Marquez's training schedule

[Taeth]

sounds prety brutal...

Juan Manuel Marquez's training diary is a series of entries in which the boxer offers an overview of his personal and professional preparation for his fight with Floyd Mayweather on Sept 19. Juan Manuel gives us intimate details of his training camp in Mexico City, and opens the doors to his gym to let us take a look at his intense daily routine.


For this fight, I am training in Mexico City, as I have done for all my fights. I start very early. At 4 in the morning, I wake up and go for my morning jog. I arrive at the place where I usually run at about 5 a.m. Once there, I work on my abs for a while. I do three series of about 300 sit-ups each. Then, I start running. Today, for example, I sprinted for about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) at full speed.


I used to run in Toluca, Mexico, running up and down the mountains, but I don't go to Toluca anymore because my strength and endurance training is over. We're no longer working in the altitude; instead we're working on speed, we're working on moving faster, because speed is going to be an important factor. Then, I go home, rest for a while, have a little breakfast, rest again, and then I go out at about 11 a.m. and head for the gym. There, I train for about two and a half hours, almost three.


Training in the gym includes sparring, hitting the heavy bag, mitts, and all that. In the gym, I do purely aerobic exercises. All the weightlifting is over. Twenty-five days before the fight, the whole endurance and strength training is finished. We're really focused on speed now, because we need to get to this fight being as fast as we can. Floyd Mayweather is a very fast fighter, and we have to fight him with the same speed.


And then, after training, I eat right there in the gym. That's where I eat supper, because right after that I enter the hyperbaric chamber. You have to eat before you enter the hyperbaric chamber. I go into the hyperbaric chamber at around 4 p.m. and I stay there for about an hour.


The hyperbaric chamber is handled as if you were a diver. It is set at a certain depth, as if you were submerged in the ocean, for example. There, they manage the pressure and they put an oxygen mask on you, where you breathe all that oxygen for an hour or more. Doing this, you send oxygen to your body, your organs, your blood. It is very important for an athlete.


And when I leave the hyperbaric chamber, I just go back home and rest, I am done for the day. Traffic here in Mexico City can be horrendous and when I get home I just go to bed. This goes on during the entire training process. My days are like this, one after the other. Everything is going to be like this during the next few weeks. Get up early in the morning, run, go to the gym, with no changes until the day of the fight.


I have been training for a long time now. I had already trained for two and a half months, because the fight was scheduled for July 18. But the fight fell through, and it is now scheduled for Sept. 19. I have been training for a month and a half in this particular stage. So, if we add it all up, I have been training for four months, going into my fifth month.
I know that this fight is very important, and that it is a very difficult, very tough fight. But, well, I believe that the one who has to feel motivated, the one who must be inspired, the one who has to take care of business up in the ring is none other than me, obviously with the support of my people. There will be other trainers and fighters who would come up and say "You should fight like this, or like that." But up in the ring, it's a whole different ballgame.


Sparring and nutrition



We have been doing a lot of sparring lately. I am sparring with a Cuban fighter, Norberto Norris. I am also sparring with Alejandro Barrera, a fighter from Monterrey in Mexico.


I'm not on a diet but we're eating well, as always. I like to eat well because I like to train hard, and for this fight I need to get up in weight. That's why I'm eating a lot of proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. My weight is fine, and now we're working on speed to accommodate all this new weight that I'll be carrying, which is something new for me. I want to have good speed because this is not my natural weight but I have to try to be as fast as I can.


I haven't set up a camp outside of home for this fight. I've never had a camp; I have trained out of my own home for the 55 fights of my career. It's great because I have the support of my family on a daily basis. But with all this training, going out to jog in the morning, getting in the hyperbaric chamber and all that, I don't get to see them that much. I almost don't see them at all. I get home at eight at night, maybe later, and they are already sleeping to go to school the next day. I don't get to enjoy them, and that's the way it goes during the entire training. I would like to dedicate more time to them, but my training is entering its most frantic pace. But once we get closer to the fight I am going to devote as much time as possible to my kids.


Usually, I never receive anyone in my training sessions outside of my team. Right now, since we have HBO doing the "24/7" show, we're closing the gym just for me, to tape the series without interference. That's why I only allow my sparring partners and my team. And obviously, my trainer, Nacho Beristain. I've always believed that the best support comes from the fans. Other fighters may give you some support, but right now I am really focused on my training and my own way of doing things, and the main support comes from the fans, from the people.


This training regime is the same every day, six days a week, from Monday to Saturday. I take Sundays off, because it is quite a hassle to have all those cameras following you all the time, from morning until dawn. I rest a lot during the day, I sleep a little whenever I can, but I almost never take days off. I only rest on Sundays, all day. I use Sundays to rest and to be with my family. I go to hear Mass and that's about all I do. After that, I start my week with much more energy, because my training regime is very hard.

I am just glad that I know nobody trains harder than Floyd, and after watching the first instalment of 24/7 Floyd is way faster than Marquez at least in handspeed. Marquez has a lot tougher time with skilled orthodox fighters (Chris John, Barrera) compartively to how he does against southpaws (Pacquiao, Casamayor, Jaca, among others), and skilled brawlers (Diaz, Juarez, among others)

[Cortez The Killer]

Marquez is really putting his soul into his training. Training for essentially 5 months...thats a long time. Hopefully it's all been beneficial. He might get the fighter's equivalent to blue balls.

if anyone hasn't seen the 24/7 its on hbo's site: HBO: Boxing: Event: PPV: Mayweather vs. Marquez

[J_Undisputed]

Even though, I am going for Floyd in this fight. I am worry about burnout for JMM. I've followed him since the beginning and always knew he was one of the best fighters in the world and i"m glad to see him get his shot. If floyd loses to JMM, its something I could live with.
Some of the training seems to be a bit contradicting though. He bulked up. Then hes stopped the weights in favor of speed. The high rate cardio, and the endurance and speed training will burn a lot off of a guy. He's eating right, it seems.... but how is he maintaining the muscle he put on doing all that cardio training if he's not using weights anymore? Its difficult for a guy with a frame that small to carry all that extra muscle while doing a lot of cardio and speed exercises if he doesnt hit the weights for a month.

[AdamGB]

I think some of this is lost in translation, very good read but nobody runs at their full speed for 3.1 miles. (unless they can run 3.1 miles in 10 seconds which is roughly how long the sprint energy system can work for).

Also I don't think he's doing 3 sets of 300 sit ups... he might be doing an ab circuit with lots of different circuits and sets that add up to 300 repetitions but he's not doing 300 in a row... that would be pointless for starters.

Sounds like he's doing a high volume of intense training, hope his nutrition is sorted if he's going to have been doing that for 5 months come fight night, or else he will be totally burned out and he'll struggle to get the mass he needs on.

Can't fault the guy's dedication though and I suppose it's probably quiet hard to translate Sport and Exercise science from Spanish into english...

[The Fightfan]

I think some of this is lost in translation, very good read but nobody runs at their full speed for 3.1 miles. (unless they can run 3.1 miles in 10 seconds which is roughly how long the sprint energy system can work for).

Also I don't think he's doing 3 sets of 300 sit ups... he might be doing an ab circuit with lots of different circuits and sets that add up to 300 repetitions but he's not doing 300 in a row... that would be pointless for starters.

Sounds like he's doing a high volume of intense training, hope his nutrition is sorted if he's going to have been doing that for 5 months come fight night, or else he will be totally burned out and he'll struggle to get the mass he needs on.

Can't fault the guy's dedication though and I suppose it's probably quiet hard to translate Sport and Exercise science from Spanish into english...

I don't see what is so wrong with 300 situps in 3 sets. I've heard of Ali starting off with 1000 sit-ups every morning before his jog and 500 pushups. As for sprinting the entire 3.1 miles I think Marquez would be a track star not a boxer. That just seems unlikely. But then again this is Marquez we are talking about. Probably the greatest recuperative powers ever.

[ryanman]

I think some of this is lost in translation, very good read but nobody runs at their full speed for 3.1 miles. (unless they can run 3.1 miles in 10 seconds which is roughly how long the sprint energy system can work for).

Also I don't think he's doing 3 sets of 300 sit ups... he might be doing an ab circuit with lots of different circuits and sets that add up to 300 repetitions but he's not doing 300 in a row... that would be pointless for starters.

Sounds like he's doing a high volume of intense training, hope his nutrition is sorted if he's going to have been doing that for 5 months come fight night, or else he will be totally burned out and he'll struggle to get the mass he needs on.

Can't fault the guy's dedication though and I suppose it's probably quiet hard to translate Sport and Exercise science from Spanish into english...

I don't see what is so wrong with 300 situps in 3 sets. I've heard of Ali starting off with 1000 sit-ups every morning before his jog and 500 pushups. As for sprinting the entire 3.1 miles I think Marquez would be a track star not a boxer. That just seems unlikely. But then again this is Marquez we are talking about. Probably the greatest recuperative powers ever.

I guess he just means running at his optimum speed, not his maximum. So he would slow down during that 3 minutes, but would be busting a gut trying NOT to slow down. Still very painful. Also 300 sit-ups in a set is impossible. He either isn't doing them properly or this is a typo. 99% of people don't perform sit-ups properly - i've very rarely seen anybody do them properly. I built up to do 100 sit-ups in a set, until i looked in to it and realised a REAL sit-up is a whole different ball game. When i changed technique at first i could only do 10, now its 25. Can't imagine anybody with abs strong enough to do 300. Also as somebody has said, 300 sit-ups would be utterly pointless anyway.

[JonnyFolds]

After you put on muscle it will not just burn off by doing cardio. He is still using those muscles, just not building them. The act of tearing the muscles apart and ripping them is what makes them grow back larger. To ask someone to bulk up and take a fight properly at a higher weight this would make much more sense than working on speed then adding muscle. Flexibility, mobility, and agility are greatly compromised with larger muscles.

The fast twitch parts of your muscles in your body are closer to your joints. I don't think he has to worry about dropping that muscle before the fight it's not going anywhere.

I worry that his meger (5'7") body will not carry all the mass but so well (and maintain mobility). He has really broad shoulders, so I imagine his upper body is going to be carrying a large part of this weight.

Marquez' probably didn't cheap out on trainers and dietitians for sure. Geez. What a routine.

[C-Lo]

Marquez is a machine! This is why he's the fighter he is today! I hope he doesn't burn out. I'm really pulling for him to shock the world!

[BoomBoom]

The one thing Juan has as an advantage going into this fight is that he is that he is more sure of himself than any of Floyds recent opponents. Most of Floyds opponents went into their fights without a full belief in themselves. Oscar, Zab, Mitchell, Hatton, all had mental weaknesses imo that greatly impacted their performance. After all, boxing is 85-90% mental. Juan doesnt have any weakness in this area, and that will show in the fight. It is rare that you have a fight between two guy who are tough as mentally as Marquez and Floyd. Whenever this happens, you usually get a competitive fight. Mental toughness can go a long way. Just look at last weeks Urango-Bailey fight. No one has ever questioned Juans chin cause we all know what happens when he is hurt or knocked down...he comes back.

[SweetPea]

The one thing Juan has as an advantage going into this fight is that he is that he is more sure of himself than any of Floyds recent opponents.

I agree. I don't want to draw too much from the one 24/7 episode... but I thought JMM seemed very calm and sure of himself.

He didn't rant and rave about the Pacquiao fights, he just said "Hey, I know I won those fights, I'm at peace with it." And then with the weight, he said something to the effect of "It's not my weight, but it's the weight I agreed to, and it's the weight I expect to win at."