Anthony Ogogo is a Team GB hopeful and international boxer, he is super fit and is sharing his secrets with you.
Health on Female First
He is working with the SUBWAY® brand on the Train Hard. Eat Fresh™ campaign to encourage an active lifestyle.
He joins other sporting greats as a SUBWAY® Famous Fan. Whether in training or taking a rest day, there's a Sub on the menu to fuel everyone's day
- I stop training approximately three days before an event. To mentally prepare I have to completely step away; overtraining can be just as harmful as undertraining! Make sure you give yourself rest days so that your body can recover. It is during these rest periods that muscles are repaired and become bigger and stronger. Too little rest between workouts means your muscles won’t have fully recovered and you might struggle more in the next session.
- Keep your body guessing: push yourself every session with goals – whether it be sit ups, press ups, how long you spend on running , try and increase the amount you do every time, even by just 1 minute or hold a move for longer. This will ensure that your body is constantly surprised and pushed. The adrenalin I get when I achieve something I didn’t realise I can do is second to none!
- Mix up your routine to ensure you don’t get bored. Speed is really important to boxing and developing quick, controlled footwork is vital. I mix up cardio training by using a skipping rope, running machine, shadow boxing and exercise bike and when it’s warm I head to my local park.
- Don’t let a bad day throw you off course for long. It can be really demotivating and frustrating but everyone has bad days, learn to bounce back! I find that the best thing to do is to stop training for the day and go and do something completely different, such as a trip to the cinema with the boys and grabbing a bite to eat with mates – whenever we go to the cinema we stop of at our local Subway store to pick up a Footlong Chicken Breast Sub – low fat and full of protein. When I come back to training the next day my mind feels much fresher and ready to tackle the challenge again.
- Incorporate exercise into your everyday life, not just during your gym session! Exercising should be a way of life, try to take the stairs more often, walk to a bus stop slightly further away, when you’re sitting down, engage your abs and pull your stomach in – you’ll be surprised by how much it all helps!
Workout moves
1. Skipping Rope – As a boxer you need to be really quick on your feet. Skipping improves your timing coordination and pace. Try to speed up, slow-down and jump as high as possible in intervals. This will really boost the aerobic intensity, maximising the amount of calories burnt. Skip for three minutes initially, building up slowly to 10
2. Sweeping Lunge – This exercise is great for strengthening the hamstrings and glutes whilst the sweeping movement adds instability which is really effective for working your core and improving balance.
How: Start in the orthodox boxing stance position and bring your back leg forward in order to sink into a deep seated lunge. Next make a sweeping motion with your back hand, swinging it forward so that it nearly touches the floor - a similar move to bowling! Push off your front foot. Repeat on the other foot (20 reps each foot.)
3. Plank: The plank is a great way to build endurance in your core, back and stabilizer muscles.
How: Lie face down on the forearms, palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows. Ensure that you keep your back flat so that it is in a straight line from head to heels. Tilt your pelvis and pull your stomach muscles in. Hold for 20 seconds, try and work this up to a minute.
4. Plank to Side Plank – The side plank is great for working the abdominal muscles as well as other key core muscles in the back and the hips.
How: Start lying face down on the ground and prop yourself up on your toes, forming a bridge with your forearms. It is important to maintain a flat back so don’t cheat and allow your hips to drop towards the ground! Hold for 20 seconds, try and work this up to a minute.
5. Squat: The squat is a full body exercise that trains the thighs, hips, bottom and hamstrings. They are great for developing core strength; the squat engages numerous muscles – the abs, lower and upper back, trunk muscles and costal muscles.
How: Stand with your legs a shoulder width apart, Look straight ahead and keeping your back straight (not round or arched) bend at your knees as if you were going to sit back in a chair. Hold for 5 seconds and then straighten. Repeat 10 times, working up to 20.
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