Boxing strength and conditioning: a weight training program for boxers

Updated: October 16, 2026

You box at a club and want gym work that actually serves your boxing? Here's what Kaizmax builds for a boxer: a week generated by the app, the conditioning session in detail, and what changes once you declare a competition. Everything comes from a rules engine, not from AI. The app's “Boxing / combat sports” category covers combat sports in general.

What boxing loads

Combinations thrown round after round, punches that start from your feet and travel through trunk rotation, shoulders that keep your guard up, footwork that never stops. For the “Targeted strengthening” block of its conditioning sessions, the app picks three areas, in this order of priority: the shoulders, the core and the hips. One exercise per area, two at most: in the example, shoulders and core. The hips only come in when one of those two areas has no possible exercise (that's the case for the shoulders at home with no gear: every one of their exercises needs a band, dumbbells or a cable). The goal: strengthen them, with technique before load.

A week generated by the app: an example output by the engine for a sample profile

The sample profile: man, 27, 72 kg, 1.78 m, maintenance goal, intermediate level, 3 sessions of 60 min at the gym including one requested conditioning session, club boxing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 pm (90 min). The generated week, with no competition, then with a competition declared on Saturday, time not given:

Highlighted: what changes with the competition. With other draws, the days stay the same; only the exercises change.

With no competition, your sessions steer clear of your boxing nights. Conditioning replaces the last session (the third “Full body”) instead of piling on top. Worth knowing: six active days in a row, Monday to Saturday; Sunday is the only rest day.

With a competition, declare it in “My club”: for boxing, each day can be set to “Training” or “Competition”. The rule: in the 48 hours before, no conditioning and no exercise filed under legs (squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, leg isolation, and combined moves such as the thruster, a squat into a press); and in the session, no box jumps and no sled. With no time given, the app takes the cautious case: the day before and the day before that, here Friday and Thursday. Thursday's session B becomes a no-legs variant instead of disappearing. Through “Protect my week” (free), in the example: the barbell squat becomes a decline barbell pullover, the stiff-leg deadlift a Zercher carry (a braced walk with the bar in the crook of your elbows), the low cable side bend stays, and fire hydrants and banded lateral walks leave the warm-up with no replacement. A plan regenerated (Premium) with the competition already declared gives another variant: here a dead hang (a passive hang from the bar), an ab wheel rollout, a barbell torso rotation and a different warm-up.

Friday's club session, the day before the competition, stays put: the app doesn't move your club days. And conditioning lands on Sunday, the day after the competition: the day after isn't protected, it's only a placement preference. The week then has seven active days out of seven. For the days before, read our guide on lifting the day before a game.

The boxing conditioning session, exercise by exercise

A single conditioning session requested: strength-oriented. In your plan, it's called “Conditioning — Boxing / combat sports”. Here's the one from the example, identical with or without a competition (only its day changes):

• Warm-up, 30 s each: mountain climbers, downward-facing dog, low lunge.
• Workout:
  • sled pull, 6 × (30 s work, 30 s recovery), on the guided session's timer;
  • Russian twists, 3 × 12-15, 45 s rest;
  • decline dumbbell press, 4 × 8-12, 90 s rest;
  • goblet squat, 4 × 8-12, 90 s rest;
  • hollow hold, 3 × 30-45 s hold, 45 s rest;
  • cable internal rotation at 90°, 3 × 10-15, 60 s rest.
• Targeted strengthening: band external rotation (shoulders), dead bug (core), 2 × 10-12, 30 s rest.
• Cool-down, 30 s each: bar hang back stretch, kneeling chest stretch.

For a 60-minute session, the structure is fixed: cardio, core, horizontal press, squat, core, shoulder isolation. The exercises themselves are drawn at every generation based on your gear, favoring those linked to your sport: jump rope or jumping jacks can replace the sled pull, a jump squat the goblet squat.

With two conditioning sessions, the second targets power (in the generated example, the jump squat and the sled pull switch to 4 × 5-8 there, 90 s rest). With three, for this three-session profile, every session becomes conditioning and endurance is added. Boxing gets its own twist there: cardio is done in rounds of 2 min work and 60 s recovery, 4 rounds at intermediate level (3 for a beginner, 5 for advanced); the other main-block exercises run at 8 × 30 s / 30 s at that level, except holds (3 × 30-45 s).

What counts in your calories

Your boxing counts in your expenditure: for this profile, a basal metabolic rate of 1,703 kcal (Mifflin-St Jeor) × 1.35 for a lightly active daily life, plus your sessions (3 × 60 min at 0.07 kcal per minute per kilo), plus your boxing (the app's combat sports coefficient): 270 min × 0.13 × 72 kg ÷ 7 = +361 kcal a day.

Result: 2,789 kcal a day, versus 2,428 without the club. Protein stays at 130 g: the difference goes to carbs (+66 g) and fat (+11 g). In the questionnaire, the app counts one hour per day checked (2,669 kcal here): enter 90 minutes in “My club” and accept “Update my targets” (+120 kcal). Declaring the competition as well, left at its default length of one hour, adds 80 kcal: once you accept the update, the target moves to 2,869 kcal. With no competition, meals follow the week: 2,837 kcal Monday to Saturday, 2,493 on Sunday. Starting estimates: run your own numbers with the calorie and macro calculator.

How to get it in the app

• Steps 1 to 3: you (18 and over only), your goal, your daily life outside sport.
• Step 4, “Your training”: level, sessions, length, gym or home. Under “Outside this plan”, pick “Boxing / combat sports”, check your boxing days. The app then asks whether you want conditioning and how many sessions, 1 to 3 and never more than your weekly total (it suggests one); answer “No” and your plan stays classic.
• Steps 5 and 6: your diet, the recap, then “Generate my plan”.
• Then “My club”: for each day, “Training” or “Competition”, time and length. With a competition, “Protect my week” shows you what moves before applying it.

Free or Premium?

Free: the questionnaire, the first plan generation (meals and sessions, conditioning included if you want it), the guided session, tracking, “My club” (days, times, competitions) and “Protect my week”.

Premium: regeneration, the adaptive coach (first adjustment free), the shopping list, advanced stats and the gym tools, including the suggested load during your session.

Frequently asked questions

Go further

The general principle: our sport-specific training app page and the guide tailoring strength to your sport. Other sports: soccer strength training, strength training for runners and padel strength training.

Want your own week, built around your boxing nights? Download Kaizmax for free.

This article is informational and not a substitute for medical advice. In case of a health condition, pregnancy or doubt, consult a healthcare professional.