by 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 looked every inch the mean, lean boxing machine.
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In fact, due to his previous fight against Otto Wallin, he was only a pound shy of his current weight. He seems to have found his fighting weight and is aiming for another stellar performance.
Last year, AJ revealed that he changed the way he approached his diet and nutrition needs.
He runs longer distances instead of shorter, more explosive sprints, to be an endurance athlete.
The former heavyweight champion also spaces out his rest days and sticks to a strict regime.
What has changed
When he first started his career, he admitted that he focused on sprinting as part of his schedule in a magazine interview conducted after defeating Jermaine Franklin.
Sprints of 100 meters and 200 meters helped his explosiveness, before he graduated to 400 meters.
AJ realized that most fighters have that ability to erupt quickly. He had to cover longer distances to become an endurance boxer.
“When I first started out, you start off [with] 400 meters, and that’s like your 12 rounds. You start by running 100 meters and progress to 200 meters. So 100 meters, it’s powerful and explosive,” he said.
“And then when we progress, I started to realize that everybody is explosive but everybody also has endurance. I was like s***, I have to be explosive but I have to have endurance.
“So I went through this huge phase of trying to figure out what’s right, what’s wrong. And I’m at a point now where people want me to be explosive.
“However, I realized that it would be better for me to be able to finish the 400 meters, and still be in first place. My training has now changed to be a long-distance athlete, rather than being explosive for 200 meters and then crashing. .”
Periodic training
In the interview with Men’s Health, AJ continued: “I like low rep ranges, but it’s about step training. So I usually try to do everything. I’ll be in a strength session. I’m doing jumps , I. ‘I’m doing heavy weights.
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“I’m doing a bit of cardio and I’m running, so I’m not really specializing in anything. I’m getting a good workout, but some trainers want bang for their buck.
“You don’t have them for a long time. So what I’ve learned is to periodize my training. Like, ‘let’s make the most of this three or two week block and move on’, rather than, ‘let’s make the most of this session’.
“Where do I want to be in two weeks? Or three weeks? But then I can measure my progress.”
Eating right
It was previously reported that AJ ate 5,000 calories a day.
With the help of nutritionist Mark Ellison, who also works with Manchester United and the GB Olympic team, he eats 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 vegetables, some rice,” Joshua revealed as he prepared for his fight with Joseph Parker.
For breakfast, AJ is said to eat porridge, eggs, fruit and yoghurt.
“We then go on to jack potatoes, tuna, mayo, beets with a handful of vegetables,” he has said in the past.
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“In the evening, I will take some chicken, rice with mashed potatoes and a lot of vegetables as well. I make sure I have enough water and between sessions I will have my protein shakes.”
Taking it more seriously
AJ now knows how to properly tone his body and is taking nutrition seriously.
“I didn’t take it as seriously as I do now, nutrition is so important. I’d be in the gym after a session and we’d rest for maybe another two hours.
“But if you look at the time I start training, the moment 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 showering and chatting with everyone. I probably had no food for about five hours. I used to lose a lot of weight.
“That’s another thing, I used to associate losing weight with being fit. So I used the benefits of cutting out nutrition. But if you want to be fit, you have to feed your body and your a body of fuel. It is like a car.
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“You can’t expect 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 really a myth I had it 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 it.”
