Punching Power

Any boxers or fighters in here that knows what exercises you can use to increase your punching power, i hit a (100lbs) heavy bag with 16oz gloves and 10lbs wrist weights (5lbs each hand) it seems like its only giving me speed, i used to do close hand push ups on my knuckles and punched my basement wall or castiron weights, i think that made my knuckles real heavy bcuz when i would play hit somebody they say my hands feel like sledge hammers.

But i forgot were but i was on some site and it had exercise that made your hits harder, like how bruce lee and boxers from back in the days used to train anyone got any info.

I'm no prize fighter, but I do know a thing or two about combat training. Go to www.karate.com and they have an item called The Deluxe Makiwara Board that might help you. It is used to strengthen and toughen up your hands, wrists,feet, elbows any other part of your body you might strike with. If you don't like that, than search the site because I am sure that they might have somthing else to help you. They even carry those ankle/wrist weights and weighted Funny that you would ask for some help in this area because I just recently found this site. If you want to be creative or just cheap, try doing push-ups on your fists. That will do trick also, if you really lean your body weight into your fists as you are doing them. A word to the wise though, ease into them as it is very easy to get your knuckles raw from doing these. Let me know how it goes for you. HOLLA BACK!!

dee3186 said:

Any boxers or fighters in here that knows what exercises you can use to increase your punching power, i hit a (100lbs) heavy bag with 16oz gloves and 10lbs wrist weights (5lbs each hand) it seems like its only giving me speed, i used to do close hand push ups on my knuckles and punched my basement wall or castiron weights, i think that made my knuckles real heavy bcuz when i would play hit somebody they say my hands feel like sledge hammers.

But i forgot were but i was on some site and it had exercise that made your hits harder, like how bruce lee and boxers from back in the days used to train anyone got any info.

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Sup bro, two things. Hitting cast iron weights and your basement wall is a surefire way to have bad athritis when you get older.

As far as more strength in your punches. Lifting and gaining a bit of weight definetly does help. I know my hitting is harder when I have been lifting. But what it really comes down to is some natural ability, and a lot of technique. Some people can naturally hit well, but still technique is key.

Next time you hit the bag. Get in your fighting stance. Step out and to the side with your front leg and leave your hip on your right side behind so there is kind of a stretch going on there. When you punch you want to jerk your shoulder back. Once you jerk it back use the tortion and turn with your hips and upper body while throwing the punch, and be sure do not lean forward. Stop your body as you are throwing the punch. It probably doesnt make sense typing it out , but thats how you get some power out of the punch. You use the torition of your body.

Ive already did all what both of you just mentioned i just gotta start back doing knuckle push ups i think that helped me but it slowed down,

And franchise iv been knowing how to box for like the last 5yrs so my stance and form is on point, it just seems like my punching power and bench press have hit a platu, and wanna know if somebody know how to break that

You want to do high weight low repetition tricep work, what you want is fast twitch fibers so you can have that explosive hard hitting punch. You recruit fast twitch fibers thru low rep high weight workouts, say 3-5 rep sets. Your punching power stems from your triceps and front and back deltoids, and also the weight behind it meaning you're body mass. If you've reached a plateau in your routine switch it up, I do a different routine every week for 3 weeks and then start over again. Try setting up different weekly workouts for 3-4 weeks with different varieties of excercise's so your body doesn't get use to the same movements.

Let's just go thru my arm/shoulder routine:

W1:
Overhead barbell press
Upright row
side deltoid raise
lying tricep extension
barbell curl
forearm curl DB
reverse forearm curl DB

W2:
DB military press
DB raise
front deltoid
lying cross shoulder tricep extension
reverse grip barbell curl
wrist roller
Incline bench curls

W3:
Behind the neck press
shrug
side deltoid raise
french curl
preacher curl
forearm curl Barbell
Reverse forearm curl Barbell

Create a schedule and follow it, I also measure bi-weekly to assure I'm making gains, if I see slower growth I switch it up a lil and throw in some extra excercise's and make sure I'm going hard or try to move up in weight more so than I usually would.

The side muscles of your chest are called boxer's muscle for a reason. To train those you should do good old fashion push-ups. Also grab a pair of light dumbells and practice punching with those. Fist push-ups are good for your wrists, but a better idea would be to do finger push-ups. Gaining extra kilos adds more weight to the punch one way or another. Or if your in a fight put a few coins in your fist to add weight to your punch.

Thanks for the tips, i didnt know a few coins in the hands would add enough weight to increase power

Zurik said:

The side muscles of your chest are called boxer's muscle for a reason. To train those you should do good old fashion push-ups. Also grab a pair of light dumbells and practice punching with those. Fist push-ups are good for your wrists, but a better idea would be to do finger push-ups. Gaining extra kilos adds more weight to the punch one way or another. Or if your in a fight put a few coins in your fist to add weight to your punch.

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that's what I meant the chest shoulder and upper back muscle's, I don't remember the proper name's for these muscle's. Don't forget to work the legs too though, stance and being able to shift your weight into a punch also helps with impact power.

Chop wood regularly.

Technique and hit the heavy bag.

echo what the franchise says especially about not hitting the wall and iron.

a.) you can't punch through solid objects and hence your boxing technique will all be wrong. You'll end up punching like you do karate, stopping at the target- you want to punch through the target and aim for three or four inches beyond.

b.) maybe the most important, f***ed up hands. Not fun.

I've sparred with plenty of big guys that couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding. Punching is all about technique, with much of the power coming from the mid-section of the body, hips and quads being the major area. Nice footwork, plenty of speed and stepping into the punch are all key.

In my opinion it's best to work on getting a nice snappy jab going and working on plenty of combinations. Keep training with the wrist weights when shadow boxing for a few sets, but don't leave them on if your going to do some bag or technical work. If you can, try and do alot of pad work- which'll really help technique, speed and power. Speed and power will follow.

If do any routine, it would be good to hear it...

Keep your hands up mate.

I know i cant punch threw the solid objects lol , i just heard that it makes your knuckles feel like concrete for street fighting and they did get harder but i stoped that a few months ago had a bad feelin in my wrists, i need a routine ima gain about 20 more lbs and start going to the gym with a trainer. probably late winter early spring.

haha... had visions of you punching through the wall like superman!

Imo the jab is the most important punch, it keeps the opponent out of range, let you know when your in range and when connecting stun your opponent, setting it up a nice straight punch.

I know I said this before, but get working on some combinations, my boxing trainer always stressed how you can't defend from multiple strikes. Once one connects you've got an opening. Get the elements of the straight punch if you haven't already with the corkscrew (twist) punch, which generates alot of power!

I don't care for most 'traditional' martial arts, but if you get a chance to do any muay thai, do it. I'm always without thinking adding low kicks, knees and elbows when i'm shadow boxing. Plus it's good for even closer fighting with the clinch and headbutts and saves your fragile hands for throwing punches when you need to.

With regard to what zurik said coins or any other object is true in that will add weight to your punch, it's an old dirty trick to have a bunch of keys in your hand with a few jagged edges come out between your fingers and punching with them, which I'm sure you'd agree is not too nice and is something which I would not recommend. Same with knuckle dusters, you don't want to be messing about with them, or you'd find youself in trouble very quickly.

As you already know keep you wrists and forearms strong, be as relaxed as possible so don't tense up or your punches will be slow and most probably miss the target. The power will come once you've practiced, practiced and practiced some more until throwing sweet punches becomes second nature.

Good luck.

Bro, i've been involved in some form of martial art most of my life. From boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan, BJJ, muay thai/kickboxing, Kali/JKD and what i've learned is that hitting hard is all about speed and back-up mass. What i mean is that you need to take a dense weapon (tight fist), exploding from from its point of origin, and backed up with your body mass. This is accomplished by the torsional forces created as your upper body rotates at the waist (as thefranchise described). You must explode!!!

Also... you must always train as if it was for real. Everytime you hit a pad or bad, it must be with the intention of putting your fist thru it. This is the key... remember, sprinters don't get faster by jogging and so is it with everything else... you should always train with max intensity.

Im gonna start practicing some combinations tommorow, i just started having a strong jab i had been putting all my power in my hook now i gotta strenghten my uppercut

Its all in the hips!

One weight training exercise i suggest you doing, is go with about 50-70/ of your 1RM. Hop on a flat bench and do medium grip bench presses. Except explode as hard as you can from bottom to top, and when you get to the top, let the bar go, and toss it into the air straight above you. Catch, don't let it touch your chest, explode again toss the bar and catch untill burnout. 3 or 4 sets. This exercises can obviously be life threatening, so they should always be done with a spotter, also climbing under a smith machine and doing them increases safety a bit.

Really though, this one excercise alone will greatly increase your explosive punching power... and Knuckle pushups? I never really understood why everyone thinks they are so benificial. I you're training for pure punching strength, the weight room is where you need to be.

try looking up famous boxers on google or something because you might be able to find one of their training programs, there would be something in their programs for punch power then you just do that

go down to your local boxing gym and ask them their will be people there that will know

i've also heard if you fight with a lighter in your hand your punches are harder, it puts the force of you punch more on them then you hand

Going along with what franchise and sikdogg said, the biggest part of striking power (when it comes to hitting another human being) whether its in a punch, kick, knee, or elbow, is the velocity with which the strike is delivered. Remember the simple physics equation mass X speed = power. Therefore a heavy object traveling fast will have more velocity, thus more power than a lighter one traveling the same speed. Technique, like franchise said is very important because any idiot can throw a punch with the power in his arm, but if you are able to incorporate the forward momentum of your body weight with the strength of the muscles from your hips and upper torso into the punch your throwing with that arm, that is the difference between a bloody nose and reconstructive facial surgery!
In my opinion keep on the punching weights for training, they will help increase the velocity of your punch, not to mention the muscular endurance of your shoulders which can be very critical in a fist fight, and perhaps move to a lighter bag with a tad more give. I don't know how big you are, but the extra weight could be hampering your technique during training. Keep conditioning your fists as you don't want to have a fucked up hand after throwing only one punch in a fight, but implement means using objects with a little more give than a wall. My favorite so far is to take a small bag of sand, put it in a trash bag and tie then overlap the remaining plastic and tie it again. Then cocoon it in duct tape. It'll make a perfect little oval shaped wad roughly the size of a head that will be hard as hell with just a little give.
Hope some of this helps.

6inchesofwhat said:

... and Knuckle pushups? I never really understood why everyone thinks they are so benificial. I you're training for pure punching strength, the weight room is where you need to be.

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Knuckle pushups toughen the hands. Doing you pushups explosively (i.e.- plyometric style) will also increase punching power.