The same is true no matter what sport you choose: the harder you train, the more you gain.
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What does boxing have in common with body boarding? On the surface one could say nothing at all. But pealing back the layers and looking at the core training, implement training methods from one to another can, and does make great athletes. That is what made Francisco ‘Capu’ Ocasio has proven with his revolutionary training style.
Standing at around 5’10”, Ocasio is a shredded former welter weight boxer who became an Olympic-certified personal trainer. He’s also an extremely humble man, you can tell him he’s the best at what he does and instead of puffing out his chest and brag about his achievements, he’ll bow his head and assure you it was a collaborative effort between him and his supporters. Still, his humility shouldn’t be taken as insecurity. Ocasio knows how to push, has an undeniable drive to motivate, to ‘walk and talk’ and get things done quickly and efficiently. His boxing spirit shines through once his trainer hat is on.
Knowing that some trainers tend to push their athletes for long arduous sessions, I wondered if that is Ocasio’s approach or if he dared to challenge that norm as well. Not surprising, he does. For Ocasio, training sessions should not extend more than an hour. According him, if you “train for more than 45 minutes to an hour at a daily basis you’re putting unnecessary stress onto the body and it makes you more likely injuries that will be long and difficult to return from.”
Unusually serious, Ocasio lets me know that “you can do a complete workout for an hour and continue to burn calories throughout the day if you do it right,” he said. “There’s really no need to do more.”
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Before becoming a trainer, Ocasio was not only a professional boxer, but marathoner, a baseball player, and a freestyle body boarder. His passion for the water made him reach out to the surfing community first to start his career as a trainer. Eager to put into practice what he’d learn not only academically, but from his coaches, Ocasio reached out to professionals like Edgar ‘Galdo’ Gomez at the Recarga Contest in Dorado Puerto Rico in 2013. Soon after, they both were training intensively and Gomez went from being 3rd world’s best in the drop knee category to 2nd.
“I trust him completely,” said Gomez. “He’s tried [the workouts] on himself before making anyone else do them; and the fact that he does everything with you is even more motivating for me.” Gomez is completely confident that his training with Ocasio will earn him the number one spot on drop knee riding and doesn’t hesitate to say it.
After about a 45 minute drive we arrive at the training spot, a private beach in the municipality of Arecibo in northern Puerto Rico. I watch as they all set up for the session, I smile and see the waves crashing against an islet. Swell was up. Some of the trainees were in the water rippin’ it up. Calling them in, Ocasio starts explaining to the newbies how each movement needs to be done. I become exhausted just looking at them. Once they start, I watch how they all take turns in each spot. From throwing weighted balls up in the air, jumping through stairs, boxing it out with Ocasio himself, and run down the shoreline. The session’s second stage is practicing the Laird Hamilton Technique, where each one takes the turn to walk under the water while holding either a boulder, or a cinder block.
Emerging from the water, Ocasio catches his breath and smiles – he’s ready for a Q&A with The Good Men Project about his career as a boxer, as a trainer and his goals for the future.
How does one go from professional boxer, to trainer for body boarders?
During my athletic years, I used my sacrifice and constant athletic efforts as a motivation to complete my studies. During that time I was being mentored by many trainers that helped me a great deal, one of which was Cruz Manuel “Pensa” García, who was physical trainer to [Puerto Rican boxing champ] Felix “Tito” Trinidad, whom I learned a great deal from. After completing my studies, which not only focused on physical training, but had a concentration on athletic sports development, and from my experiences as a boxer, as an athlete I start creating my own circuit – my own boot camp – based on what I’ve learned from my coaches and my studies. As a freestyle body boarder I knew first hand that each sport has a specific movement and physical development – and in body boarding I began to implement weight training in the specific movements for that sport in order to create a resistance in training, that will enable the athlete to perform more fluidly, and have a high level of agility during aerial movements.
Your primary athletic background is very different than that of body boarding, and drop knee riding, how do you use your athletic background as a trainer?
I’ve come from being a baseball player, to a boxer, to a runner, and in high school I was invited to the beach by some friends and that’s when I was introduced to body boarding. From that moment, a passion for the sport grew in me and has never left. Although I used to dabble in either boxing or body boarding for a while, it was my trainer as a boxer; where the discipline of waking up early, going to be early, dedication to being healthy, is what helped me attain the great physical condition I now have. So I took that and applied it to body boarding training and I’ve seen the results in Gomez and Castro.
How does one translate a boxing training session to body boarding?
Mentally, I work a sort of thesis, a great example I can give you is the time I when I was still practicing boxing as a sport. During the week, the intense training sessions, the bag, the running, the weight training, all of it served as a way to give me a high stamina to go in the water for hours or body boarding during the weekends. While my academic preparation I thought of implementing a similar style of training for professional body boarding, surfing and drop knee athletes so they can achieve that same stamina during competitions and such.
What have been the differences being an athlete, and now as a trainer?
As an athlete I’ve been able to acquire a lot of theories, whereas as a trainer I’ve been able to implement all of these theories and see the results in guys like Galdo Gomez and Fran Castro, who were among the first to give me the opportunity to train them – and I’ve noticed the difference in their performance during each competition, and even at a daily basis.
Will you continue doing this sort of high octane training for body boarders?
Yes, but it can also be modified for those who aren’t professional athletes as well. Those who would want to just improve their health, their physical selves I’ll work with them to achieve their health goals. Everything is for the improvement of the self. I love helping people, I love to hear people come up to me and tell me the positive results of my work in their lives. Their happy faces are what keep me motivated. As a trainer and health advisor one has to always stay in touch with the new things that are happening. In a not so long future I hope to include chiropractic specialties into my training. To be a trained chiropractor is a goal of mine, so that I can continue to help people be healthy in all areas.
What do you think of the request to include surfing, and body boarding in the 2016 Olympics?
That would be a dream come true, while surfing doesn’t appear in the Olympic disciplines, it does show up in the extreme sports classification. I think that surfing and body boarding are very much Olympic qualifying sports. They both include all the elements of training and physical demands any of the other disciplines require for performance at a global level. We have to work to attain top physical and mental status to achieve success, be it for Pipeline or Mavericks – we need to be in incredible shape in order to perform, swim and ensure our safety is intact under harsh surfing conditions during competitions, as we all know can and does happen often.
You’ve mentioned that you love to help people, how does helping others make you feel?
It’s an indescribable feeling. God has placed me in the path of a person to help them with their health and weight goals. To see how He uses me to help them reach a better condition, a better life really…there are no words I can use to describe how that makes me feel.
Changing the topic a bit, as a free style body boarder – what are the things you’ve enjoyed of the sport so far? What keeps you coming back to the water?
Wow, body boarding for me is like a physical and mental therapy. It’s like while I’m working out [by paddling, and riding waves] I’m clearing my mind from all the negativity that can accumulate through the week or day. It’s a different feeling when you’re on a wave, it’s inexplicable. This is what I’d like to give to people, that passion for the sport. The same passion I was introduced to so many years ago, I’d like for them to have. When I go out I focus on training, but while I’m training I’m also clearing my mind – and after I return I make sure I rest. Believe it or not, resting is a crucial part of training. Without proper rest you are opening the doors to inconsistency and quite possibly injuries.
What do you hope to achieve in the next 10 years?
Well, that’s a loaded question [laughs]. I hope that I can have my own gym, that I’m working with people from all walks of life to achieve their athletic and health goals. I hope that I can be able to continue working with professional athletes like Galdo and Fran, and to get my chiropractic license in order to be more rounded as a physical therapist. I also, and most importantly, I hope to be able to continue to provide my son a better life and a parent that he can look up to and trust in every way.
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All Photos Provided by La Shawn Pagán