If you want to increase your power, your stamina, and lower your stress levels, boxing is the perfect workout. Boxing trains anaerobic fitness, aerobic fitness, agility, coordination, and resiliency. You don’t have to be aggressive by nature to benefit from boxing training. Boxing training includes a variety of exercises like jumprope, heavy bag drills, and speed bag drills.

Want to train like a boxer? Check out these training tips from Olympic boxer Howard Davis Jr.

Name: Howard Davis Jr.
Age: 56
Sport: Retired Professional Boxer

Bio: In 1976, Howard Davis Jr. won the Olympic Gold Medal in the Lightweight division in Montreal, Canada. Davis was also named the Outstanding Boxer of the 1976 Olympics and awarded the Val Barker Trophy, during the Olympics that included Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks and Leon Spinks. His Olympic victory came just one week after his mother passed away of a heart attack. Upon his return from the Olympics – the City of Glen Clove – honored him with a parade. Davis Jr. turned pro after winning the Olympics. He retired in 1988 and made brief comeback in 1994. Davis officially retired in 1996 with a professional record of: 36-6-1 with 14 KO’s.

His hometown welcomed him back home in 2009 with a street naming ceremony to honor him as well as his late father – Howard Davis Sr. Davis served as Boxing Director at American Top Team in Florida for 8 years.

Now, he’s the CEO of Fight Time Promotions, the leader in MMA pro fights in South Florida.

Awards and Titles:

• 1973-1976 4-time New York Golden Gloves Champion. Davis Jr. made history by winning the Golden Gloves four consecutive years.
• 2-Time National AAU Champion 1973 & 1976.
• North American Champion 1973.
• 3-Time New York Metropolitian Champion 1974, 1975, 1976.
• 1974 World Championships (125 lbs) in Havana, Cuba.
• In 1976 Howard Davis Jr. defeated Thomas Hearns in the amateurs in Las Vegas at the National AAU finals, which qualified him for the Olympic trials in Ohio.
• Deafeated Aaron Pryor in the Olympic trials to earn a berth spot on the 1976 Olympic team at 132 pounds.
• Won the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal.
• Davis officially retired in 1996 with a professional record of: 36-6-1 with 14 KO’s.

How Howard Davis Jr. Stays In Shape:

“I like to run. That’s the key to keeping healthy now that I’m in my 50′s. As long as I can run a few miles a day I feel great and can function better. I also train a few clients in professional boxing, so working out as if I was also training helps me keep my stamina up.”

Howard David Jr’s Eating Habits:

“I try not to eat after 7pm or drink anything with caffeine, so that I can get a good night sleep. Now that I’m not fighting I eat more than I used to, but I do everything in moderation. You can’t go cold turkey and not have dessert or something fried, but it should all be done in moderation. These days, I eat smaller portions of something that may have sugar in it or not be so healthy. I watch what I eat, but I don’t cut out completely because your body still needs fat and sugar to function. For me, it’s about doing things in moderation and eating fresh salads, salmon and berries more than I would eat my favorite carrot cake!”

Howard Davis Jr’s Workout Tips:

Davis has recently retired from fulltime training to focus on his MMA promotions company. Davis is known for training celebrated MMA fighter Chuck Liddell. Here are a few workout tips garnered from Davis’s work with Liddell:

• Incorporate power workouts into your training like hammering tires, carrying sandbags, pushing heavy wheel barrels, and flipping 300-pound tires.
• Increase endurance by cycling between a few minutes rowing and a few minutes of wrestling over and over.
• MMA fighters like Liddell train 2 – 3 times per day 5 days per week. If you are not a professional, once a day is fine. Just make sure to keep up with your consistency.

 
Have you tried MMA or boxing to get in shape? Share your experience here!