Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the former boxing champion whose conviction for a triple murder was overturned after he served nearly 20 years in prison, has died of prostate cancer at the age of 76. Carter, after his release, started working to help others who were also convicted unjustly. His incredible story inspired a Bob Dylan song and a Denzel Washington film, The Hurricane.
Carter’s story was so compelling to Denzel that the Oscar-winner now follows a workout routine that would tire out most men half his age. Washington does 10 rounds of boxing five days a week — a good exercise that combines strength training and aerobic exercise, helping to build muscles and burn fat at the same time.
The reason that so many celebrities use boxing as a way to lose weight is because boxing is interval training. This form of fitness can supercharge your fitness, boost your metabolism, and burn off that extra fat in no time. To help you hone your skills, here are a couple of workouts to improve your staying power:
The Workouts
UFC Power Punches
Whether you’re facing Wanderlei Silva in a cage match or a 75-pound bag in your basement, the same rules apply: Once you’re warmed up, you should be throwing each punch at full blast. Here is a demanding six-round routine to build mental and physical tenacity.
Grow your intensity: Clock each round at 3 minutes, resting 1 minute between rounds. With each round, you’ll add one punch to your sequence.
Punches per round:
1. Warmup. Strike the bag at 50 percent with a variety of punches
2. Up your power to full strength and launch jabs
3. Jab, throw a cross, and repeat
Middleweight Lightning Hands
Shadowboxing allows you to rack up high reps without the resistance of a bag to slow your punches. You’ll tone your shoulders, back, and core, which will help you throw faster punches.
Combos jabs:
1. Left jab, left jab, right cross
2. Right cross, left jab, right uppercut
3. Left body punch, right body punch, left uppercut