In a fiercely competitive world, it’s little surprise that some athetes sometimes turn to outside-the-box practices to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Iga Swiatek has raised eyebrows in recent days by preparing for the Canadian Open with tape over her mouth. That’s right, the tennis star was gearing up for the tournament by depriving herself of half of her breathing apparatus.
Over the years we’ve seen some absolute corkers. Manny Pacquiao worked his core by getting beaten with a stick, Tyson Fury dipped his hands in petrol every day to train for his 2020 Deontay Wilder fight, and the grind never stopped for Michael Phelps, not even during sleep, as he would get some shut eye in an altitude chamber.
Mail Sport isn’t brave enough to try out some of those, but we have been kind enough to take a look at some of the craziest methods over the years. Here they are.
Manny Pacquiao, stick beating
At various points throughout his career, Pacquaio has turned to a ruthless old-school method to increase his resistance and tone his abs.
We saw it ahead of his superfight with Oscar de la Hoya in December 2008. We saw it 13 years later, as the 42-year-old legend steeled himself to face Errol Spence Jr – though that fight never went ahead.
Bluntly put, the practice involves him standing there, gritting his teeth, and being battered in his core and on his arms with a wooden stick.
‘If you do the stick, when you get in the ring and you get hit, you’re still relaxed and focused on the fight,’ he explained in 2008.
In a career spanning 72 fights, he won 62 of them and claimed twelve major world titles across eight different weight classes, a feat unparalleled in boxing. Something must have worked.
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Michael Jordan, strobe light training
In his 1980s glory years with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan became one of the biggest stars in the world – and thus one of the most photographed.
When he was taking free throws, the camera flashing from photographers desperate to bag the best shot was incessant.
So Jordan had a plan. He bagn to practise shooting with strobe lights on in order to mimic the environment he’d experience out on court.
Other NBA stars have adopted similar techniques since then. Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard have been known to use strobe goggles to improve neuromuscular efficiency – effectively, training your brain and muscles to work as the best team possible.
Graham Potter putting on rock, rap and ballet concerts
Graham Potter spent seven years as manager of Ostersunds in Sweden, taking them from the country’s fourth tier to European Football and even a win over Arsenal in one leg of the Europa League knockout stages.
Every year, he would have his team embark on a cultural project, ending in a big performance at the end of the season.
They put on a play, staged rock and rap concerts and, most memorably, performed their own version of ballet Swan Lake.
In front of thousands of spectators, he performed a solo ballet.
It might not exactly be a training method, but the extra-curricular team bonding projects seem to have done something to motivate and inspire the Ostersunds players to one of the most remarkable rises in European football.
Graham Potter once tried to help his players bond by putting on concerts at the end of the season
He claimed that, each day, he would submerge his hands in petrol for five minutes to strengthen his knuckles as he aimed to take the WBC title off his rival.
But that’s not even the most scandalous routine. Fury went as far to say he was masturbating seven times every day in a bid to raise his testosterone levels. Now we know why Wilder refused to shake his hand after their third fight in 2021…
He began working with Pepe Imaz in 2016 for a couple of years and reportedly learned about telepathy and levitation under the Spanish coach. He is understood to believe trampolines have special redemptive powers.
There has been a strong focus on nutrition. The Serbian great eats a gluten-free diet and removed wheat from his diet after undertaking an exercise that involved holding a slice of bread against his stomach.
Last year, he trained in the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira, a mix of dancing and fighting. He has worn a coated gumshield to acquire extra powers and walked with separators between his toes to maximise his balance.
Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic has a number of unusual rituals – including holding bread against his stomach and wearing a coated gumshield
This isn’t bizarre in the sense of its benefits being obscure. Many elite athletes have used high-altitude training to improve their aerobic capabilities.
Sleeping in a chamber, however, is a step few take, and Phelps did it for over a year.
The swimmer slept in an environment simulating between 8,500 and 9,000 feet – getting close to a third of the height of Mt Everest.
‘We’ve been able to realize after going to Colorado Springs so many times that it is something that helps me recover,’ he said in 2012. ‘That’s something that is so important to me now being older. I don’t recover as fast as I used to.’
