Team Scotland Australian Training Camp Update With only 51 days to go until the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games commence, Our squad is now approaching its final week down under on its Glasgow preparation camp. Competitive sparring formed the nucleus of the training programme last week, with Boxing Australia drafting in various sparring partners from all over the contintent and New Zealand in order to provide variety of opponents for the Scottish boxers. As the squad are now well into the intense ‘specific’ training phase, resilience was the key during the sparring period, with each squad member battling fatigue from the intense physical and gym based technical sessions conducted leading up to the competitive spars. This stage of the training process is absolutely crucial in terms of Glasgow 2014 preparation, mirroring the mental and physical demands of international tournaments, with boxers regularly competing over a number of days in order to reach the medal stage. The squad will continue in the specific phase until competing in the final contest of the camp on Friday 06th June, battling the Australian Glasgow 2014 team in the ‘Burns Club’ as previously reported. ‘Tapering’ will now be carried out in the lead up to Friday, whereby a gradual reduction in the training volume is implemented in order to allow recovery from the stresses of the last training cycle. In addition to reducing the strain on the boxer’s fatigued muscles, the taper will allow all of the individual energy systems to restore themselves after being pushed to their limits. The ideal tapering period allows the boxer to recover from the stress and strain of intensive training, but not to become out of competitive condition - at the elite level of competition, such as the Commonwealth Games, the difference between gold and silver can literally be a matter of a properly timed taper. Morale remains high within this tight knit team, with no stone being left unturned in our quest to win medals in Glasgow. The squad has been a credit to Boxing Scotland throughout and each member of the team has shown a steely determination and professional attitude. The Australian Institute of Sport is isolated with regards to location, ensuring absolute focus on the job in hand. An example of a typical (non-sparring) training day the squad has conducted is as follows: 0715hrs Athletics Track (9 – 6 – 3 interval session) The first 9 minutes consisted of the boxers running at a fast threshold pace for 30 secs, followed by a steady (recovery) pace for 30 secs, followed by 30 secs fast etc continuously around the track for 9 minutes. On the completion of the 9 minutes, and when the heart rate returned to a resting state, the squad repeated a similar process, this time however the duration was 6 minutes with the intervals being set at 20 secs fast / 20 secs steady. The process was then repeated for the final 3 minutes, with the intervals now reduced to 10 secs fast / 20 secs steady – an absolute lung buster! 0815 Breakfast - Protein and Carbohydrates a must, to ensure recovery and replenish lost glycogen stores lost during the track session. 1030hrs Padwork (Individual tactical / technical padwork session) Each boxer allocated a 25 minute time slot, with the aim of focusing on specific tactical implementations and correcting/improving technical repertoire. 1230hrs Lunch Rest and recovery (daily meetings, individual progress interviews, session planning, general administration etc) 1600hrs Themed Shadow / Drills (Low intensity skill drills and specific shadow boxing routines) 1630hrs Individual Strength Programme (Continuation of individual Strength & Conditioning programmes prescribed at the start of the preparation programme) 1800hrs Evening Meal 1930hrs Recovery Centre / Massage 2200hrs Team meeting Training days have been mixed with regards to training timings i.e. alternating evening sessions etc. Boxing Scotland look forward to reporting on the outcome of the ‘Burns Battle’ this Friday – go Team Scotland!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 09:04:46 +0000