Anthony Joshua, the current heavyweight boxing world champion, discusses the advantages of a regular training regimen and how he prepares for victory.

Boxers often complete 13 and a half hour workdays.

“A normal training day for me starts at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m. I normally finish up around 8 o’clock after doing some stretching, running, and three gym sessions at roughly 11.30 am, 1.30 pm, and 5.30 pm. Although it’s demanding, we do have the weekend off.

Breakfast is always served after training.

“To increase my fitness and burn fat, I do fasted cardio before breakfast. We prefer to start early because it’s difficult to have breakfast first unless you get up two hours before your training session.

Every fight is based on three-minute rounds with one-minute rests so I head down to a 400m track and complete a 900m run within three minutes, followed by one minute’s rest. I’ll do that up to eight times to help simulate the demands of a fight.”

Boxers learn from Brazilian footballers

“I often go down to a sandpit and do a lot of boxing movements in the sand. It’s very heavy on the legs and it’s similar to how the Brazilians learn to play football. If you look at top players like Pele and Ronaldinho, their secret was to play football in the sand because it builds up the strength and stability and balance in the legs. It really helps with my explosive agility too.”

Neck harnesses help you take a punch

“As a heavyweight boxer, you need extremely strong neck muscles, so I train regularly with a neck harness. It can hold any amount of weight and really works your traps and neck area.

You lean over the edge of a ring and let the weight dangle down then use your neck strength to pull it up or down. You can do it forwards, backwards or on both sides so you strengthen every part of your neck.”

If you want glamour, this is the wrong sport

“Boxing training is still quite old-school and rugged in many ways. I like it that way because it keeps you grounded. There is not much glitz and glamour. You don’t need much to be a boxer –a pair of gloves, some shorts, a heavy bag and a coach.

Boxing can be a real rags-to-riches story and that is what catches people’s attention. I definitely like it for that reason.”

Boxers now train like mountaineers

“Away from the gym there is a lot more sports science involved in boxing today – not just in the equipment and clothing but in the training as well. I train sometimes at an altitude centre. I do running and shadow boxing while they pump in nitrogen to simulate a lower-oxygen environment. It helps to build red blood cells so you get fitter.”

I no longer feel pain in training

“I’ve gone past the stage of pain in the gym. I swear to you. It’s just a mental thing now. When you’re really trying and your coach is saying ‘that’s not good enough’, it’s more of a mental game.

It used to be like physical torture on the body, but now it’s a mental challenge. I’m thinking: how am I going to get through today and improve on this? How am I going to be better today than I was yesterday?”

I like to ‘wolf down’ a whole chicken

“As a heavyweight boxer I don’t have to make weight so I’m lucky. That’s why I can have a whole chicken when I go to Nando’s.

I normally use a company called Soulmate Food who deliver healthy meals like fish, chicken, rice and veg, but in the evening I don’t mind a Nando’s. I usually have a whole chicken with a quinoa salad.”

You need to turn your core strength on and off

“Heavyweight boxers are generally very tall now which means we need a strong core to transfer all our force through the body when we punch. Heavyweights used to be short and stocky but now we’re tall and strong. I use a lot of TRX rows, medicine ball twists and side planks.

As a boxer, you have to learn to switch on and off, to relax your muscles then tense them up, so it’s good to practice switching your core on and off when you train.”

Boxers don’t really have to make sacrifices

“Because of my hunger for this sport, there is not much I am missing out on. I can’t say, ‘I wish I was doing this or that instead.’ I’m a professional. This is what I want to do.”

The moments before a big fight are what matter

“In that final walk to the ring, all I’m thinking is: ‘There is no turning back. This is all or nothing now.’ In every fight I gain a new experience.

My aim for my next fight is to relax and really centre myself and do what I do day in day out in the gym. In the gym you can do amazing stuff then on fight night the pressure gets to you and you can’t always execute it. This time I’m going to keep my head in the game and stay chilled out.”

Your training camps are famously intense so why do you also train outdoors as opposed to just spending time in the boxing gym?

“Outdoor training is completely different. You know, you have got the wind blowing in your face, it is hard to breathe, and I think it’s like the old-school. You can’t beat the old-school training and connecting with nature.”