps gain all the essential nutrients from each individual meal
7. Read the labels of foods before you decide to consume them
8. Low fat does not always mean low calorie. Check calories and sugar levels
9. Be careful of high sugar juices
10. Use sweeteners or honey instead of sugar. Sugar cause’s lots problems to our body, such as increase in weight gain, tooth decay, diabetes etc. Honey is a great natural tasty alternative

The jab the first shot you will learn at our gym and probably the most important as any good coach will tell you. The jab is defiantly the most useful and versatile shot; it can be used to set your next shot up or to keep your opponent off balance therefore it can be used in either attack or defence. The shot starts from your guard position if you are an orthodox fighter (right handed) it is your left straight if southpaw (left handed) it is your right hand, you extend your arm in a straight line making sure you don't lift your elbow as the shot leaves your guard, in the final couple of inch's of the shot turn your thumb so nearly pointing to the floor as demonstrate in the diagram. As with all your shots you still need to think about defence when attacking for example when throwing your jab keep your opposite hand in your guard position and keep your chin tucked in.

Image: Miguel Cotto lands a left hook on Joshua Clottey

The left hook - is another basic shot in boxing it is thrown again using your body, any shot we throw with power in boxing must be thrown using your body weight rather than just your arm this is called arm punching and even if the shot is landed perfectly it will have nowhere near the effect if you use your body while throwing the shot, firstly the left hand comes slightly away from your head you then twist on your left foot like with the back hand also twisting your hip and left shoulder into the shot making sure you land your shot with the knuckles, this is so that the shot is a scoring shot and also making it a more effective power shot, this is demonstrated in the picture.