Amir Khan

[Ghost]

on one condition, don't suddenly drop a load of weight and enter under 75k, I don't want to see you in the ring!

hahahah LMAO, yeah, i dont think i could get to 75kg if my life depended on it.

ill be scraping into the heavyweight category me thinks

you got any ideas when you might think about fighting?

[fire cobra]

middlesbrough now, spent about 2 days in london, middlesbrough is much nicer than i expected, quite like it.

Middlesbrough!!

Oh my god your guna be a smoggy Ghost,be carefull or you will end up with 2 heads!

When you get settled in let me know and we can catch those noodles,im only 20 miles away from you .

There is a new Muay Thai gym in Boro now with a decent coach(David) and a good young boxer called Leif,if you want there addie or i can help with other contacts just let me know ok bro.

[Guest]

hahahah LMAO, yeah, i dont think i could get to 75kg if my life depended on it.

ill be scraping into the heavyweight category me thinks

you got any ideas when you might think about fighting?

I've done some bouts interclub and done OK, but I want to get out on the Open Class and (fingers crossed) ABA Circuit. At the turn of the year Spencer was getting me carded up through the Finchley gym and looking to start me off on some shows in March. Then I got hit with that virus and ended up in hospital. I've been back training about a month now and slowly getting back to full fitness. Hoping to be ready to get out there by June.

I need to hurry up though mate, at 32 I'm running out of time!

[Ghost]

I've done some bouts interclub and done OK, but I want to get out on the Open Class and (fingers crossed) ABA Circuit. At the turn of the year Spencer was getting me carded up through the Finchley gym and looking to start me off on some shows in March. Then I got hit with that virus and ended up in hospital. I've been back training about a month now and slowly getting back to full fitness. Hoping to be ready to get out there by June.

I need to hurry up though mate, at 32 I'm running out of time!

sorry to hear you got so sick, depressing when things like that happen, good that you are better now. yeah 32 isnt that bad though, 30 myself and i feel i have many years left in me yet. but we shall see. I think the thing is to have a lot of fight fairly quickly, if i can get to london again every 4-6 weeks would be a possibility.

[Guest]

I think the thing is to have a lot of fight fairly quickly, if i can get to london again every 4-6 weeks would be a possibility.

Absolutely. With the circuit in London and surrounding areas there is a show about once every two weeks. I know that I need 6 Open Class bouts under my belt before I can do a season in the ABA's so my intention is to work very fast at the start and take any fight I can get.

Of course, there is the very real possibility that I will just get knocked on my arse and it's all over, but that will be fun too!

[Tom Yum]

Ghost, I thought you were more of a cruiserweight?

Props on getting into a boxing gym and getting some fights!

[Ghost]

Ghost, I thought you were more of a cruiserweight?

Props on getting into a boxing gym and getting some fights!

no mate in the last few years ive hit the weights pretty hard, i went through a period where i re-evaluated what type of physique suits fighting and came to a similar conclusion to dickhardman but with more functional training thrown in.

I phase my weights training, i spend a period on pure size, then a period on strength, then a period on pure functionality ie rossboxing style training.

The size stuff you get from bodybuilding is branded as useless but imo it isnt. the larger muscles allow more leverage and this is clear in the clinch and from what i am told by some on the ground even more so though i have yet to really experience this in any detail.

So now i sit at the 95kg mark. With this method of cycling my training i am of a fairly good size but im fast andaccurate with it. It suits my frame and the way i fight, im much more in favour to hook and uppercut combinations that straight punching. My more stocky frame means rotational punches suit me very well and i can really feel that, so im really training to what suits my body best based on my experience. i think im doing it the right way now.

[Ghost]

Ghost,
One of the obvious and common critiques of bigger, more muscular fighters is that the muscle mass is an aerobic liability. How do you make sure the extra mass doesn't shallow out your gas tank? What's your endurance routine like?

I know it's a common question, and there's plenty of us who would benefit from the answer, so I thought I'd ask.

well till now it had been along the lines of running 6-7 miles a day. rotating with functional strength training works on the endurance fibres as well. so its not like you are only hitting one area and only going for size. ill do roughly 3 months on each, roughly. adjusting if i feel one area is lagging more than another.

I also have to eat quite a lot to maintain this but being able to consume a large volume of food makes it doable.

On top of the running i do high rep work for my punching kickng and kneeing. And the end of training ill take an extra 30-40 mins and work on the heavy bag going for full speed and power, roughly something like 1 strike a second or slower though, so i dont burn out plus i alternate sides every 50 reps:
300 round kicks each side
300 push kicks each side
200 knees each side
300 hooks each side
300 fast snappy jabs
then on differnet days ill pick right cross or an uppercut or some other punch.

I dont do this right now because i cant but its what i normally would do.

I also do short phases of very high rep weight training think 30-50 reps as this increases capilliry density in the muscle allowing blood in. In a way this is ultra high endurance weight training.

My take on training is based on science.
Ive found i can outlast many competitive lightweight thai boxers in sparring. i can spar an hour non stop which is enough fitness i think. Im also going to add in the sprint training we looked at before but i also use the 20 rep squat technique which i think is great for martial arts.

basically take a weight that you can do for 10 reps and then you would collapse, get to 10 with it, dont put the weight down and you just hold it till you can do one more rep and you keep going till you hit 20 reps. it makes most people vomit. i do this3-4 times in one session and do it about once a week as part of my leg training.

i also do my bodybuilding training at high speed to increase power, though i would do slowly if i really needed to work on size as a big priority.

umm thats not very well constructed for you but i hope you get a general idea.

[Ghost]

Well-constructed or not, it is indeed helpful. Thank You!

lol thats ok.

[Tom Yum]

well till now it had been along the lines of running 6-7 miles a day. rotating with functional strength training works on the endurance fibres as well. so its not like you are only hitting one area and only going for size. ill do roughly 3 months on each, roughly. adjusting if i feel one area is lagging more than another.

I also have to eat quite a lot to maintain this but being able to consume a large volume of food makes it doable.

On top of the running i do high rep work for my punching kickng and kneeing. And the end of training ill take an extra 30-40 mins and work on the heavy bag going for full speed and power, roughly something like 1 strike a second or slower though, so i dont burn out plus i alternate sides every 50 reps:
300 round kicks each side
300 push kicks each side
200 knees each side
300 hooks each side
300 fast snappy jabs
then on differnet days ill pick right cross or an uppercut or some other punch.

I dont do this right now because i cant but its what i normally would do.

I also do short phases of very high rep weight training think 30-50 reps as this increases capilliry density in the muscle allowing blood in. In a way this is ultra high endurance weight training.

My take on training is based on science.
Ive found i can outlast many competitive lightweight thai boxers in sparring. i can spar an hour non stop which is enough fitness i think. Im also going to add in the sprint training we looked at before but i also use the 20 rep squat technique which i think is great for martial arts.

basically take a weight that you can do for 10 reps and then you would collapse, get to 10 with it, dont put the weight down and you just hold it till you can do one more rep and you keep going till you hit 20 reps. it makes most people vomit. i do this3-4 times in one session and do it about once a week as part of my leg training.

i also do my bodybuilding training at high speed to increase power, though i would do slowly if i really needed to work on size as a big priority.

umm thats not very well constructed for you but i hope you get a general idea.

Still training hard. That's awesome!

Sounds like you've gradually added size while working considerably on your athleticism?

Nice.

I'm going to start adding a leg training session with weights now that I've gotten used to running with the ruck in addition to my sprint workout just to get a little more power out of my legs and I may borrow some of your ideas - but looking around the guys I train with, we're not giant beasts. Just lean and mean.

I've actually tightened up, more out of necessity since running and swimming are my training environments. I'm about 77 kg.

[Ghost]

Still training hard. That's awesome!

So you've added size while working considerably on your athleticism? Nice. I'm going to start adding a leg training session with weights now that I've gotten used to running with the ruck in addition to my sprint workout.

I've actually tightened up, more out of necessity since running and swimming is what I do. I'm about 77 kg.

yeah adding size at the same time is a matter of two different factors, doing absolutely nothing active when you arent training and eating tons of good quality food.

Diet is key, the more sorted your diet is the higher level of ability you can achieve from your training in terms of physical progression. not only can you progress faster but you can achieve far higher levels.
I wouldnt want to go beyond a 6-7 mile run though or do much more, you have to monitor and adjust for a fair period of time to get the balance right for you.

You want to see your times steadily decrease for distance runs and your weights slowly increase so you are progressing everywhere a bit.

I have this big thing about martial artists training in a productive way using everything at their disposal and using a good quality diet. understanding what they are doing etc.

Right now i can bench press 120kg as a working weight in sets and i can run 6-7 miles daily.
Its a case of building up gradually in phases.