With every passing year, Frank Gore’s going to have to fight for his job.
He should at least be prepared.
The 49ers running back has prospered in recent years, swearing by an offseason regimen of boxing workouts. Along with some help from a former PED pariah, Gore has remained consistently productive and available.
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a deep look at the workouts, which happen at the Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos.
“You hear of fighters who don’t have knockout power?” trainer Brian Schwartz said. “If Frank was a fighter, he’d have knockout power. His punches are fast and snappy.”
“It helps you get your mind right,” Gore said of the boxing workouts, which includes sessions with actual boxers. “A mind thing, and also a challenge. I’m very competitive.”
“B [Schwartz] don’t let ‘em go all out. He wants me to be safe, but I think I do a pretty good job. I know when I’m done, all the true boxers [are] surprised at what I know.”
Gore has been training with Schwartz the last three offseasons, using a combination of old school boxing techniques and new technology, such as a tent which replicates high-altitude conditions by pumping in lower-oxygen air while the athletes work out inside.
The tent was the idea of Victor Conte, infamous for his role in the BALCO doping scandal, who spent four months in jail in 2005 and 2006. Conte also has designed nutritional supplements for a number of 49ers players, something Gore says has helped him in recent years.
While the name might draw attention, you can also point to results, as Gore has remained consistent and productive into his 30s, a time when most running backs are headed out to pasture instead of turning into Raging Bulls.