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How
do you prepare optimally for a 12-rounds-world-championship-fight?
This is a question many kickboxers and professional boxers
ask themselves. To coach a marathon runner or a 100-m-sprinter
is relatively easy. A marathon runner needs endurance, whereas
the sprinter needs speed. For a kickboxer there exist many
more criteria, which need training. For example, Kickboxing
requires speed, strength, endurance and flexibility. These
qualities are only useful if you have a good feeling for distance,
an exact technique, good co-ordination, fully developed tactics,
the necessary toughness and the intention to win. Here it
becomes obvious that you have to consider several criteria
to achieve the optimal power, which you need for a kickboxing
fight.
You should
plan your training as follows:
(There
should be enough time for a reasonable planning of your training.
If you do a written preparation of your training, you always
have control over your momentary power).
1) How
much time do you have a day? (at least four hours is necessary)
2) Who
coaches you? Are these persons the right ones?
3) Who
is your training partner, are these persons the right ones
and are they reliable?
4) Does
your profession allow for world championship preparation?
4) A realistic
self-criticism: Where are your weak points? Where are your
strengths?
5) A realistic
opponent criticism: Where are his/her weak points and strengths?
6) Do
you have enough time for relaxation?
It is
not until you have answered these questions that you are able
to make the planning of your training. This timetable should
always be prepared individualistically. The following timetable
is optimally made for me. The topics are:
*The
set-up of my endurance training
*The
set-up of my strength training (explosive power training).
*The
set-up of my technique training (shadow-boxing, partner training).
*Relaxation
*Nutrition
*Coach
and training partner
*Coaching
before the fight
*The
set-up of my endurance training
For a
fight over twelve rounds you need much endurance. The endurance-type
differs from the one of a long distance runner, who has to
keep a continuous and fast speed. For kickboxing you need
more Schnellkraftendurance (Schnellkraftausdauer: speed...power...endurance).
You have to be capable during a round to fight fast and explosive,
and relax in the one-minute break. On this basis you should
base your schedule on interval training. Through this training
the body adjusts to the demands as follows:
*The cardiac
muscle (heart) becomes bigger, thus a better transport of
nutrients and oxygen through the blood
*A better
reception of oxygen through the lungs
*Capillarisation
of the muscles, achieving better blood absorption, thus incorporating
nutrition, and a faster transportation of used substances.
Under
this criterion, you will notice that the phase for relaxing
for endurance sports becomes shorter, and the ability for
concentration becomes higher. This will occur gradually, but
subtle differences in your training will be noticeable: you
managed a hard round in which you fought tactically well,
because you used your technique in a concentrated, exact and
accurate way. In the one-minute-break you relax nearly completely
and as a consequence are able to start the next round with
renewed vigor.
The next
item will be the practice of the endurance training. You may
forget that you want to win a kickboxing fight and not a long
distance run. My personal endurance training looked as follows:
Running-training
Punch-training
Spinning
Sparring
Running-training
My running
training didn't contain more than 7.6 kilometres, but at a
fast tempo. Usually I completed 3.6 kilometres at a fast speed.
Another
training unit followed: Either five 100m sprints with full
power and slow jogging back to the starting point or as a
variant a 800m run with full tempo or punch training with
three times 50 combinations as fast as possible. I started
with a jab-punch, than jab-punch-hook and at least 25 roundhouse
kicks to the left and to the right. One of the biggest problems
during the running training was, that in the morning it started
to snow to rain or the ground was frozen. My training-partners
were nonetheless able to motivate me - also under bad conditions
- to do the training.
Punch-training
For me,
punch training is one of the most effective training units,
which exist. For this reason I worked it into my training
schedule. In doing punch training much depends upon your coach.
To do a good punch training session, you need a good trainer,
who knows the different punches and is able to practise them.
Patrick Conar (brother of Roland Conar, 3 times world champion
in Pointfighting) who for a long time has been a friend of
mine has coached me each Wednesday morning at 9 for one hour.
The punch training usually took ten rounds with a duration
of two minutes and a short break of 45 seconds. Each technique
and combination I tried to hit with maximum speed. During
the round I moved all the time to be a movable target. Each
Thursday Jürgen Lutz in the Bulldog Gym coached me. After
my sparring fights I usually did 3 rounds punching (3 minute
rounds, one minute break) to give once more all my rest.
Spinning
Spinning
is a kind of endurance training on a bike ergometer. Each
Wednesday after my punch training I practised one hour of
spinning. It is important for me was to keep my heart rate
between 140 and 160.
Sparring
Without
sparring you need not fight. It is important to have good
sparring partners who are also able to imitate your adversary.
For a successful world championship fight it is important
to do hard sparring. To the body you should always fight with
full contact, in order to learn the handling of hard body
hits. Be aware to have different sparring partners. Frank
Scheuermann who has been my training partner for a long time
often tried to knock me out, and I did likewise. This is not
the way to do your sparring in the healthiest way, but it
is effective and prepares you for a fight in the ring.
Two weeks
before my fight I went to the martial art school ''Steko'',
involving 8 rounds of sparring and was given a new adversary.
For me this was a test if I had enough condition for a fight.
One big advantage the intensive weekend in Munich offered,
was the ability to train with Mladen Steko, World Champion
in full contact, 83 kilo and his brother Pavlika Steko, World
Champion, 86 kilos. For four days I trained using highly intensive
units, which gave me the last finishing touches for the World
Championship fight.
The
set-up of my power/strength-training
Once a
week I practised power training for the whole body. I concentrated
on basic exercises and heavy weights. The reason for choosing
this kind of training was to improve my explosive power and
speed. For a fast and explosive movement it is necessary to
get as many muscle-fibres involved as possible. This ability
can be improved by a special training with weights. You reach
the most muscle-fibres through a maximal-power-training. But
you have to keep in your mind, that a hard power training
might also lead to an over training. For this reason I practised
for each muscle group only one exercise with four sets. I
chose a pyramid style system: First set - 8 replays, second
set - 6 replays, third set - 4 replays, fourth set - two replays.
For the different sets I chose weights, which I was just about
able to manage the replays. As an example: bench-pushing 80
kg, 8 replays, 90 kg, 6 replays, 95 kg, 4 replays, 100 kg,
2 replays. That was my program for the chest muscles, followed
by pull-ups for the back, knee-bends for the legs and neck
pushing for the shoulders. A body builder would consider this
poor, but the aim is to improve fitness and not muscular development.
In the
preparation for a competition in my opinion you are not able
to build up further muscle mass, as you need too much energy
for endurance and speed. The power training served for the
intensification of the explosive power and preservation of
my basic power.
Set-up
of my technique training
My technique
training consisted of shadow boxing and partner training.
I paid a lot of attention to fast hit combinations, and concentrated
on movement. In the last ten days of my preparation in the
final stages, I practised fast and dynamic shadow boxing.
As a consequence of the hard preparation phase and the hard
training units in Munich, I felt over trained and tired, but
nevertheless I didn't want to take a break. In doing shadow
boxing I once again felt relaxed and concentrated. During
the technique training with the different training partners
I concentrated on basic techniques and counter-techniques.
All together we watched videos of my opponent's fight and
analysed his weak points and strengths. After all, Mladen
had fought 11 rounds against my training partner Ronnie Hinterseer.
In my technique training I paid attention to my training partners
who had the task to attack me with full contact. This is the
only way to prepare for a real attack. If you practise the
technique in a relaxed way, you don't do your training partner
a favour, as you are able to counter relaxed techniques more
easily than dynamically hard techniques.
Relaxation
Without
relaxing there won't be any progress, and as a consequence,
no success. For young fighters it is often hard to see that
your body needs rest for its regeneration and building-up.
So, you often see fighters, who concerning their training
set-up would have to be in perfect condition, but fail in
the fight. Usually the reason is, that the athletes were over
trained. This even happened to me two times, but not in my
last fight: For this reason I got a massage once a week. To
the massage I paid as much attention as to my training units.
A physiotherapist and sports scientist (Thomas Meyer), with
whom I have studied, did his best to relax my muscles. With
massage you regenerate better and are more powerful in a short
time. About one or two times a week I went to sauna, but always
at the end of my training unit and not more than two times.
The day before the competition saunas should be avoided!
Stress
in a relationship is something critical for your career as
a sportsman. There are some surveys in other sport, which
deals with this problem. The result is, that stress in a relationship
can have negative consequences on your capacity. You should
try to make it clear to your partner for what you are preparing.
If there should be quarrel you should cancel your fight or
finish your relationship.
Be aware
of enough sleep. During the sleeping phase you regenerate.
I slept for about 45 to 60 minutes in the afternoon and 6
- 7 hours at night.
The psychological
regeneration is also important. Nervousness and inner tension
can undermine victory. There are numerous methods for relaxation,
which you can practise. To mention them all would take too
much time. I use the method of relaxation through self-hypnosis
and visualisation. Besides I always told myself: The sun is
rising - if I fail or win.
You shouldn't
become completely caught up in your fight. Go out at night,
meet friends and have fun, but avoid long nights with too
much alcohol.
Ten days
before my competition I reduced the training to regenerate
completely. In the last five days I practised relaxed shadow
boxing for not more than 15 minutes a day. On the competition
day I felt regenerated and in perfect shape.
Nutrition
There
are numerous books concerning nutrition, which give and disprove
different theories. You should eat healthily, that is beyond
question. But each person has his own metabolism and consumes
the products in a different way. As an example, Bill Wallace,
a living legend is over 50 and in perfect shape. If I eat
the same products he does, I would become ill. But for him
his personal nutrition is optimal, what I want to say is that
you should have a look at your body and taste. The nutrition
list I want to give you, has worked well for me, but it is
not said, that it also works for you.
The big
advantage in the fight was, that I didn't have to lose weight,
but was allowed to gain 3,5 kg. So I was able to eat a warm
meal two times a day. Even if I ate much, through the training
I didn't gain more than 2 kg. I ate a lot of noodles, but
no steaks. Three times a week I ate fish or poultry, a lot
of salad and fruits, and I drank at least 4 litres of water.
For support I tried the mineral and vitamin drinks available
in any health and fitness shop. In the morning I took mineral
and vitamin preparations and once more before I went to bed.
In addition I took Vitamin B12 injections and a product, a
naturopathic doctor gave me to reduce the pain in the joints.
I took a product called Sinova 2002 and the pain in my joints
was over. Three days before the fight I ate only light food,
mainly carbohydrates. My last meal - a banana - I ate four
hours before the fight.
Coach
and training-partner
A world
championship fight is never fought alone. It is much more
a team, which supports you and helps you give your all. For
my preparation I had two training partners, who also prepared
for a competition and trained with me every morning. I had
four coaches, Jürgen Lutz and Rainer Poser from Bulldog
Gym, Patrick Conar for my personal punch training and Pavlica
Steko who gave me the last finishing touches. For my health
I had three naturopathic doctors and a physiotherapist. Besides
those, there were several sparring partners who made my victory
possible. Maybe this sounds exaggerated, but I felt as good
as never before.
Coaching
before the competition
Already
in an early stage I was concerned with my coaches in the edge.
Jürgen Lutz and Frank Scheuermann weren't able to come.
Thus Pavlica Steko was the coach who gave me exact instructions
in the edge during the round. The federal coach for Pointfighting,
Robert Ulrich took care of my bandages and my training partners
Torsten Helms and Helmut Mikolajek shielded me and took care
for my necessary equipment in the cubicle. (Boxing gloves,
Vaseline and drinks, so I only had to worry about the fight).
Summary
For a
world championship fight you need a purposeful preparation.
Take the time to prepare your written training set-up. Your
plan has to match with your personal condition. Ask the advice
from competent persons. You are not a born world champion,
but one who has to work hard to achieve a goal.
This is
the set-up for my world championship
fight:
In addition
I coached nine hours a week. The time I spent in my bureau
is not listed.
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