Picture a boxer in the gym and there is a high chance a montage of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa pops into your head – stair sprints, single-arm press-ups and pull-ups, sit-ups and a whole lot of skipping.
Many of these moves still have their place. However, strength and conditioning is an evolving art, and while some trainers stick with the old ways, many are now implementing new and varied training methods to improve their fighter’s performance inside the ring.
Jordan Vine, S&C coach to rising star Moses Itauma, is one of those looking to progress the sport’s approach to lifting weights.
“I think a lot of strength and conditioning coaches in boxing typically train their fighters as ‘boxers’,” he says. “They think there’s only one way to do it, rather than training the individual [they’re working with]. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. No one is the same, no fighter is the same, so we all need to train differently.”
Itauma’s 12-0 professional record suggests Vine’s individualised approach is working, with the 20-year-old blending athleticism and technical skill with extraordinary power to deliver 10 knockouts in that time – many of them within the opening rounds of the fight.
He and Vine have a secret weapon for developing the latter attribute: Olympic weightlifting. This is how they are using it to prepare for the Dillian Whyte fight on 16 August.
What is Olympic weightlifting?
Olympic weightlifting comprises just two moves: the snatch, and the clean and jerk.
The snatch involves lifting a barbell in one fluid motion from the ground to overhead. The clean and jerk sees athletes lift a barbell from the ground to their shoulders (the clean), then send it overhead in a separate motion (the jerk).
These are the two exercises that Olympic weightlifting athletes must perform during competition – they have three attempts at each, and their score is the combined total weight of their heaviest successful snatch and heaviest successful clean and jerk.
To train for this sport, athletes use many derivatives of the two exercises such as clean pulls, power cleans and snatch balances – these are often partial repetitions, focussing on a specific portion of the lift and developing the requisite attributes. Athletes from other sports can also use these variant exercises to develop the desired physical skills.
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Why is Olympic weightlifting beneficial for boxers?
“Olympic weightlifting is my background, so we do a lot of Olympic lifts,” Vine says. “For me, they are the best exercises for developing explosive power, and I use them in most of my sessions.”
It shows. Moses Itauma can power clean more than most people can deadlift: 140kg.
However, Vine says many coaches shy away from these technical lifts because they do not know how to coach them. As such, they miss out on the potential benefits.
While strength is needed to execute Olympic weightlifting moves, power – force times velocity – is the linchpin. If the bar is lifted slowly from the floor to the hip, it will lack the momentum needed to carry it to the shoulders or above, so force has to be generated incredibly quickly.
Most of this force comes from the hips through a process called ‘triple extension’ – the simultaneous extension of the hip, knee and ankle joints. It is the rapid extension at the hip, twinned with the movements of the joints below it, that generates force explosively to send the bar skywards.
A powerful triple extension can also be seen when throwing a punch, with the boxer winding up then unleashing a shot in the blink of an eye.
The Olympic lifts are a lesson in power transfer too. Full-body tension is required as force is generated through the ground, then transferred through the legs and core to the shoulders and arms. In boxing, the force transfer for a punch follows a similar journey, so developing this ability through weightlifting is likely to transfer.
Athletic benefits of Olympic weightlifting
A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Sports Medicine journal set out to compare the training effects of weightlifting, traditional resistance training and plyometrics on strength, power and speed.
It found that weightlifting training added bonus benefits beyond standard strength training, offering greater improvements in sprint speed and jumping performance – both closely aligned with power production.
Researchers concluded: “These findings support the notion that if the training goal is to improve strength, power and speed, the inclusion of weightlifting exercises within phases of the training cycle may be advantageous to target goal-specific adaptations while also promoting the development of a well-rounded athlete.”
The report found that plyometric exercises offered similar improvements in strength, jump performance and speed, suggesting that all three training methodologies have a place in a professional athlete’s training programme.
Moses Itauma’s wider programme
Itauma’s wider training plan reflects the lessons above, containing a blend of exercises to develop maximal strength, power and agility – supporting his efforts in the boxing ring. He also completes long, slow cycles to build his aerobic base.
It is these exercise that he – and his coaches – believe will carry him to victory on Saturday night.
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