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How Moses Itauma’s strength and conditioning coach is breaking the taboo over weight training
“With boxing, it’s still in the dark ages where people are like, ‘Don’t lift heavy weights, it will slow you down’,” strength and conditioning coach Jordan Vine says during a workout with his fighter, Moses Itauma. “But if you know how to do it, and when to do it, it can add to your boxing.”
“He looks like he’s slowing down, doesn’t he?” Vine jokingly adds, gesturing to Itauma as he seamlessly cranks through split squats with a 70kg barbell across his shoulders. “He’s so quick; so fast…. 175kg is his best.”
For this reason, Itauma and his camp are not shy about lifting heavy. With the DAZN cameras rolling, the 20-year-old hits a power clean at 130kg. Later in the session, he reps out 140kg on the bench press.
Most people could not hope to achieve these numbers, even if they dedicated their life to the cause. But for Itauma, these lifts are only part of the puzzle when creating a body ready for the rigours of the ring.
Below, Vine reveals how he and his team use heavy lifts to help, not hinder, Itauma’s boxing performance.
Moses Itauma’s unique training formula
“I think a lot of strength and conditioning coaches in boxing typically train their fighters as ‘boxers’,” says Vine. “They think there’s only one way to do it, rather than training the individual [they’re working with]. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. No one is the same, no fighter is the same, so we all need to train differently.”
Consequently, Itauma’s training formula is unique to him. And with the fighter boasting a 12-0 professional record, it appears to be working.
Understandably, Vine is unwilling to share his team’s entire roadmap to success for rivals to see. But he does share insights into how they have built one of boxing’s most exciting prospects.
Strength
“Compound lifts are seen as the wrong thing to do in boxing – you get the typical, ‘Don’t lift heavy weights, they will slow you down’, especially with squats,” Vine says. “But I think building a strong base is really important. I don’t know anyone in life or sport that wouldn’t want to be stronger, and I certainly don’t know anyone that would want to be weaker.”
Strength is not an area Itauma can be accused of neglecting, particularly on the big three compound lifts. In an interview with Notjustboxing, he revealed he has previously hit a 211kg squat, 175kg bench press and 270kg deadlift – a number he has since increased to 280kg.
“I did a trap bar [deadlift] at 300kg when I was 16… That’s not bad, is it?” he adds with a wry smile.
“I make my athletes do a lot of squats and sumo deadlifts – I prefer sumo deadlifts as you’re pretty much in your boxing stance when doing them, and [because your stance is wide] it gives you that single-leg stability element which is so important,” Vine adds. “When you do these lifts, everyone has this idea that you’re training like a bodybuilder, but that’s not the case.”
Again, his prescriptions for each individual athlete are different depending on their needs. But Vine’s camps tend to start with strength work and developing athlete’s weaknesses – “I find these are often imbalances” – before gradually transitioning to focus more on power generation, and finally speed work.
“Some fighters might start this [speed work] phase earlier, but this depends on the individual,” he explains. “Obviously it’s very different with Moses as there is no weight cut for him to do, so his training is very different to other boxers I work with in the three weeks before the fight.”
Power and the Olympic lifts
“For me, the key attribute [for boxers] to develop is power,” says Vine. Power equals force times velocity, so rather than simply shifting a heavy load by any means necessary, developing this attribute involves moving weight fast.
“Olympic weightlifting is my background, so we do a lot of Olympic lifts,” Vine continues. These are the two exercises you will see performed in weightlifting competitions – the snatch, and the clean and jerk – as well as any derivatives of them.
“I think this is what gives us an edge over others, as coaching these lifts is second nature to me. I also try not to overcomplicate things – there’s a beauty in doing the basics well and consistently.”
However, Vine adds, Olympic weightlifting is something missing from many boxer’s training routines, simply because coaches do not know how to teach these complex lifts.
“They’re very technical movements, but I think they are the best exercises for developing explosive power and I use them in most of my sessions,” he says.
The missing pieces of the puzzle for boxers
While immensely valuable, heavy compound lifts and Olympic weightlifting still only make up a portion of Itauma’s training. When showing DAZN cameras around his 'camp house', the fighter talks about 'slow, long' 90-minute sessions on an exercise bike in his living room.
Mobility work is another key aspect of his fight preparations, and one Vine says “you don’t see anywhere near enough of” in boxing training – the ability to move freely should not be undervalued.
“Horizontal pulling and retraction is also very important as you do so much load punching,” he adds. This can be seen six minutes into the DAZN video above, when Itauma performs a variation of a high cable row, pulling the cable towards him with speed.
Throwing a powerful punch is something crowds love to see, but being able to retract your arm quickly and resume a favourable defensive position can be the difference-maker during a fight.
Finally, Vine says core-strengthening exercises are a pivotal part of the work he does with Itauma.
“[This is especially true when] focussing on your obliques, as these muscles dictate a lot of movement and stability during the rotation involved in a punch,” he explains.
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