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Muhammad Ali is recognized as one of the greatest boxers of all time. This is worthy tag given
Ali's achievements inside the ring being a four- time universally recognized Heavyweight
Champion of the World. But Ali's eventual popularity was gained primarily for his accomplishments
outside of the ring; coming from a minority and demonstrating an individualism and self-belief
which was unprecedented. Ali transcended sport in the same way of a Michael Jordan, or a Tiger
Woods.
However, given Ali's overall portrait of a person, one must not forget what a great athlete this man
was. I personally have never seen a natural heavyweight with the athletic capabilities that a prime
Ali possessed. Roy Jones Jr may have had superman athletic abilities at heavyweight; however he
was undersized and coming from an initial natural weight of 160lb (middleweight). It has been said
many times that Ali possessed the power and size of a heavyweight, with the speed, movement
and agility of a lightweight. What a sight it was. When taking a look at a prime Muhammad Ali one
can pencil in his four main athletic attributes as being agility, speed, coordination, endurance and
power.
Agility
Ali possessed a valuable asset for a heavyweight in the ability to avoid punches by keeping a
comfortable range from his opponent. This was done in the form of lateral and in and out
movement, with changes in direction within a split second. Ali was also able to move remarkably
well for a man his size from the waist, bobbing a weaving away from punches. With large men
trying to chase him down, many times Ali was able to wear his opponent down from the mere hunt.
Additionally, much of Ali's reaction time - an important athletic quality - was made possible due to
his great agility.
Speed
Undoubtedly Ali's most recognizable attribute was his hand and foot speed. Given Ali's ethnic
background as a black African American he had a genetic pre-disposition towards fast twitch
muscle fibers; therefore giving him the ability to create tremendous hand and foot speed. Given
that Ali was a heavyweight, a man who weighted over 200 pounds, it was of significant advantage
to have such speed against the much slower opponents. Additionally, it must be noted that Ali's
hand speed was both in the form of the sniper like one to three punch combinations, as well as the
nonstop punching of a sustained attack. Ali's hand speed was the combination of a Roy Jones Jr
meets Jeff Fenech.
Coordination
An asset often over looked in many sports is coordination; the ability to process movements with a
signal coming from the brain which is then sent to the skeletal muscles to create the required
movement. Coordination is the symmetry of movement. Recognized by golfers - although labeled
as touch and feel- coordination is often what sets apart elite athletes from the 'also rans',
especially boxers. Ali had tremendous coordination. He could be mistaken as a competition
dancer in the ring, with movement seemly scripted. This great neural efficiency made all the
necessary required movement easy for Ali to attain victory on many occasions.
Endurance
At the start of Ali's career his great endurance was characterized by his ability to maintain the
three above listed attributes over a long period of time during the course of a fight, making them
even more significant. But after his three year forced layoff due to rejecting drafting into the United
States Military to fight in the Vietnam War - and the subsequent legal proceedings, it was Ali's
resilience in absorbing punishment from his opponent which stood him apart. For good or bad, it
was this endurance that allowed Ali to still implement the great speed and coordination he still
showed, even in stationary positions and after receiving such punishing blows from his opponents.
The classic example of this was his bout against the feared George Foreman, labeled as the
Rumble in the Jungle, taking place in Zaire, Africa. Ali surprised all by laying on the ropes against
the power punching and much larger reigning champion Foreman. Fighting in sweltering heat Ali
wore out Foreman who was unable to stop Ali, despite a large overall punch volume. In the eighth
round Ali was able to come back and eventually display a smooth and beautifully coordinated
combination of punches which dropped Foreman to the canvas. Foreman was counted out, and Ali
- thanks to his great endurance - was able to reclaim the title.
Power
Ali's power was generated through a combination of speed, coordination and strength. Ali was
trained by legendary trainer Angelo Dundee, and was heavily influenced early in his career by
Sugar Ray Robinson, consequently Ali was an exponent of what we now term as old school
training; long early morning runs, high volume of sparring, heavy bag work and body weight
exercises. We now know through modern science that neural and therefore muscle strength is
gained by lifting a progressively overloaded weight (changing frequency, intensity, time or type)
with compound or multi-joint movements in the repetition range of 1 to 6 at moderate to slow
speed with breaks between sets of up to five minutes. This training structure allows for the body to
make adaptations in the increased efficiency of fast twitch muscle fiber recruitment. Ali completed
none of this style of weight training, and the body weight exercises he would have completed
would have achieved nothing more than increased muscular endurance - despite at the time
popular belief. It could be stated that Ali's strength was primarily genetic, however I believe that
much of his strength - and therefore power - was gained from using the heavy bag. Utilizing the
heavy bag is not seen as an efficient way to increase strength in modern training; however I
believe that Ali is a classic example of the strength and power - not to mention chiseled physique-
that working the heavy bag can achieve.
Muhammad Ali can be considered one of the greatest athletes across all sporting genre in modern
history. His achievements inside the ring undoubtedly characterize this, especially a three year
lay-off in the middle of his career which could have been seen as his best years as an athlete.
I personally consider Ali to be a benchmark of what makes a supreme athlete. His athletic
attributes lay the platform for athletes and coaches - across all sports - to design and implement
programs which create superior sporting performance. Additionally, these same athletic qualities
can be applied to fitness enthusiast seeking weight-loss and improved general conditioning.
Muhammad Ali set the bar high in athletic performance. It is part of his legacy which is a gift to us
all to acknowledge and learn from these physical attributes.
Gavin Stone Personal Training (http://www.gavinstone.com.au) provides fitness training services
in Canberra, A.C.T., Australia. A feature of Gavin Stone Personal Training is Stone Active; a
fitness training information resource with its featured fitness video series
([http://www.stoneactive.com]), which provides viewers with clear and concise concepts and ideas
for fitness participants to include in their fitness training regime.
Gavin Stone Personal Training offers fitness services in the Canberra region. Fitness training
programs are personally designed utilising a training philosophy developed through qualified
experience. Fitness services include: Personal Training, Smart Start (outdoor fitness training),
Group Personal Training, Mature Adults, Canberra Boot Camp, Custom Group Fitness and the
International Muay Thai Program.
Gavin Stone is an award winning, Canberra (Australia) based and recognised personal trainer.
Having gained experience operating a successful Personal Training business and having
experienced intense training camps overseas Gavin now offers Personal Training services where
he places a nonnegotiable priority on clients results; whether to reach a certain target or to just get
active.
All services are delivered in a professional and non threatening manner. Gavin Stone is a fully
qualified Personal Trainer and member of Fitness Australia.
Article Source:
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Go and watch the best Ali video clips, boxing, thrash talk and all. Click the link below
http://top-5-content.blogspot.com/
==== ====