The beauty of explosive training is that you don’t need a gym to do it and I feel like most training scenes from boxing movies usually take place outside, in the cold. Am I right? All you need to do is find a park that has some stairs you can run up and down, a bench you can step and jump onto and a field where you can run sprints. Investing in a medicine ball is ideal, and is really the only piece of equipment you will need to take your workouts outdoors. You can find them at most sporting goods stores and I would start with one that is around 10-12 pounds.
What I am going to do is create some fun, explosive power circuits that you can add into your workout you are already doing. Make sure you are still doing your strength training, stretching and boxing workouts but add these sets in to help you last round after round of battling it out in the ring.
For those of you who aren’t boxers, but who are looking for a new way to push yourself, feel free to give these a try also.
Set 1 – Upper Body Power and Endurance
1 minute of lateral shuffles
- Stay low and make your legs work as your shuffle one step to the right, touching the ground with your left hand, and then one step to the left, touching the ground with your right hand. This is going to help you with your footwork and agility as well as work the endurance of your legs
10 medicine ball burpees with push-ups
- Start with an overhead medicine ball press, then place the ball on the ground with your left hand on the ball and your right hand on the ground, jump your feet back and do one push-up. Jump your feet back towards your hands, pick up the ball, do one overhead press and then repeat the burpee/push up with your other hand on the ball.
45 seconds of lateral shuffles
10 medicine ball burpees with push ups
30 seconds of lateral shuffles
10 medicine ball burpees with push ups
Set 2 – Leg Speed and Power
20 jumping split lunges
- Start in a lunge position, holding the medicine ball at your chest, with your right leg forward, jump off both feet, and land with your left foot forward. Repeat this for 20 repetitions, trying to get as low as possible each repetition. In this exercise it isn’t about going fast but rather finding power with each movement.
5 sets of stairs
- Carry the medicine ball with you, but be careful as you descend down the stairs
20 jumping split lunges
4 sets of stairs
- Continue this alternating between stairs and lunges, decreasing the number of stair repeats all the way to 1
Set 3 – Upper Body Power and Core
20 medicine ball woodchop throws with a side shuffle
- Using the power of your legs and core, toss the ball to the right a side shuffle to pick it up. Repeat to the left and then to the right again for 20 repetitions.
20 squat medicine ball throws
- Squat with the medicine ball at your chest, then as you stand throw the ball as high as you can, catching it and going right back down into a squat. Repeat 20 times.
20 sit-ups with medicine ball rotation
- Keep the medicine ball at your chest as you do a sit-up, then once at the top touch the ball to the left, then right, keeping your legs still. Lower back down then repeat the same movement 20 times.
20 up/downs on the medicine ball
- Get into a push-up position over the medicine ball, place your left hand on the ball and then your right, trying to keep your hips from rotating. Place your left hand back onto the ground, then your right and repeat, starting with the opposite hand.
1 minute high plank with your toes on the medicine ball
- Staying in a high plank (or push-up position) place the ball under your toes and hold your body still for 60 seconds. For an added challenge try tapping one toe at a time to the floor or driving one knee at a time to your chest (I opted from doing this as the ball was quite slippery and it wasn’t safe).
Set 4 – Leg Power
20 bench explosive jumps
- Make sure the bench is sturdy before attempting this. Drive your knees high as you jump off both feet landing in a squat position on the bench, making sure your knees are not extending over your toes. You can step, or jump off then repeat.
20 explosive bench step-ups
- This is very similar to the jumping lunges, except you have one foot on the bench. Push off the foot on the bench, getting as high as possible, and then land with the other foot on the bench. Repeat this 20 times.
1 minute bench mountain climbers
- Keep your upper body as calm as possible, drive one knee in then the other side, as quickly as you can for 1 minute
20 reverse bench lunges with a jump
- Stand with one foot on the bench and one leg forward (you will be facing away from the bench). Explode off of your front foot, driving your knee as high as you can before landing. Repeat 10-20 times then switch to the other leg.
Go through each set one time, with zero rest between exercises. After each set, allow yourself 2-3 minutes for your heart rate to drop and for you to recover. The goal is to make sure you are completely recovered before beginning the next set, to ensure you can find maximum energy for every exercise.
Have fun with these and play around by adding in your own exercises. Good luck with your fighting season!
Attached: Reese Witherspoon hits the gym in Brentwood on October 4th.
