I want to increase my punching power, what exercises are best?

[ItsTimeToShrekYouUp]

Oh okay, cool. Hard to gauge, but if you saw and felt improvements that's all that matters. There's no reason not to do it (unless you have certain shoulder issues).

Thanks for the article, a cool read. A lot of relevant stuff in there, but I don't know if it is enough to end the discussion. The only thing that directly pertains to your argument was this part:

"In 1983 B.A. Solovey investigated the effects of exercises with weights as a means of improving hitting speed in young boxers and concluded that the use of weights significantly increased the speed of a single punch thrown by either arm.5"

Unfortunately I can't find the study and a broad statement like that, especially without looking into the source material, is not conclusive enough. Participants, intervention, bias, overall study quality matters and even then it would probably still be inconclusive.

Mostly the author is talking about periodization, plyos and olympic lifts. The Holyfield example was different. They had him tied to the floor with resistance, weight vest on, doing all kinds of shenanigans. His working sets were 8-11 range too and he gained weight with the purpose of going up to HW.

I think we've reached an impass. I don't think we could conclusively prove either of us to be definitively right. My sample size is N=1 so there is room for me to be an outlier. I do believe strength training the whole body would improve power and hand speed. I do believe that that would be best accomplished inside a vacuum where technical work like bags and pads are not involved by performing squats/deads/cleans/presses (which would include pressing in all directions) and upperbody pulls (rows/pull ups). Everything from you foot->hand matters in generating force in a punch but the lower body is more important for sure. I'll try to find more studies but I doubt I'll find anything relevant directly to bench/dips/other form of pressing to hand speed improvements.

 

[Ilk]

Also stretch the hips. You may have stiff hips which results in a bad movement. Strength training is important but technique and body mechanics are more important.

 

[peytonlucy]

Hit a heavy bag. For a century or so, it has worked fine.

 

[FozzyTime]

I just don't think benching and dips improves the speed aspect of the punch.

Genetics play a big part in punching power from what i read. You can always improve it by hitting the heavy bag, but some people just naturally hit like a hammer

 

[Joshua N]

 

[xPINKx]

That's a very unnecessary thread-necromancy.

 

[DoomPatrol]

I can see bench and dips increasing punching power, but I have a hard time seeing them increase hand speed.

Isn't a big component of strength training having your CNS stimulated to run more effectively? So wouldn't strength training help speed by strengthening the CNS pathways for that movement?

 

[Brad Morris]

A powerful punch is the end product of numerous components (of which technical skill is incredibly important), but the thread starter asked for the focus to be on S&C components. Can improving maximal strength help with punching power? The short answer is - yes it can, but there is a limit to how much transfer is going to occur between max strength and punching power.

Here are a few different ways to represent power in a formula

Power = (Force x Displacement) ÷ Time

Power = Work ÷ Time

Power = Force × Velocity

Looking at the last formula force is important, but its only half of the equation, velocity is the other half.

Sano already mentioned the force-velocity curve, here is a great paper looking at "Training principles for power" https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Fulltext/2012/12000/Training_Principles_for_Power.2.aspx
Figure 6 shows how training interventions can impact specific parts of the force-velocity curve.

Training to improve punching power needs to be focused on different parts of the force-velocity curve at different times throughout the training cycle. What part of the force velocity curve will depend on the individual qualities of the athlete and the phase of competition (off-season, preseason, in-season) they are in.

Here is a link to a relevant review article on punching forces in combat sports.

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/F...and_Contributors_of_Punching_Forces_in.1.aspx Assessment and Contributors of Punching Forces in Combat Sports Athletes: Implications for Strength and Conditioning.

 

[-Magua-]

Dead lifts, Squats, Power Cleans, & Push Press.

These 4 would be choices lifts to target hip flexors and lower & upper body involved increasing fast twitch explosion to punching power.

 

[$uperman]

Approximately 15 years ago I did boxing.

On a boxing forum you could chat with pro boxers. I asked Holyfield who was the hardest puncher he fought. He said George Foreman. So, an old George Foreman hits harder than a young Mike Tyson.

Then I went to the website of George Foreman and I emailed him. I asked how can I punch harder. He said chopping wood and hit with the intention to knock the other person out.

 

[etancross]

Squats help with punching power? I did not know that.

 

[DoomPatrol]

Squats help with punching power? I did not know that.

Why wouldn't it? A proper strike generates power from the lower body. The kinetic chain starts with the feet pushing through the floor and up the chain and expressing itself through your fist. That trains strong hips which is striking power. Just like increasing your squat will likely increase your bench.

 

[Ian Coe]

Squats, deadlifts and loaded rotational exercises (eg full contact twists).

You can't shoot a cannon out of a canoe.

 

[Joshua N]

Perhaps this invention can help

 

[xPINKx]

Functional fitness equipment is such a meme.

 

[Joshua N]

This will also help

 

[Urban]

Ramsey dewey says work on accuracy to improve knockout power. I get the feeling that most people who ask this question could invest in a double end bag and reaction ball instead of more weights and yield more benefits.

That being said, deadlift is king imvho. Pullups, front squat, dips, rows, overhead press, in no particular order after that.

 

[teepsandbarleywine]

Perhaps this invention can help

Or, perhaps not.

Wrist and hand strength is important, but not necessarily for punching power - more to make sure you can hit someone without suffering any damage to your own hands - fight-specific prehab work.

The evidence around hand/wrist strength correlating to punch/knockout power is an interesting thing- wrist diameter has a positive relationship to being a "hard puncher", which has been theorised to likely be to do with having greater bone density and size - here's a quite good article from a few years ago which is quite well-written: https://www.badlefthook.com/2011/3/...manny-pacquiaos-body-has-tricked-analysts-and

 

[Joshua N]

Or, perhaps not.

Wrist and hand strength is important, but not necessarily for punching power - more to make sure you can hit someone without suffering any damage to your own hands - fight-specific prehab work.

The evidence around hand/wrist strength correlating to punch/knockout power is an interesting thing- wrist diameter has a positive relationship to being a "hard puncher", which has been theorised to likely be to do with having greater bone density and size - here's a quite good article from a few years ago which is quite well-written: https://www.badlefthook.com/2011/3/...manny-pacquiaos-body-has-tricked-analysts-and

I translated this article into my native language and read it with great pleasure. I've never heard anything like it.

Here is what is written in the instructions of this simulator: The impact strength is mainly lost when the hand contacts the target. At this time the fighter’s hand is under enormous load. In order to crush your opponent, you have to punch a little deeper into the target and at the same time reduce the reverse inertia of the blow not to let your hand damp in the wrist, elbow, shoulder and shoulder blade. And this is the crucial moment when stabilizing muscles (SM) start working. They fix your hand turning it into a monolith when it touches the target.

 

[Q_mystic-0]

Good technique and endurance.