Sprints far better than treadmill?

[Aggression]

I asked this question on the other board but figured you bros could help as well.

Ok, here's a question I was discussing with a coworker today. My coworker is a personal trainer and used to wrestle competitively in college (not a major school or anything). I told him I used to box amateurs and that I used to hate running because I would always get shin splints and that all the running I did burned alot of my muscle and not to mention the fact that even with the running my stamina was always sub-par.

He suggested that running 5 days a week while boxing was foolish because I was already getting enough conditioning from my boxing workouts (sparring,bag work, mitt work, jump roping,etc.). He said that I was probably overtrained and that's why my stamina was lacking. He also said that the running was killing my legs, knees, and feet thus hampering me in the ring.

He also said that sprinting 2 days a week would be more beneficial than running long distances 5 days a week for a number of reasons. He said that it would build your fast twitch muscle fibers better, that it would strengthen your legs and abs better, that because it was an anaerobic exercise it would burn fat instead of muscle, that it would take a FAR less toll on your feet, knees, and shin splints, that it would help you get into far better "fight" condition, and that seeing your only doing it 2 days a week you would still have enough energy to devote 100% into your boxing workouts. He also said to only weight train twice a week and to only do abs three times a week (in addition to my 5 days of boxing training). He said that if I do this I will be in MUCH better condition and I will have more energy and be more explosive. He also asked me to look at marathon runners and sprinters and asked "who do you think would be in better condition to fight a 3 rounds of 3 minutes amateur boxing match?" Ofcourse I said sprinters.

He is NOT the first person that told me this? So what do you guys think? Should I ditch the long distance running for sprints? Is sprinting 2 days a week enough? Should I bump it to 3? Cut it to 1? Please help me.

[tomaccojuice]

Don't limit yourself to just one method, you could do 3 a week with one day being sprints, another being a fast 1-2 mile run, and the other being a nice easy jog. 2-3 days a week is all you need to do.

[Hypertrophy]

You'll need both. Boxing itself is anaerobic, however, 12 rounds require aerobic metabolism. Correct your trainer, and tell him that fat cannot be oxidized without oxygen present! I would agree that sprinting/anaerobic activites are more sport specific to boxing and yes, that will improve your performance. You need to do a "needs analysis" of your sport and design a program around that.

[maxamillion]

I agree with your coworker. I wrestled in college too and here's what are schedule looked like during a week
mon-lift in the morning wrestling practice afternoon
tue-sprints morning, wrestling practice afternoon
wed-lift morning, wrestle afternoon
thur-sprints morning, wrestle afternoon
fri-7 mile run morning, wreste afternoon
So basicallly we were lifting 2x a week, sprints 2x week, long distance run 1x week, and wrestling everday. It workes very well if you combine sprints and long distance running. Follow this formula and you'll be in the best shape of your life. Be carefull not to overtrain, and burn yourself out.

[63190]

Hmmm... My coach had us running for 30 minutes before school started every morning. We would run figure 8's between to full courts. Last guy had to sprint to the front every time we finished a court. Then after we did line sprint gassers three times each. Sprint to the near free throw line and back. Mid court and back. Far free throw and back. Full court and back. Wait one minute and hit it again. I posted my pic in the member pics section. I was a stick and in great cardio shape, but still didn't have abs showing. My diet sucked too and didn't help me at all to put on muscle or get stronger.