LAHORE: Pakistan’s boxing coach Arshad Hussain has said that this time the national fighters are being trained differently and with new approach for the 19th Asian Games.
The event is slated to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.
“Yes, we have made some changes in our training by bringing in some innovative approach both in enhancing the skill level and fitness of the fighters,” he told The News from Islamabad on Monday.
“We want fighters with strong muscles and for that we have applied some new exercises and we have done also differently in enhancing the skills of the boxers,” Arshad said.
“And another thing is that in the past we used to work on physical fitness first and then would work on skills but this time we are working on both areas every day.
“Our boxers mostly are not highly educated and they don’t know what will be the benefit of a particular exercise and what will be its side-effect. These days we are working with great intensity and we will start reducing the load just two weeks before the event in the Asian Games.”
He was happy that the lot has achieved top fitness this time ahead of Asian Games.
“I am happy that our hard work is paying dividends as the boys are in great shape. We had enough time at our disposal and here in Islamabad we did gym work also and that helped a lot,” said Arshad, a former Olympian.
He said that they have also increased the speed of running during training which is yielding good results.
Asked about the diet being given to the boxers, he said the diet is good and if there is any deficiency the federation also supports them.
“We have added to the diet menu of the fighters and the federation has given us some amount through which we can meet the deficiency. You know after tough workout the boxers need good diet to recover for the next training session. We are making every effort to keep the fighters fully energised so that they could meet the training demands,” Arshad said.
“We also can manage multi-vitamins in the amount which has been given to us by the federation,” he was quick to add.
He said that they plan to go to China four days before the boxing event starts as it will help the boxers to adapt to the local conditions.
Alam Zeb Safi Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News