Simple & Effective: How Does Katie Taylor Train?

Katie Taylor has emerged as the face of women’s boxing and once again showed her credentials as the undisputed world lightweight champion with a points win over Miriam Gutierrez on November 14th.

The Irishwoman has won the hearts of fight fans around the globe with her immaculate dedication to the sport, modest personality and tenacious style in the ring.

Now 34 years of age, Taylor doesn’t take any short cuts at her training base in Connecticut which is why she’s become such a powerhouse in the sport.

Here, Built for Athletes takes a look at how Katie Taylor trains. 

Aerobic Endurance Work

Just like most boxers, running is a staple part of Katie Taylor’s training diet. 

Her sessions vary from long, slow distance runs to fast sprint sessions. It all works to develop her aerobic fitness so she can last the full 10 rounds.

Taylor says the mountainous terrain in Connecticut also helps build strong legs to give her a solid base on the canvas. 

Old-School Strength Work

By her own admission, Katie Taylor does nothing fancy when it comes to strength work.

She sticks to simple exercises like bench pressing and squatting, as well as getting in a lot of bodyweight work with press-ups and chin-ups.

Similarly to Tyson Fury’s wood-chopping workouts, Taylor has a mentally-grinding session which consists of thudding a sledgehammer into a tyre.

Regular Sparring

Katie Taylor will spar around three times a week when in a training camp.

She’ll go all the way up to 12 rounds depending on how far out from fight night she is, and stresses she’s never afraid of taking on someone new in a sparring session to test out her boxing IQ on how to go about breaking them down.

Nutrition

On heavy training days, she eats three meals a day. She starts with porridge topped with fruit and some honey, then makes sure she gets some quality protein and carbohydrate in between sessions.

Salmon and chicken are her go-to protein sources.