AJ Says You Should Ditch Weights If You Want to Lose Weight and Maintain Muscle

In his last fight against Andy Ruiz Jr we saw a new Anthony Joshua, a leaner, meaner version of two times world champion.

For his second fight against Ruiz, Joshua weighed in at a relatively slight (for a heavyweight champion at least) 16st 13lbs, which ranks as his lightest ever weight for a world title fight.

But while Joshua may have lost weight, he didn't lose a shred of muscle or definition. How did he do that? How did he maintain his muscle and menace, but look leaner and more in shape than ever before? Well, according to AJ, he put down the dumbbells and focused on cardio, and he says that if you're looking to achieve a similar physique you should do the same.

Anthony Joshua: Natural Born Winner

"People go to the gym to lose weight, but I see people lifting weights. I don't think weights will help you lose weight," says Joshua. "I'm just a fan of cardio. If you want to lose weight you've got to sweat: you've got to run or you've got to get on a bike. [In the run up to my last fight] I just did a lot of cardio, which was boxing specific."

"For people that aren't boxers, what they should do is focus on more long walks if they've got bad knees or long runs if they've got good knees," Joshua adds.

In the past, Joshua has been dubbed a "talentless bodybuilder" by rival Tyson Fury, and he is the first to acknowledge that in previous fights he has relied too heavily on his strength and muscle-building regimen to blast past opponents. But at the level Joshua operates at now, he can't just rely on strength, bigger (in the case of Ruiz, literally) opponents now lie in wait, so Joshua says he will fall back into relying on his technique, which means we can expect to see the leaner version of Joshua in future fights.

"A lot of people just rely on their strength, so they spend more time out of the boxing gym and in the gym trying to get strong because they don't have the best technique," says Joshua, "I used to rely on that, but I've moved away from just relying on my strength to try and rely on my technique."

Joshua spoke to MH after a live recording of JD Sports 'In the Duffle Bag' podcast, recorded at JD's Oxford Street flagship store.

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Daniel Davies Daniel Davies is a staff writer at Men's Health UK who has been reporting on sports science, fitness and culture for various publications for the past five years.