Why do boxers have such horrible shoulder posture?

YourOnlineHero

YourOnlineHero

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Ok, I'm not a smart man. I don't know a lot of things... And this is another thing that I've never fully understood.

From things I've heard and my inner logic tells me that this can be attributed to a few factors.

1) Focusing so intensely on flexing abs all the time

2) Front delts, pecs, and other 'pushing' muscles are much stronger than pulling muscles such as rear delts, thus pulling everything forward.

I don't know, it seems strange. I was always taught from a young age that traps were one of the most important muscles for having a solid punch. I was taught the traps were like the cement for your arm... The reason it hurts to walk into a lamppost is because it is held firm by the cement... And I assume from what I know about the body, having strong traps would bring the shoulders back more? I have pretty disproportionately strong traps (due to the above advice I received from a young age) and it definitely seems to show the opposite effect on posture than most boxers.

Am I wrong about the traps being vitally important in punching power/stability or am I wrong about strong traps pulling the shoulders back?

cBnsR



I always thought, from side view... boxers rear delts and back look like that of a childs. But maybe it's just a sacrifice they need to make to make weight and really isn't that important to performance?


Maybe someone more knowledgeable can help me understand this.
 
Who are you referring to? Some boxers have shredded backs. I also did a lot of pulling work when I was fighting. But perhaps modern fighters as a whole have worse posture than fighters in the past? I may be talking out of my ass here though.

I think it's more that modern people in general have bad postures. But my guess is posture isn't something that is emphasized a lot in gyms these days. @Sinister had a post long ago talking about posture.
 
I noticed this when Canelo and Golovkin faced off during the weigh in. Golovkin seemed to have a somewhat dysfunctional posture. which is not surprised considering his style of boxing. Canelo's posture was ok, but his front side was shredded, while his back side had little muscle.

However, I'm not an expert and could wrong about it. Both of them are athletes and chances are they have a fairly functional body, in contrast to the regular pencil pusher who sits all day in the office.

I follow over 70 instagram accounts from the chiropractic / physical therapy area. I can't believe how much stuff I didn't know and overlooked.
With posture I usually see a lot of instructional videos related to neck, shoulder blades and spine/thoracic extension. Anterior Pelvic Tilt pops up from time to time too.
 
You making a bad assumption by assuming they have bad posture. Bad posture for what, standing up straight? Yeah of course they have bad posture for that as that isn't what they want to do. They follow the demands of their sport which is to assume kyphotic hunched over posture to minimise the effects of punches thrown at them. They tense their abs to reduce the effect of body shots. Shoulders round forward to protect their chin, elbows tucked into their sides to protect against body shots and neck tilted forward to allow the chin to be tucked. If you don't understand that then you shouldn't be watching boxing.

Now if you're saying they should be working on keeping decent mobility and strengthening their pulling muscles to ensure length term health after boxing then you've got a point but they are never going to display 'good shoulder posture' while they are fighting in a sport that discourages it. Good posture in boxing will get you knocked out.
 
"help these boys out" - speak for yourself.

I'm sure Sinister knows stuff, but you guys act as if he's the only knowledgable person on the planet or maybe merely the only knowledgable person you guys know. Are you aware that you can actually learn and do research on your own? It doesn't come about by itself, but this topic is not rocket science either you dorks, lol.
 
proncley said:
"help these boys out" - speak for yourself.

I'm sure Sinister knows stuff, but you guys act as if he's the only knowledgable person on the planet or maybe merely the only knowledgable person you guys know. Are you aware that you can actually learn and do research on your own? It doesn't come about by itself, but this topic is not rocket science either you dorks, lol.
Click to expand...
Sinister runs the famous Johnny Toccos gym in Vegas. And is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about this topic and actually applies it to the guys he's trains.

He's not just "some dork" on the internet googling shit.

Maybe use the search function and discover some of his amazing, huge threads on the subject since you seem interested...


... instead of ya know, dropping random ad hominems in every post and coming across as a know it all considering I'm pretty sure OldCat was referring to the OP.

As someone who's actually pretty involved in the sport, it's something I wish I could dive into more, as well. Maybe I'll follow 70 IG accounts and consider myself an expert.
 
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Rico said:
Sinister runs the famous Johnny Toccos gym in Vegas. And is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about this topic and actually applies it to the guys he's trains.

He's not just "some dork" on the internet googling shit.
Click to expand...

You didn't quite understand my comment.
 
haha i was thinking the same thing yesterday after seeing the weigh-ins
 
aries said:
You making a bad assumption by assuming they have bad posture. Bad posture for what, standing up straight? Yeah of course they have bad posture for that as that isn't what they want to do. They follow the demands of their sport which is to assume kyphotic hunched over posture to minimise the effects of punches thrown at them. They tense their abs to reduce the effect of body shots. Shoulders round forward to protect their chin, elbows tucked into their sides to protect against body shots and neck tilted forward to allow the chin to be tucked. If you don't understand that then you shouldn't be watching boxing.

Now if you're saying they should be working on keeping decent mobility and strengthening their pulling muscles to ensure length term health after boxing then you've got a point but they are never going to display 'good shoulder posture' while they are fighting in a sport that discourages it. Good posture in boxing will get you knocked out.
Click to expand...

This guy gets it. Although I would disagree with the OP that their pushing muscles like pecs are overdeveloped as compared to pulling like 'rear delts'. Rear delts are a very small as compared to Lats -your primary pull muscle and generally speaking boxers lats look more developed than their chests. As far as traps = punching power, thats news to me -they were always touted more for taking a punch then giving them.
 
Rico said:
Maybe I'll follow 70 IG accounts and consider myself an expert.
Click to expand...

Not that I owe you an explanation, but I stated that I'm not an expert. Why you keep editing your comment after I responded to you a long time ago? If you're going to behave that cowardly, then you shouldn't have quoted in the first place.

I have my own standpoint, unlike a good amount of sherdog users.
 
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proncley said:
I actually stated that I'm not an expert. Why you keep editing your comment after I responded to you a long time ago?
If you're going to behave that cowardly, then maybe you should've considered not to quote me at all. You're an idiot.

I have my own standpoint, unlike a good amount of sherdog users.
Click to expand...
What are you on about? Nothing he said makes him a coward, nothing he said makes him an idiot, it's difficult to have a standpoint given that having a shredded back isn't going to help crisp punching. This isn't a bodybuilding or powerlifting contest.
 
Pugilistic said:
Who are you referring to? Some boxers have shredded backs. I also did a lot of pulling work when I was fighting. But perhaps modern fighters as a whole have worse posture than fighters in the past? I may be talking out of my ass here though.

I think it's more that modern people in general have bad postures. But my guess is posture isn't something that is emphasized a lot in gyms these days. @Sinister had a post long ago talking about posture.
Click to expand...

I didn't read your whole post... His thread immediately came to mind
 
aries said:
You making a bad assumption by assuming they have bad posture. Bad posture for what, standing up straight? Yeah of course they have bad posture for that as that isn't what they want to do. They follow the demands of their sport which is to assume kyphotic hunched over posture to minimise the effects of punches thrown at them. They tense their abs to reduce the effect of body shots. Shoulders round forward to protect their chin, elbows tucked into their sides to protect against body shots and neck tilted forward to allow the chin to be tucked. If you don't understand that then you shouldn't be watching boxing.

Now if you're saying they should be working on keeping decent mobility and strengthening their pulling muscles to ensure length term health after boxing then you've got a point but they are never going to display 'good shoulder posture' while they are fighting in a sport that discourages it. Good posture in boxing will get you knocked out.
Click to expand...

Not making any bad assumptions buddy.. Just asking a question.

Of course I don't think somehow if they stood up straighter they would be better boxers... I trust that the coaches of the elite boxers know exactly how their fighters bodies should be prepstared and whatnot... I just wonder what the actual cause of this is in terms of anatomy.


Boy, I forgot how friendly it was around here.
 
YourOnlineHero said:
Not making any bad assumptions buddy.. Just asking a question.

Of course I don't think somehow if they stood up straighter they would be better boxers... I trust that the coaches of the elite boxers know exactly how their fighters bodies should be prepstared and whatnot... I just wonder what the actual cause of this is in terms of anatomy.


Boy, I forgot how friendly it was around here.
Click to expand...
Well you are making an asssumption aren't you because your very title is 'Why do boxers have such HORRIBLE shoulder posture' Answer They don't..Buddy

The cause is you assume a position or you could say 'posture' and your body adapts to it. Eventually due to muscle lengthening and shortening effects it becomes your default. Now imagine you are a professional boxer training 4 hours a day in that posture. What do you think is going to happen? Use a bit of common sense...
 
aries said:
Well you are making an asssumption aren't you because your very title is 'Why do boxers have such HORRIBLE shoulder posture' Answer They don't..Buddy

The cause is you assume a position or you could say 'posture' and your body adapts to it. Eventually due to muscle lengthening and shortening effects it becomes your default. Now imagine you are a professional boxer training 4 hours a day in that posture. What do you think is going to happen? Use a bit of common sense...
Click to expand...

If you don't know what I meant by "horrible" in this context then the problem isn't mine.

Thanks for being an arsehole though. Hope you got some sense of achievement out of it, oh wise one.
 
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