Evander Holyfield Workout

Evander Holyfield will always be considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever given his primetime fights and the tough competition he faced. He was a physical specimen- strong, quick, explosive, and powerful. Below was his conditioning plan as illustrated by his trainer in this article: http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9709/hatfield.html

Evander Holyfield had one of the most ridiculous training regimens on the planet. You think he was one of the best in his sport because of talent? Think again. The program he did was a gradual progressive approach that scuplted his physique, but more importantly took his peak physical performance to a whole new level. The exercises he did were unconventional and took his body to complete failure.

This is what he did for a 12 week program that got him in top shape for a fight.

Weeks One, Two and Three
1. Maximize muscle mass -- Evander needed to increase his body mass from under 210 to 220 pounds.
2. Minimize fat accumulation during hypertrophy phase (dietary strategies including "zig-zag" diet were employed).
3. Improve general strength and fitness foundation, including moderate aerobic threshold intensity training.
4. Begin training to increase anaerobic threshold.
5. Introduce light plyometrics.

Weeks Four, Five and Six
1. Maximize limit strength of muscles/movement used in boxing (emphasis on legs).
2. Increase anaerobic strength endurance (maximum force output time after time).
3. Begin training specific skills (weaknesses) in earnest.
4. Concentrate on between-workout recovery.
5. Introduce explosive strength and starting strength with moderate plyometrics.

Weeks Seven, Eight and Nine
1. Maximize explosive strength.
2. Specific event skills must predominate all skills training sessions.
3. Continue anaerobic threshold training.
4. Maximize between-workout recovery.
5. Incorporate weighted plyometrics and hill/stairs running.

Weeks Ten, Eleven and Twelve
1. Maximize ballistic strength (starting strength) using "shock" plyometrics (built on a 9-week base of plyometrics progression).
2. Heavy emphasis on anaerobic threshold.
3. Maximize between-workout recovery ability.
4. Heavy emphasis on skills.
5. Emphasize speed, agility, ballistic movements.
6. "Overspend" drills in final preparatory period.
7. Begin "complex training" (description below) as a replacement for normal weight training."