Throwin' A Punch

I didn’t really know where to put this but…

I don’t like to fight, but occasionally a situation calls for someone getting hit. If possible I like to finish a fight in one or two hits…I don’t really know what the most important muscles are in throwing a strong punch, or how to train them. Any boxers or others out there have some advice?

I feel like this post is going to get no attention or a lot of sarcastic comments, but hey I’m bored. Throw me some help. Thanks.

If you want a stronger punch buy a punching bag and hit it, a good punch comes from your whole body.

Im no boxer but if you watch boxing you will see them twist and push off the ball of thier foot when they throw a hard punch, you cant narrow that down to a muscle group.

Weight training has extremely little to do with punching power. I might be going too far to say that the only relevance is in moving up a weight class if below say 200 or 220, but not much too far. If there’s a real muscle weakness, for example if the delts are terrible yielding poor uppercuts weight training could help but if strength is at all reasonable by weight training standards, no or negligibly so.

Hitting the heavy bag, and getting instruction in it, is far more important than improving any lift, by a drastic factor.

I used to box – not seriously – as a teenager and I have no doubt I hit harder then at a somewhat smooth 147 than I do now at 200, simply because I don’t work at it and have not for many years now. This is despite the fact that my lifts are probably triple what they would have been then, had I lifted weights then. The only thing that would bring it back is heavy bag work, not improving lifts.

[quote]bigdude wrote:
I didn’t really know where to put this but…

I don’t like to fight, but occasionally a situation calls for someone getting hit. If possible I like to finish a fight in one or two hits…I don’t really know what the most important muscles are in throwing a strong punch, or how to train them. Any boxers or others out there have some advice?

I feel like this post is going to get no attention or a lot of sarcastic comments, but hey I’m bored. Throw me some help. Thanks.[/quote]

The muscles are too numerous to list, but the whole shoulder girdle, hips and spinal stabilizers come into play. If you are inexperienced the best way to train them is to punch. Without form weight training doesn’t help near as much.

[quote]bigdude wrote:
I didn’t really know where to put this but…

I don’t like to fight, but occasionally a situation calls for someone getting hit. If possible I like to finish a fight in one or two hits…I don’t really know what the most important muscles are in throwing a strong punch, or how to train them. Any boxers or others out there have some advice?

I feel like this post is going to get no attention or a lot of sarcastic comments, but hey I’m bored. Throw me some help. Thanks.[/quote]

Hi Big Dude,

Honestly, the most important muscles for throwing hard punches are those of the legs. Seriously. What you are doing when you throw a punch (at least a technically correct punch) is you are transferring force from the ground, up through the legs, through the hips, up through the back, down the arm into the fist, and lastly into the target.

The power of a punch comes primarily from the bodyweight shifting into the attack.

Sure, you can throw a punch with the arm, or the arm and chest. But it won’t have anywhere near the amount of power as if you do it the way I mentioned before.

Really, the muscles of the arms, chest, and shoulders are only used to move your fist into the target and then to support your structure so you can transfer the kinetic energy you’ve just created into the attacker.

A word of caution. Be advised that if you develop your punching abilities and you do end up hitting someone with a hard technical punch, you could face much more serious consequences than if you just threw a big sloppy haymaker, got lucky and connected just right. Knowledge is power, but with power comes responsibility.

Good training,

Sentoguy

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1323999&pageNo=0#1325351

OK Im finding this sort of funny…

How old are you?

what i have learned in uni:

serratus anterior - aka the ‘boxers muscle’

[quote]calebcaleb wrote:
what i have learned in uni:

serratus anterior - aka the ‘boxers muscle’[/quote]

yeah, boxing strikes work the serratus like nothing else.

I have been in the martial arts since 1970. My recommendation is get to a heavy bag and go to work.

I think the direct answer to your question is punching works all your muscles. There is a lot of skill and practice in a good punch. To become a one punch fighter will take some serious practice and that is a good thing. Take care and good luck. jim

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will get a heavy bag and look into the proper way to punch.

Those that commented on the serratus anterior being a key muscle. From my limited (but growing) knowledge of anatomy this is the muscle that basically guides the movement of the scapula…correct? Are there specific lifts that will target these?

Thanks

scapular pushups

Also, lats. Technical strikes should start from the ground up through the legs, hips and fire like a piston through your lats and shoulder girdle.

I agree with Bill Roberts that weight training is not the most important factor in learning to punch with power. However, I think that a person trained in the technique would benefit from working directly on the muscles involved most directly along with further honing of technique. Just my .02.

There’s probably a boxing gym/club in your town. It would probably be a good idea to head over there for at least a couple firsthand lessons before trying to break your hand into a heavy bag, they usually dont cost that much either. Either way, at least get some decent non elastic wraps.

I took some boxing lessons 4 years ago and even though I havent had to fight seriously since then… I am very glad I took them and have no doubt more confidence in my ability to defend myself if shove ever comes to push.

watch the begginng of this

heavy bag…when you get strong enough move onto a heavier bag…

i watched a tyson documentary and it was either teddy atlas or kevin rooney but they said mike tyson used a 350lb bag before his first pro fight but he hurt his hand on it and went back to a 300lb bag…

just so you have a refrence what strong is on the heavy bag…marciano also used a 300lb bag…george foreman is the only big puncher i heard of who used a 100lb bag with his trainer holding it but he left craters in it if you ever see him working out on it…

working your core is very important as it trasnfers a lot of your power…id also work on the upper back…

Having a strong body does have a lot to do with it, but training your CNS to use it has much more of an impact than big muscles. Just like a power-lifter practices his powerlifts in a speed fashion and strength fashion(qualities of the CNS), boxers must do the same.

You have to practice punching over, and over, and over, and over again in order to condition your CNS to use all of it’s potential when throwing a punch. The heavy bag, and speed bag are the standard when practicing a punch, but you can use anything that wont break your hand.

Now we all know you’re a high schooler who’s probably getting bullied, but if you lack the basic confidence to actually swing on someone and find out, then all the knowledge in the world wont help you.

In the interest of efficiency, and not breaking your hands, you’re far better off with a headbutt or two. They always end the fight quickly. The key is to crash your opponent hard, grab their head with both hands and pull their face repeatedly into the TOP of your head, not your forehead.

And remember that even the strongest, most technically perfect punch wont do you any good unless you learn how to move in on your opponent to deliver… that means you also have to learn how to take punches, avoid them and guard against them.

As I already said… If you are serious about learning boxing skills, find a gym and a decent trainer to take lessons from.

Sounds like you need some security training more than punching power. If your really a big guy, most people are not going to stand around and let you hit them. Your one hit wonder punch will hardly connect.

Your best bet go to a boxing gym, or study fighting with professional bouncers. You have to learn to end a situation before it starts.

If you pull out a gun one day you will have to use it, and if you have a punch people will test you to fight.

What do you want your punch for street fight or ring?

If your going to be throwing a bare knuckle punch at someone, you may want to start doing some knuckle pushups to strengthen the tendons/ligaments/bone in your hands.

Boxing can give you great speed and technique, traditional martial arts can give you excellent hand conditioning(think breaking bricks, etc). If you can put the two together, you can have a great punch.

Chad Waterbury does alot of training surrounding fighting