How Anthony Joshua changed his training and nutrition to become an ‘endurance athlete’ and now cuts a leaner figure

WHEN Anthony Joshua took to the scales for the weigh-in against Francis Ngannou, he cut a svelter figure.

Weighing 18 stone on the nose, he appeared every inch the lean, mean boxing machine.

In fact for his previous fight against Otto Wallin, he was just one pound shy of his current weight. Seemingly, he has found his fighting weight as he aims for another accomplished performance.

Last year, AJ revealed he had changed the way he approached his diet and nutritional needs.

He runs longer distances instead of shorter, more explosive sprints, to become more of an endurance athlete.

The former heavyweight champion also spaces out his rest days and sticks to a tight regime.

What changed

When he first started his pro career, he admitted he concentrated on sprinting as part of his schedule in a magazine interview done after he defeated Jermaine Franklin.

100 metres and 200 metres sprints helped with his explosiveness, before graduating to 400 metres.

AJ realised most fighters have that ability to erupt quick. He needed to run longer distances to become more of an endurance boxer.

“When I first started out, you start off [with] 400 metres, and that’s like your 12 rounds. You start running 100 metres and you progress to 200 metres. So 100 metres, it’s powerful and explosive,” he said.

“And then when we progress, I started realising, everyone’s explosive but everyone’s got endurance as well. I was like s***, I need to be explosive but I need to have endurance.

“So I went through this massive phase of trying to figure out what’s right, what’s wrong. And I’m at a stage now where people want me to be explosive.

“But, I’ve realised I would rather be able to complete the 400 metres, and still come first. I’ve now changed my training to be more of a long endurance athlete, rather than just be explosive for 200 metres and then crash.”

Periodised training

In the interview with Men’s Health, AJ continued: “I like low rep ranges, but it’s all about phase training. So, I usually just try and do everything. I’ll be in a strength session. I’m doing jumps, I’m doing heavy weights.

“I’m doing a bit of core and I’m running, so I’m not really specialising in anything. I’m getting a good workout, but certain trainers want to get bang for their buck.

“They don’t have you for a long time. So what I’ve learned is to periodise my training. Like, ‘let’s get the most out of this three week or two week block and move on’, rather than, ‘let’s just get the most out of this session’.

“Where do I want to be in two weeks? Or three weeks? But then I can measure my progression.”

Eating right

Previously, it was reported AJ consumed a whopping 5,000 calories a day.

With the help of nutritionist Mark Ellison, who also works with Manchester United and the Olympic GB team, he consumes a varied diet.

Sometimes, during a training camp, he will go vegan wanting “just fresh” food instead of meat and fish.

“Food like avocado, falafel, some veg, some rice,” Joshua revealed in the build-up to his fight with Joseph Parker.

For breakfast, AJ is said to indulge in porridge, eggs, fruit, and yoghurts.

“Then we go on to jacket potatoes, tuna, mayo, beetroot with a handful of veg,” he has said in the past.

“In the evening, I’ll take some chicken, rice with mashed potato with a lot of veg as well. I make sure I’ve got a lot of water and in between sessions I’ll have my protein shakes.”

Taking it more seriously

AJ now knows how to full his body properly and is taking nutrition seriously.

“I just didn’t take it as serious as I do now, nutrition is so important. I used to be in the gym after a session and we would chill out for maybe two more hours.

“But if you look at the time when I started training, the minute I finish, [so when] I hit my last punch, I haven’t eaten all that time and I’m staying in the gym for another two hours after I’ve showered and had a chat with everyone. Probably about five hours that I’ve had no food. I used to lose a lot of weight.

“That’s another thing, I used to associate losing weight with getting fit. So I used to cut out the benefits of nutrition. But if you wanna get fit, you have to feed your body and fuel your body. It’s like a car.

“You can’t expect it to go a long distance without fuel. I can’t expect to be fit enough to go a long distance without the right fuel. So that was actually a myth that I had in my head where it’s like, oh, because I’m lighter, I’m fitter.

“So, pushing myself and that [means] eating right. I believe in that.”

Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk