Times Amateur Boxing Club and TKO GYM Tenerife

Founded in 1927, the Times Amateur Boxing Club has been at the centre of the local Kings Cross community and wider Islington and Camden folklore since establishing itself in the area in 1958, with a membership in excess of 300 people (ages 8 - adult). Throughout this period the club has earned a strong reputation for helping young people in the area achieve personal and public success, including a number of noted champions. The main focus of the club remains to support young people of all backgrounds and sporting standards to gain fitness, confidence and self-discipline through sport and to help them achieve their full potential.

“Times boxing club was the first amateur club to stay at the TKO gym in Tenerife. The first visit was back in Sept 2005 where twenty two boxers and three coaches were given the chance to sample the five star facilities what would usually only be on offer to professional boxers. On the day of arrival we were met at the airport by the owner Jimmie Yellop, we were picked up and driven to the accommodation, first impression was unbelievable some of the kids said they felt like royalty, each morning we were woken at 7.00am by our host Jimmie either singing at the top of his voice or banging a saucepan with a wooden spoon. once ready off on our morning run, every day the runs are different from steep hills to beach runs with added breathtaking scenery. and not forgetting mount Teide, each run would normally take 1 hour then back to the gym, time to relax round the swimming pool or in the 8 berth Jacuzzi, mid afternoon we would have sparing and around 6pm another session this time skipping, pads, sit ups and general circuit training. what we found with this trip was how the boxers bonded with each other, and the friendship increased by 100% .every one enjoyed it so much we are on our fifth trip there this September 2008.   Times amateur boxing club would like to say a big thank you to Jimmie Yellop for giving us the opportunity to train at his gym .”

Train at the TKO Gym in Tenerife

Fed up with training on these long winter evenings in Britain? Then why not take a look at the promotional video of TKO's gym in Arona, Tenerife.

Boxers, Managers and Trainers know the importance of decent training facilities, but finding facilities abroad is hard to come by. Managers and trainers who nurture future Champions need to have the very best, with warm weather and a high altitude environment to prepare their fighters and have every opportunity to achieve their Title and financial goals.

Top British boxing trainer, Johnny Eames of the T.K.O. gym now has the solution, with his very own training camp in Arona, Tenerife which provides the very best in all round training facilities. A state of the art boxing gym and high-tec facilities set in the beautiful all year warmth and high altitude of Tenerife.

What is High Altitude Training?

Altitude training traditionally referred to as altitude camp, is the practice by some endurance athletes of training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably over 2,500 m (8,000 ft) above sea level, though more commonly at a lower altitude due to the lack of availability of a suitable location. At this altitude the air still contains approximately 20.9% oxygen, but the barometric pressure and thus the partial pressure of oxygen is reduced.[1][2]. More common nowadays is the use of an altitude simulation tent, altitude simulation room, or mask-based hypoxicator system where the barometric pressure is kept the same, but the oxygen content is reduced which also reduces the partial pressure of oxygen. Such devices have enabled different altitude training techniques including Live High, Train Low, or the practice of merely performing occasional exercise sessions at altitude.


Depending very much on the protocols used, the body may adapt to the relative lack of oxygen hypoxia in one or more of a number ways such as increasing the mass of red blood cells and hemoglobin[3], and non-hematolological responses [4]. Proponents claim that when such athletes travel to competitions at lower altitudes they will still have a higher concentration of red blood cells for 10-14 days, and this gives them a competitive advantage. Some athletes live permanently at high altitude, only returning to sea level to compete, but their training may suffer due to less available oxygen for workouts.

Mechanism

An increase in red blood cell mass allows more oxygen to be supplied to the muscles allowing higher performance. Increases in red blood cell mass are stimulated by an increase in erythropoietin (EPO). The body naturally produces EPO to regulate red blood cell mass. Synthetic EPO also exists. Injections of synthetic EPO and blood doping are illegal in athletic competition because they cause an increase in red blood cells beyond the individual athlete's natural limits. This increase, unlike the increase caused by altitude training, can be dangerous to an athlete's health as the blood may become too thick and cause heart failure (see polycythemia). The natural secretion of EPO by the human kidneys can be increased by altitude training, but the body has limits on the amount of natural EPO that it will secrete, thus avoiding the harmful side effects of the illegal doping procedures.

Scientific studies[citation needed] have shown that altitude training can produce increases in speed, strength, endurance, and recovery. Opponents of altitude training argue that an athlete's red blood cell concentration returns to normal levels within days of returning to sea level and that it is impossible to train at the same intensity that one could at sea level, reducing the training effect and wasting training time due to altitude sickness. Altitude simulation systems have enabled protocols that do not suffer from such compromises, and can be utilized closer to competition if necessary. Some devices would be considered portable.

A 2005 study[5] showed that although the boosted VO2 max had returned to normal 15 days after the conclusion of an 18-day Live High Train Low protocol, the submaximal performance at ventilatory threshold was enhanced upon initial return to sea-level, and was even greater 15 days later.

Numerous other responses to altitude training have also been identified, including angiogenesis, glucose transport, glycolysis, and pH regulation, each of which may partially explain improved endurance performance independent of a larger number of red blood cells.[4]. Furthermore, exercising at altitude has been shown to cause muscular adjustments of selected gene transcripts[6]., and improvement of mitochondrial properties in skeletal muscle[7].

In Finland, a scientist named Heikki Rusko has designed a "high-altitude house." The air inside the house, which is situated at sea level, is at normal pressure but modified to a low concentration of oxygen, about 15.3% (below the 20.9% at sea level), the same concentration as that at the altitudes often used for altitude training. Athletes live and sleep inside the house but perform their training outside (at normal oxygen concentrations at 20.9%). Rusko's results show improvements of EPO and red-cell levels. His technology has been commercialized and is being used by thousands of competitive athletes in cycling, triathlon, olympic endurance sports, professional football, basketball, hockey, soccer, and many other sports that can take advantage of the improvements in strength, speed, endurance, and recovery.