THE WEEKLY ISH
Week of July 25, 2026
This week we are on Crawford.
Terence Crawford vs Egus Kavaliauskas. Round 9. Crawford switched to southpaw, walked him to the ropes with three punches, feinted low to drop his hands, shuffled back, shifted his weight to the front foot, and shot the rear uppercut. Fight over.
Most people think it was the uppercut that ended the fight. It was not. The uppercut was the last thing. Everything Crawford did before it is the lesson.
Watch the full breakdown here: https://youtu.be/g1hqqq1A1jU
THIS WEEK'S COACHING CONCEPT — The Feint Is The Combination
You do not just throw combinations. You create the conditions that make them work.
Crawford saw that Kavaliauskas kept moving his head to his back foot whenever he threw his right hand. He used that tendency deliberately — the feint low got him to drop his guard, and the shuffle loaded the front foot for the uppercut. The punch was the last thing in a sequence that was already won before it landed.
This week every session starts with the feint before the combination. Not just the combination. The whole sequence. Feint low, shuffle back, shift the weight, uppercut. Slow before fast.
YOUR FOCUS THIS WEEK
Ladies ISH 🥊 — The Feint Making your opponent react without committing to a punch is one of the most underrated skills in boxing. This week before every combination you throw on the bag do one feint low first. Build that habit before you build the speed. One feint then the combination every single rep.
Not sure where to start? Take the free quiz here: https://www.elcoachcasey.com/wheretostart
Want the full breakdown with mitt work, heavy bag, and six guided workouts? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/thedailyishlibrary
Want everything — Foundation, Footwork, and three months of the Daily ISH Library? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/training/p/how-to-do-the-ish-that-matters-the-complete-boxing-bundle
Fellas ISH 🔥 — The Shuffle and Weight Shift Isolate Crawford's shuffle back and weight shift to the front foot before the uppercut. Do it without the punch first. Shuffle back, front foot takes the weight, then shoot. The movement has to be right before the power transfers. Slow before fast. This movement is what separates a clean uppercut from one that has nothing behind it.
Not sure where to start? Take the free quiz here: https://www.elcoachcasey.com/wheretostart
Want the full breakdown with mitt work, heavy bag, and six guided workouts? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/thedailyishlibrary
Want everything — Foundation, Footwork, and three months of the Daily ISH Library? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/training/p/how-to-do-the-ish-that-matters-the-complete-boxing-bundle
Athletes and Fighters ISH ⚡ — The Stance Switch Read Crawford did not switch stances because he felt like it. He switched because he recognized a pattern. In sparring this week look for your opponent's head tendency. Where does their head go when they throw their right hand. Find the tendency. Build a combination around it. That is what Crawford did and it is what separates fighters who react from fighters who create.
Not sure where to start? Take the free quiz here: https://www.elcoachcasey.com/wheretostart
Want the full breakdown with mitt work, heavy bag, and six guided workouts? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/thedailyishlibrary
Want everything — Foundation, Footwork, and three months of the Daily ISH Library? https://www.elcoachcasey.com/training/p/how-to-do-the-ish-that-matters-the-complete-boxing-bundle
CONDITIONING THIS WEEK — Three Options
Long distance running builds a different energy system than the one you need in boxing or any stop-and-go sport. This week you have three options. Pick one or stack them. All three build the explosive-recovery capacity that shows up when it matters.
Option 1 — Miles By Level
Beginner: 1 to 2 miles, 3 days this week. Walk when you need to. Time on your feet is the goal not pace.
Intermediate: 3 to 4 miles, 3 to 4 days this week. Consistent pace. No stops. This is where your aerobic base actually builds.
Advanced: 5 to 6 miles, 4 to 5 days this week. Add a tempo mile in the middle where you push the pace. Your body needs to know what fast feels like at distance.
Option 2 — Bike Sprints — Assault Bike or Regular Bike
This builds the explosive-recovery cycle your sport demands. Not steady state. Intervals.
The protocol: 2 minutes slow — warm up, easy pace, get the legs moving 6 minutes of sprints — 10 seconds all out, 20 seconds off That is 12 sprint intervals in the 6 minute block Total time: 8 minutes. It will feel like more.
Watch the full protocol here: https://youtu.be/VQGRISnYHCI
Option 3 — Punch Conditioning — 12 Minutes Total
This builds conditioning and punching output at the same time. Rhythm shots develop timing and snap. Power shots develop force and commitment. Alternating between them teaches your body to stay sharp when it is tired — which is the whole game.
The protocol: Set your interval timer to 24 rounds with no break between rounds 30 seconds rhythm shots — sharp, fast, snappy 30 seconds power shots — full commitment, full force Alternate on and off for all 24 rounds Total time: 12 minutes. No rest.
Watch the full protocol here: https://youtu.be/9aexJgECts8
NUTRITION THIS WEEK — Built For Training Not Just Eating
Every meal this week has a job. Not just to fill you up — to fuel what you are doing in the gym and help you recover so you can go again.
Breakfast — Bacon, Eggs, Avocado — Sourdough Toast Optional Protein from the eggs and bacon starts muscle protein synthesis first thing. The fat from the avocado gives you sustained energy that does not spike and crash before your session. If you are training in the morning add the toast — the carbs will fuel the session. If you are training in the afternoon skip it.
Lunch — Ground Beef and Potatoes This is the meal that keeps you stable through a full training session without crashing. Ground beef is dense protein and iron — iron directly affects how fast you gas out by determining how efficiently your blood carries oxygen. Potatoes are slow-release carbs that give you energy that lasts the entire session instead of dropping in the first round.
Dinner — Steak and Asparagus — or Steak Sandwich if You Skipped Toast at Breakfast Steak at dinner means your body is repairing muscle tissue overnight while you sleep. Asparagus reduces inflammation and helps your kidneys flush the waste your muscles produced during training. The sandwich option keeps the same protein base and adds the carbs you need if your energy was low today.
Fruit This Week — Orange and Watermelon Orange gives you Vitamin C which helps your body absorb the iron from the ground beef and steak. Watermelon is 92 percent water and contains citrulline which reduces muscle soreness. Eat it after training not before.
HYDRATION — Your Number This Week
Most people are training dehydrated and do not know it. A two percent drop in hydration reduces your power output, your reaction time, and your mental clarity — all three things your sport requires at the same time.
Your formula: Body weight multiplied by 0.67 equals your daily ounce target.
Example: 180 lbs × 0.67 = 120 oz per day. That is about 15 glasses of water.
Add 12 oz for every 30 minutes of training on top of that base number.
Start your morning with 16 oz before food, coffee, or your phone. Your body has been running on no water for 7 to 8 hours overnight. Fix that first.
GET ACCESS TO THE FULL SYSTEM
The Daily ISH Library — $97/month Film study, mitt work, heavy bag, and six full guided workouts every week. One combination per week built around how the greatest fighters in history finished fights. New combination drops every week. Everything stays in your library permanently. https://www.elcoachcasey.com/thedailyishlibrary
The Complete Bundle — Foundation, Footwork, and three months of the Daily ISH Library. One price. Yours permanently. https://www.elcoachcasey.com/training/p/how-to-do-the-ish-that-matters-the-complete-boxing-bundle
Not sure where to start — take the free quiz: https://www.elcoachcasey.com/wheretostart
How To Do The Ish That Matters. El Coach Casey — Discovery Performance elcoachcasey.com
Nobody Told You Protein's Biggest Secret
AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSCLE
Everyone talks about protein and muscle. Build it. Maintain it. Feed it after training. That part is real — but it's not the reason most people actually need to hear about protein right now.The reason that changes behavior? The reason that makes eating feel less like a fight you keep losing?Protein keeps you full. Longer than anything else you can put on a plate. And that one fact, understood correctly, quietly solves about half the problems people have with their nutrition.
The Science Without the Lecture
Why Protein Is the Most Filling Food You Can Eat
Your body burns more energy digesting protein than it does digesting carbohydrates or fat. That process alone produces heat and keeps your metabolism working. But the bigger deal is the hormonal response — protein triggers the satiety signals in your gut faster and keeps them on longer. You stop reaching for food not because you have willpower. Because your body genuinely isn't asking for it.Carbs give you energy and go. Fat satisfies but it's calorie-dense. Protein does both jobs — fuels you and tells your brain you're done — without using as many calories to do it.
"Most people aren't losing the food battle because of willpower. They're losing it because they're underfed on the one thing that makes hunger manageable."
Why This Matters for You
What Changes When You Actually Prioritize Protein
You stop snacking out of habit. Not because you decided to be disciplined — because you aren't actually hungry at 3pm when your lunch had enough protein in it. That's not motivation. That's biology working the way it's supposed to.You stop dragging your way through a deficit. If you are trying to change your body composition — lose fat, get leaner, tighten up — a high protein diet makes that process feel dramatically more manageable. The hunger that normally derails people starts to quiet down.Your training stops getting sabotaged by your eating. You can't bring the effort level you need to a session when you're running on empty. Protein keeps the tank fuller, longer, and the work you put in actually means something when the fuel is there to back it up.
If you're training to change how you look — building shape, losing weight, trying to feel strong instead of just smaller — this is the lever that makes the whole thing sustainable. You don't have to eat less. You have to eat smarter, and smarter almost always starts with more protein.
If you're someone who used to train seriously and is trying to get back to something close to that — you know what your body can do when it's fueled right. Protein is the piece most people quietly let slip when life got busy. Getting it back changes how training feels within a week.
If you're performing at a high level and nutrition is part of your edge — you already know this. The question is whether you're actually hitting your number every day or just assuming you are. There's usually a gap.
The Practical Part
How to Actually Use This
Your body weight in grams is the starting point. If you weigh 170 pounds, you're aiming for 170 grams of protein a day. Not every day has to be perfect — but most days need to be close.Spread it across meals. Don't try to get it all in one sitting. Your body can only absorb and use so much at once, and spacing it out keeps the satiety effect working all day. Three or four solid protein anchors — eggs in the morning, ground beef at lunch, steak at dinner — and you're most of the way there without supplements or complicated tracking.Build meals you actually want to eat. This is the part most nutrition advice skips. If you don't enjoy the food, you won't eat it consistently. Consistency is the only thing that matters. Find your protein sources, build your meals around them, and make it something you can do forever — not just for thirty days.I am now set to hit 200g a day. Not because I'm obsessive about it — because I noticed the difference in how I train and how I feel when I'm at that number versus when I'm not. The hunger is quieter. The training is better. The rest takes care of itself.That's the secret nobody puts on the label.