I am a little guy who does not yet have the power to throw a knockout punch. I would like to know the best way to improve my power in my punches. Any info is greatly appreciated and ill keep you guys posted on fight results.
Oh definitely. Good core strength to created the needed rotation on your hips and shoulders is where you are going to generate power for a hook. Just watch this early Roy Jones Jr. clip right here. The last hook he throws is ungodly fast, and snaps into his opponent like the end of a whip.ozz525 said:But with hooks theres snaping right its all about the hips
Boxing>MMA said:I believe it comes naturally and can't be learned just improved upon.
I disagree with that. Why? Well, throwing a punch is just like any other physical activity. It has to be learned to be done effectively. Granted there will be some who are phenomenally talented or gifted, but that's how it is in any other sport.southpaw447 said:I don't know too much about the subject of increasing the power of a punch but it's not really something you can work on consistenly and within a certain time be able to throw a 1 hitter quitter like chuck liddell. Some people have "supernatural" punching power, others don't. I have pretty heavy hands. Maybe you should try to find info on Hawaiian Kempo maybe chuck has some things he can teach you.
Nonetheless, the point remains -- the power of a punch comes from more than the arms. In fact, you could have some really strong muscly guy punch with ONLY his arm-strength, but without utilizing his legs, his hips, and shoulders he tiny little shrimp with good punching technique could pack more oomph. And while I do agree that powerful/fast arms do help, I still would say that they're secondary.Boxing>MMA said:^^^^^ You are sadly mistaken on what they are telling you. NG is saying the flow of energy comes from the the (energy increases on how fast you do this) ground to the foot to the legs which then carried to the arm which size, strength, grip, and speed increase the energy which equals force out. I know other factors play a role just making a close example to reality.
youre wrong on many points. first off set weights arent bad by any means, they isolate muscles and sometimes you need to do it. its a fast way to catch up those muscles that arent up there yet. if done right, they ahve their purpose. free weights build overall strength by using balance muscles, set weights isolate and focus on tone and strength in a particular muslce group. not worse, just different.I.P.Freely said:Woo-hoo! Again, something I know a little something about...
Okay, here goes.
You are talking about both functional strength, and explosive strength. Functional means you can lift real weights in real situations, and explosive strength means being able to output a lot of power in a very short period of time.
For functional strength, it's critical to develop your small muscles (the stabilizer muscles) along with the large muscle groups. It's also critical to develop your core. For starters never ever do fixed weights- they usually do only the big muscles. For any exercize you might want to do, figure out the equivalent using free weights. Also, small bars are better than a long bar, because you use more stabilizer muscles. So, if you want to develop your power to push (chest and lats), do presses using a weight in each hand from a deeply reclined position. The motion is similar to a bench press, but you are using all the small muscles in your torse close to your arms to keep your arms still, as well as your pectorals and triceps.
It is also crucial to get maximum range of motion when doing strength exercises- start as extended as possible and finish as contracted as possible. You see so many people cheating, lifting really heavy weights but only in the middle of the motion. That's the easy bit. To be strong you have to be srong at the beginning and the end.
Don't rush... when executing a repetition, exhale and do it over a mental count of three or so.
Dumbells and bars are good, but special mention has to go to all exercises where you are lifting your own bodyweights, especially pullups and tricep dips. If you do pullups, concentrate especially on getting the full range of motion, and mix them up (i.e. gripping bar with palms inwards versus outwards, bringing bar behind head versus in front of head).
Resist the machismo urge... you can double your weight if you rush, don't get a full range of movement and use fixed weights. But you won't benefit so much. You do it right, chances are you are lifting less than everyone else. Ignore that fact.
As for the 'core' stuff, there are specific exercises you can find out about, but anything standing up with bars and dumbells will help. Just concentrate on making sure that your torso is immobile when you're throwing those bad boys around- those are the core muscles that keep your body still. That's my understanding anyway.
Anyway, that's how to build functional strength. Then the issue is how many reps/what weight. If you want to increase your strength then you need to lift very heavy weights, close to your maxium, 6-7 times, 3 repetitions. A more balanced workout, 10-12 times. For the intense strength-building stuff you are supposed to do it so that your muscles are burning and you can barely move afterwards. I don't know if that's a good idea for grapplers- I kind of doubt it.
If you do all of this you will get a lot of strength, but keep stretching a lot or you will lose some flexibility.
Oh, and take breaks. 2 days on, 2 days off. Your muscles need time to recover and build strength.
so how would you put this into a realistic workout?Z-man-mma-fan said:and what you called "intense strength-training stuff" is indeed 6-8 or more reps in 3-5 sets. this builds fast twitch muslces and when combined with endurance workouts (15-20 reps same # of sets) works all types of muslces, in every way.
I admit that I pushed my personal biases in that post. But I do think that for functional strength, the big weights and the small ones (one-hand grip) are the best combination, especially if you don't have that much time. And why anyone would have a lot of time for lifting weights, I don't know.Z-man-mma-fan said:you're wrong on many points....