When i first started boxing 7 months ago, i had pretty good handspeed for a HW., i started lifting weights (moderately heavy) about 4 months ago, and have noticed now that i have gained some extra muscle i have slowed down a bit with my handspeed, is that because my body needs to get used to the extra muscle first, then my handspeed will slowly come back to how it was as my body slowly adapts to my new weight/muscle?

its fine, you will only be slow when your muscles are swelled.

Unless you body build its not an issue, I usually find that once I stop lifting weights for about 4-5 days I feel fine.

massive bulk will slow you down, but lifting weights is something almost all modern boxers do nowadays, as long as its done properly.

Roy Jones Jr lifted weights, he was one of the quickest boxers to have graced the ring.

Roy Jones Jr lifted weights, he was one of the quickest boxers to have graced the ring.


Lean muscle would have to eventually improve your handspeed, faster muscle twitches in the arms?

p.s just say i had an amateur fight coming up in 2 months, would it be best to stop lifting weights around 2-3 weeks before the bout?

I also have extremely good hand speed for a Heavyweight. My left isn't as fast as my right, but it has more power. So I thought it would be good just to lift weights with my left.

I don't know if it made me more powerful, but it did give my left more pop.

Lifting weights will not slow your handspeed.

More or less.

If you are not stretching before and after you lift, you may lose some flexibility, which will affect your handspeed.

If you are only lifting in one direction -- doing, say, bench press but not hanging rows -- you will develop strength in only the concentric or eccentric direction. To throw a proper punch in boxing, you need both; you must be able to return the punch as fast as you throw it out. Balance your lifts.

The common mistake that many boxers make when lifting weights is not having a strength coach who understands kinetics and the sport of boxing. Big muscle is not necessary to hit hard; a good punch is like a good golf swing -- it takes every muscle in your body, working in perfect coordination. Boxing is more a sport of control and coordination than of raw power; boxing is closer to ballet than it is to football.

Muscle hypertrophy -- getting fratboy / musclehead big -- will slow you down in the ring after a time; it takes more oxygen to feed more muscle, so there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Realistically, though, if you are continuing boxing training while you lift, there is very little chance that you will gain the kind of muscle that would make this an issue. Boxing training, if you're doing it well, is catabolic.

In my experience, the best lifts you can do to augment your boxing training are squats, deadlifts, and -- if you learn to do them properly -- full cleans. These lifts train your entire body to work in concert. A properly-performed squat works 75% of the muscles in your body, from the arches of your feet to your neck. A full clean, performed with strict form, uses close to 90%. Olympic lifts build balance, grace, stability, and explosive power. Get a good gym trainer, learn these lifts, and lay off the dumbbell curls, the leg sled, and the bench. You don't need them.

I'm a heavyweight too, i lift once a week, not counting the push ups/sit ups/pull ups i do everyday. I only lift to gain strenght, not muscle or mass. I used to lift twice a week but i didn't like being sore and having to train the day after, so i started to lift on fridays since i practically never train on saturdays.

As far as losing speed goes never happened to me. I guess gaining a lot of mass would do it though.

What i would suggest to do is shadow box with really small weights in your hands, like 2-3 pounds. Helps hand speed a lot.

Depends what kind of weight training you are doing. If you just doing one massive rep possible at one time that call developing muscular strength hence you gain more mass and you slow down due to mass on your body. If you training is mainly focused on muscular power which means as much reps as possible at high intensity you develop Muscular power which results in faster hands. If a skinny guy puts on muscle mass he more likely get faster due more muscular power. A fat should lose fat first then weight train.

My 2 cents worth

It depends what weight, how often and what exercises. I think you're better all doing what you consider a "low-medium" weight, lifting these and then slowly increasing it over a long period of time rather than say going up 10kgs each time you start to get stronger, maybe increase it like 2kg. It'll take alot longer to build big muscles but atleast you'll build most of them up and you decrease the chance of becoming a lumbering giant.

Lifting weights will not slow your handspeed.

More or less.

If you are not stretching before and after you lift, you may lose some flexibility, which will affect your handspeed.

If you are only lifting in one direction -- doing, say, bench press but not hanging rows -- you will develop strength in only the concentric or eccentric direction. To throw a proper punch in boxing, you need both; you must be able to return the punch as fast as you throw it out. Balance your lifts.

The common mistake that many boxers make when lifting weights is not having a strength coach who understands kinetics and the sport of boxing. Big muscle is not necessary to hit hard; a good punch is like a good golf swing -- it takes every muscle in your body, working in perfect coordination. Boxing is more a sport of control and coordination than of raw power; boxing is closer to ballet than it is to football.

Muscle hypertrophy -- getting fratboy / musclehead big -- will slow you down in the ring after a time; it takes more oxygen to feed more muscle, so there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Realistically, though, if you are continuing boxing training while you lift, there is very little chance that you will gain the kind of muscle that would make this an issue. Boxing training, if you're doing it well, is catabolic.

In my experience, the best lifts you can do to augment your boxing training are squats, deadlifts, and -- if you learn to do them properly -- full cleans. These lifts train your entire body to work in concert. A properly-performed squat works 75% of the muscles in your body, from the arches of your feet to your neck. A full clean, performed with strict form, uses close to 90%. Olympic lifts build balance, grace, stability, and explosive power. Get a good gym trainer, learn these lifts, and lay off the dumbbell curls, the leg sled, and the bench. You don't need them.

this is excellent advice from this man right here....

olympic lifting, combined with plyometic clap pushups, THEN jumping back on the bag and punching, is what I do.

and, I see alot of heavyweights in here... im not bragging but for a 275lb man, I can throw 4 punches in 1 second almost...3 of them being power shots... think im bull****ting look at my bag video. alot of guys steal **** from watching pros, and I do the same, but that is one combo I invented. i also think my jab is of professional caliber, but the only reason it's strong like it is is because when I had that hand surgery on my right hand, u could find me outside on my bag, with my left hand glove on only, ****ed up beyond recognition on Loritab 10s, (4 at a time to feel the effects) throwing the jab and left hook until muscular fatigue...on those pain pills you go way past your natural limits, ask j...that dude knows what the **** im talking about...its like you feel the pain but you keep going, it's wack...'

but i tell you what the next week when you are healed up and sober and hitting that bag, you'll notice a difference in speed and power in those punches you worked til muscular fatigue. just MAKE SURE you work proper technique if u do decide to get pain pilled out and practice one punch, like the jab, over and over.

every pound of unneeded weight is supposed to detract from your handspeed. but i think its all about how hard you train.

There used to be this heavyweight named Taz Titan. He had 1 bout I think. but this mother****ers handspeed was like a middleweight's . and he wasn't thin, he was sorta flabby. It's all about how much training you put in, and how much you work the technique right....

more punches you throw, on a daily basis, the better off youll be when it comes time for you and your sparring mate hear your coach say those words, 'BOX'

It depends what weight, how often and what exercises. I think you're better all doing what you consider a "low-medium" weight, lifting these and then slowly increasing it over a long period of time rather than say going up 10kgs each time you start to get stronger, maybe increase it like 2kg. It'll take alot longer to build big muscles but atleast you'll build most of them up and you decrease the chance of becoming a lumbering giant.

Do you know of anyone in the history of man, who became a 'lumbering giant' unintentionally? It takes dedication ánd singlemindedness to reach that goal, and, for most mere mortals, illegal drugs.

true **** punchy.

just look at guys like t. fields. ****ing freak...

They will boost your handspeed.

What I was trying to get across Punch was how people get caught up in weightlifting and I do know people who have done that. A friend of mine did kick boxing, was slim, fast etc. and wanted to join the marines. He trained and trained, I assume, and he become muscular, then he became very muscular and now he's just a square of muscle. VERY strong, not so fit, not so quick. In fact, he failed his first marines try-out because he couldn't keep up etc. but could lift the most weights...He had become a lumbering giant, and in an way, unintentionally. It doesn't mean he didn't put in a huge amount of effort, he trained alot. All I can assume that happened was he got caught up in them, saw some muscle growth and then wanted more and more, wanted to lift more and more and so on until he was an ideal specimen of strength and muscle, but failed to do what it was he wanted. Do you get me now?

I think weights are quite a dangerous thing to get into unless you remain rational. Forget the whole "lumbering giant" thing for now but more commonly people seem to focus on things and actually **** up their bodies. You all must have seen them, I saw a kid who was slim but had these massive arms, looked like a ****ing moron. I've seen a guy with massive pectoral muscles, but was only mildly muscular generally. Stuff like that. People get caught up with weights and lose track of things. I think a good way to have that balance is to take it slowly and increase the weight slowly and not try and build massive muscles as quick as possible.

When i first started boxing 7 months ago, i had pretty good handspeed for a HW., i started lifting weights (moderately heavy) about 4 months ago, and have noticed now that i have gained some extra muscle i have slowed down a bit with my handspeed, is that because my body needs to get used to the extra muscle first, then my handspeed will slowly come back to how it was as my body slowly adapts to my new weight/muscle?

it depends what type and what kind becuase lifting weights can def tighten you up you want your punches to be more fluid.

I suggest dont do body building type stuff just do squats, dead lifts, pull ups, chin ups and push ups and dips.

Those will all make you strong but give you that functional strength without tightening you up.

Lifting weights will not slow your handspeed.

More or less.

If you are not stretching before and after you lift, you may lose some flexibility, which will affect your handspeed.

If you are only lifting in one direction -- doing, say, bench press but not hanging rows -- you will develop strength in only the concentric or eccentric direction. To throw a proper punch in boxing, you need both; you must be able to return the punch as fast as you throw it out. Balance your lifts.

The common mistake that many boxers make when lifting weights is not having a strength coach who understands kinetics and the sport of boxing. Big muscle is not necessary to hit hard; a good punch is like a good golf swing -- it takes every muscle in your body, working in perfect coordination. Boxing is more a sport of control and coordination than of raw power; boxing is closer to ballet than it is to football.

Muscle hypertrophy -- getting fratboy / musclehead big -- will slow you down in the ring after a time; it takes more oxygen to feed more muscle, so there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Realistically, though, if you are continuing boxing training while you lift, there is very little chance that you will gain the kind of muscle that would make this an issue. Boxing training, if you're doing it well, is catabolic.

In my experience, the best lifts you can do to augment your boxing training are squats, deadlifts, and -- if you learn to do them properly -- full cleans. These lifts train your entire body to work in concert. A properly-performed squat works 75% of the muscles in your body, from the arches of your feet to your neck. A full clean, performed with strict form, uses close to 90%. Olympic lifts build balance, grace, stability, and explosive power. Get a good gym trainer, learn these lifts, and lay off the dumbbell curls, the leg sled, and the bench. You don't need them.

Thanks for the info,

Lifting weights will not slow your handspeed.

More or less.

If you are not stretching before and after you lift, you may lose some flexibility, which will affect your handspeed.

If you are only lifting in one direction -- doing, say, bench press but not hanging rows -- you will develop strength in only the concentric or eccentric direction. To throw a proper punch in boxing, you need both; you must be able to return the punch as fast as you throw it out. Balance your lifts.

The common mistake that many boxers make when lifting weights is not having a strength coach who understands kinetics and the sport of boxing. Big muscle is not necessary to hit hard; a good punch is like a good golf swing -- it takes every muscle in your body, working in perfect coordination. Boxing is more a sport of control and coordination than of raw power; boxing is closer to ballet than it is to football.

Muscle hypertrophy -- getting fratboy / musclehead big -- will slow you down in the ring after a time; it takes more oxygen to feed more muscle, so there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Realistically, though, if you are continuing boxing training while you lift, there is very little chance that you will gain the kind of muscle that would make this an issue. Boxing training, if you're doing it well, is catabolic.

In my experience, the best lifts you can do to augment your boxing training are squats, deadlifts, and -- if you learn to do them properly -- full cleans. These lifts train your entire body to work in concert. A properly-performed squat works 75% of the muscles in your body, from the arches of your feet to your neck. A full clean, performed with strict form, uses close to 90%. Olympic lifts build balance, grace, stability, and explosive power. Get a good gym trainer, learn these lifts, and lay off the dumbbell curls, the leg sled, and the bench. You don't need them.

Thanks for the info,

its fine, you will only be slow when your muscles are swelled.

Unless you body build its not an issue, I usually find that once I stop lifting weights for about 4-5 days I feel fine.

massive bulk will slow you down, but lifting weights is something almost all modern boxers do nowadays, as long as its done properly.

Roy Jones Jr lifted weights, he was one of the quickest boxers to have graced the ring.
Acoording to that Boxing Workouts book he did not lift weights while he was at 175. Well we all know what happened after he did start lifting them. It affects the speed of your reactions as we saw with Roy, as well as your ability to make weight healthily. Again, we saw that with Roy too. Billy Grahams brother died or steroid abuse and in honour of his bro, he makes fatty do lots of wieghts! We saw how far that got him and how elusive it made him!

People need to realise there are two types of speed in boxing as I have said before:

Speed of movement

Speed of Reaction

Weight training in some cases might increase the first, but always decreases the second! You can hit what you can see! (and what does not move out of the way). Practivcally speaking, heavy weights and excessive lifting will make people into bums.

What I was trying to get across Punch was how people get caught up in weightlifting and I do know people who have done that. A friend of mine did kick boxing, was slim, fast etc. and wanted to join the marines. He trained and trained, I assume, and he become muscular, then he became very muscular and now he's just a square of muscle. VERY strong, not so fit, not so quick. In fact, he failed his first marines try-out because he couldn't keep up etc. but could lift the most weights...He had become a lumbering giant, and in an way, unintentionally. It doesn't mean he didn't put in a huge amount of effort, he trained alot. All I can assume that happened was he got caught up in them, saw some muscle growth and then wanted more and more, wanted to lift more and more and so on until he was an ideal specimen of strength and muscle, but failed to do what it was he wanted. Do you get me now?

I think weights are quite a dangerous thing to get into unless you remain rational. Forget the whole "lumbering giant" thing for now but more commonly people seem to focus on things and actually **** up their bodies. You all must have seen them, I saw a kid who was slim but had these massive arms, looked like a ****ing moron. I've seen a guy with massive pectoral muscles, but was only mildly muscular generally. Stuff like that. People get caught up with weights and lose track of things. I think a good way to have that balance is to take it slowly and increase the weight slowly and not try and build massive muscles as quick as possible.

Good post! I agree that a lot of people get caught up in wanting to get really big (and then a minority of them do). The problem you're describing is, in my view, not so much the weights, but ignorance and in the end a flawed self image of what a person should look like to 'look tough.' Funny how those guys always focus on what they see in the mirror and neglect what they don't see. Incidentally, everyone else sees those parts. Either way, these didn't become jacked or whatever by accident, but by a lot of work, trying to acheve just that.
So, to sum up, I agree that stupid, insecure people can get caught up in trying to get swole, buff and all that ****, but I maintain that a serious athlete should not worry about getting huge, if he's just trying to get stronger.

Lifting weights will not slow your handspeed.

More or less.

If you are not stretching before and after you lift, you may lose some flexibility, which will affect your handspeed.

If you are only lifting in one direction -- doing, say, bench press but not hanging rows -- you will develop strength in only the concentric or eccentric direction. To throw a proper punch in boxing, you need both; you must be able to return the punch as fast as you throw it out. Balance your lifts.

The common mistake that many boxers make when lifting weights is not having a strength coach who understands kinetics and the sport of boxing. Big muscle is not necessary to hit hard; a good punch is like a good golf swing -- it takes every muscle in your body, working in perfect coordination. Boxing is more a sport of control and coordination than of raw power; boxing is closer to ballet than it is to football.

Muscle hypertrophy -- getting fratboy / musclehead big -- will slow you down in the ring after a time; it takes more oxygen to feed more muscle, so there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. Realistically, though, if you are continuing boxing training while you lift, there is very little chance that you will gain the kind of muscle that would make this an issue. Boxing training, if you're doing it well, is catabolic.

In my experience, the best lifts you can do to augment your boxing training are squats, deadlifts, and -- if you learn to do them properly -- full cleans. These lifts train your entire body to work in concert. A properly-performed squat works 75% of the muscles in your body, from the arches of your feet to your neck. A full clean, performed with strict form, uses close to 90%. Olympic lifts build balance, grace, stability, and explosive power. Get a good gym trainer, learn these lifts, and lay off the dumbbell curls, the leg sled, and the bench. You don't need them.


Excellent post FC.

You really need to know what you're doing or have someone who does telling you as stated above by Fraidy, otherwise yes, it could decrease not only your speed but also your stamina, muscle endurance and sharpness.

You need to be doing the correct exercises for what you're trying to achieve. You may very well be doing exercises that are making you stronger and bigger but are the opposite of what you need to do for boxing. Weights must e sport specific unless you're doing them as simple strength maintenance. Even then thoough you still need to take into consideration what you have to achieve for boxing. If you want to increase speed you will need to work on increase your explosive fast twitch muscle. You don't want to get bigger and add more general strength. It's not needed.

Already being pretty big, you should try to keep your muscle mass at a minimum to prevent any added energy to keep them firing. You want them to work at their most conservative, which means keeping any unnecessary bulk, etc out as they could be using energy that isn't needed for boxing.

Just make sure you have a good trainer who knows exactly what you need and to cater accordingly.

Roy Jones actually didn't do any weight training programs until much later in his career as he moved up in weight.

Lean muscle would have to eventually improve your handspeed, faster muscle twitches in the arms?

p.s just say i had an amateur fight coming up in 2 months, would it be best to stop lifting weights around 2-3 weeks before the bout?

Yes, don't lift weights up to a fight. Lifting weights up to a fight will tire your muscles greatly as they need so much rest to recover and regenerate. Weight lifting should only be a cross training exercise or an off season program. It shouldn't be part of your actual boxing routine and fight prep routine leading up to a fight. Too draining on your muscles to be doing it close to fight time.

it has been proved that lifting weights improves your punching power by only 7-11% max!

Source?:slap:

Luke, that's absolute crap haha. Weights build muscle mass which increases punching power but can also tighten your muscles which decreases speed. A proper boxer who wants to build muscle for fighting will keep this in mind, stretch very well before and after weight sessions and alongside weights would probably use one of those silly overpriced elastic stretching ropes which you, for example, stand on and use this light resistance to build the small muscles in the arms, shoulders, back and chest that may have been missed by lifting weights.

Punching power comes from velocity and mass. Lighter punchers can still be powerful, in fact, in the last Olympics they attached monitors onto a punchbag and tested the U.S boxing team, the hardest hitter was, I think, 165lbs. Look at Tommy Hearns aswell, 160lbs but a very powerful punch. This doesn't mean that somehow boxers like this manage to get around the laws of physics, what they have is technique. They properly push their whole body through the shot and transfer all of their weight, rather than some of it. Also, just as mass is important, so is velocity so they may have abnormally fast hands which equals them to a 220lb heavyweight (or super, depending on whether it's pro or amatuer).

I like to use the example of Mike Tyson which alot of people, at first, think is weird because he was about 218lb at fight weight which isn't light. Mike Tyson was probably one of the hardest hitters in boxing history right? Well he is considered a "little heavyweight", very strong though but some heavyweights are 250, 260, 270lbs! Now for some reason people only think of weight in boxing in divisions which is wrong. Mike Tyson's last fight was Kevin McBride who weighed 171lbs. That is a difference of some 50lbs, which can be the difference between a middleweight and heavyweight! Yet people seem to accept that it's entirely possible that Tyson's punching power is far greater than Mcbrides but usually believe that if somebody says a middleweight has a harder punch than a heavyweight it's all hype, or incredibly rare...

Now i've gone way off from where I started. What I was originally saying is using weights can increase punching power, it can also make it stagnate or increase it but slow you down. It all depends on how well you do it, the same way as working on handspeed but not mass will lead to the same. You need to find your weight division and then find that balance between mass and speed where your punch is optimum.

Good enough Jay, except the stretching part. Stretching before weights can decrease you strength by up to 30%. Not the best way to start a strength session. Stretching after isn't much better in my opinion, no reason to mess with the neural pathways at such a time. Stretching would be better done on it's own. Just my opinion, based on what I've read, and subsequent experience.

Also remember that using weights is not just a question of mass. As a boxer you should focus on strength not mass, when doing weights, and yes it is entirely possible to become much stronger without gaining any significant mass.

Well I lift now but not too heavy after not lifting for years. Ive lifted for 2 months now I think and I have to say I havent felt any loss of speed, it only made me feel stronger. On the downside it does make me feel tighter, but after a 2 hour basketball game I feel flexible again.

On the other hand Im not sure what kind of weight you guys are talking about. Im 195lb now and I lift between 180-200lb during the week( depending on how strong I feel when Im on the bench).

I'm sure if I was getting into 220lb Id be wrecked.

Im also talking about pure bench press.........prolly the most useless exercise, but it still makes me feel stronger in the arms.

Yes, don't lift weights up to a fight. Lifting weights up to a fight will tire your muscles greatly as they need so much rest to recover and regenerate. Weight lifting should only be a cross training exercise or an off season program. It shouldn't be part of your actual boxing routine and fight prep routine leading up to a fight. Too draining on your muscles to be doing it close to fight time.

Alright cool, i thought so! BTW, BennyST where in Aus are you? do you train/fight?

Luke, that's absolute crap haha. Weights build muscle mass which increases punching power but can also tighten your muscles which decreases speed. A proper boxer who wants to build muscle for fighting will keep this in mind, stretch very well before and after weight sessions and alongside weights would probably use one of those silly overpriced elastic stretching ropes which you, for example, stand on and use this light resistance to build the small muscles in the arms, shoulders, back and chest that may have been missed by lifting weights.

Punching power comes from velocity and mass. Lighter punchers can still be powerful, in fact, in the last Olympics they attached monitors onto a punchbag and tested the U.S boxing team, the hardest hitter was, I think, 165lbs. Look at Tommy Hearns aswell, 160lbs but a very powerful punch. This doesn't mean that somehow boxers like this manage to get around the laws of physics, what they have is technique. They properly push their whole body through the shot and transfer all of their weight, rather than some of it. Also, just as mass is important, so is velocity so they may have abnormally fast hands which equals them to a 220lb heavyweight (or super, depending on whether it's pro or amatuer).

I like to use the example of Mike Tyson which alot of people, at first, think is weird because he was about 218lb at fight weight which isn't light. Mike Tyson was probably one of the hardest hitters in boxing history right? Well he is considered a "little heavyweight", very strong though but some heavyweights are 250, 260, 270lbs! Now for some reason people only think of weight in boxing in divisions which is wrong. Mike Tyson's last fight was Kevin McBride who weighed 171lbs. That is a difference of some 50lbs, which can be the difference between a middleweight and heavyweight! Yet people seem to accept that it's entirely possible that Tyson's punching power is far greater than Mcbrides but usually believe that if somebody says a middleweight has a harder punch than a heavyweight it's all hype, or incredibly rare...

Now i've gone way off from where I started. What I was originally saying is using weights can increase punching power, it can also make it stagnate or increase it but slow you down. It all depends on how well you do it, the same way as working on handspeed but not mass will lead to the same. You need to find your weight division and then find that balance between mass and speed where your punch is optimum.

Very good helpful info

As far as increasing your hand speed learning proper technique and continuing to perfect it will help infinitely more than weights will.

If you mean will it hurt you, then the answer is no, not really. The reason is that for muscle to become a burden to your speed you would have to get huge, and most people who lift weights can't get that big.

Weights take the snap out of your muscles and make you slow. They tighten them up. They don't give you power just strength. Two different things. Punching power comes from technique nature and timing. A boxers punch mainly comes from hip so how would benching suddenly add significant amounts of power? Weights are a gimmick. It is make believe bollocks sold to bums who don't have power and want to believe it is in their control. Sounds good but they never do become decent punchers! Just slower bulkier bums! I don't know a single fast fighter that does alot of weights. Some of them use it as a supplement but most decent fighters stick to the good ol' press ups and pull ups. I also know fo some people who want the easy route and do weights because press ups and pull ups are too hard! That is why they work better.

Its not the weight lifting but how your lifting. Im gonna make a seperate thread that breaks in down in detail but to sum it up...lifting alot of weight in minimum sets slowly will cause you to loose speed. I lifted weights and have experience in this a found out that explosive weight lifting will actually increase speed and quickness while improving your power.


Here is what you do. Lift less weight at a faster past. On the bench if you bench 225(just throwing #'s out there) dont lift 185 x amount of times. Lower it to 150-160 etc and focus on alot of reps lifting as fast as possible without sacrificing your form. What that does is it works on your endurance, builds explosive power without putting on unnecessary bulk, and increases speed and quickness. Its also key to keep good form because it helps with accurancy. Im tired but i will post links on workouts and futher break down what im talking about


The key tho is EXPLOSIVE power

Its not the weight lifting but how your lifting. Im gonna make a seperate thread that breaks in down in detail but to sum it up...lifting alot of weight in minimum sets slowly will cause you to loose speed. I lifted weights and have experience in this a found out that explosive weight lifting will actually increase speed and quickness while improving your power.


Here is what you do. Lift less weight at a faster past. On the bench if you bench 225(just throwing #'s out there) dont lift 185 x amount of times. Lower it to 150-160 etc and focus on alot of reps lifting as fast as possible without sacrificing your form. What that does is it works on your endurance, builds explosive power without putting on unnecessary bulk, and increases speed and quickness. Its also key to keep good form because it helps with accurancy. Im tired but i will post links on workouts and futher break down what im talking about


The key tho is EXPLOSIVE power


Another important key is to stretch b4 and after you lift. You also might consider jump roping along with running after you lift to keep flexibility.

Excessive weight trianing is for bums! Please refer to above post.

Weights take the snap out of your muscles and make you slow. They tighten them up. They don't give you power just strength. Two different things. Punching power comes from technique nature and timing. A boxers punch mainly comes from hip so how would benching suddenly add significant amounts of power? Weights are a gimmick. It is make believe bollocks sold to bums who don't have power and want to believe it is in their control. Sounds good but they never do become decent punchers! Just slower bulkier bums! I don't know a single fast fighter that does alot of weights. Some of them use it as a supplement but most decent fighters stick to the good ol' press ups and pull ups. I also know fo some people who want the easy route and do weights because press ups and pull ups are too hard! That is why they work better.

This was a ridiculous post.

Weights are make-believe? They take the snap out of your punches? I will restate this: I have never found a sport in which the average practitioner knows so alarmingly little about exercise. I know sabre fencers with a better grasp on physiology and training principles. That's just sad, people. Seriously. In a day and age where "race walkers" take whey protein and hit the weights, you're cutting your own wrists by refusing to adopt modern training knowledge.

"Yeah, but boxing is an old sport. We don't need newfangled training methods." Go tell that to the guy doing the javelin throw.

For starters, there's more to boxing than just punching. I appreciate that this thread is about handspeed, but to say that weightlifting has no place in boxing is like saying that modern nutritional science has no place in boxing.

Overall body strength is needed in the ring. Slipping and weaving, clinching, and explosive movements like changes of direction, closing the gap, and the myriad of tricks that are required to get off the ropes, are all improved by weight-bearing exercise. Explosive physical strength, the type you get from weight-bearing exercise, gives you options in the ring. A bench press may not help your punch, but having a decent squat press makes a HELL of a difference when your opponent has you on the turnbuckle. (Hint: crouch, cover, explode up.) A good deadlift will make enduring clinches a lot easier, and may even dissuade your opponent from trying it more than once. Anyone ever have your opponent clinch and then pull you forward so you have to lever against him with your lower back, to tire you out? Imagine being the one who makes HIM tired when he tries it.

I could go on for pages. But I won't. Maybe I should just write a book. "How to Kick Ass at Boxing through Application of Fundamental Exercise Principles."

Alright cool, i thought so! BTW, BennyST where in Aus are you? do you train/fight?
Very good helpful info

Hey mate, I'm in Vic. What about you?

Weights are a gimmick. It is make believe bollocks sold to bums who don't have power and want to believe it is in their control.

Every post I've read of yours is utterly absurd. I just hope you're not an actual boxer (well, if you're an actual boxer, I care not because I'm sure you're getting the crap kicked out of you) or, more importantly, a trainer. Try learning something about the things you talk about before you open you obviously overly large mouth. It may help you in life.

Excessive weight trianing is for bums! Please refer to above post.

You really are a little slow aren't you? No one is advocating excessive weight lifting. We are not body builders or weight lifters. We are boxers. You seem to think someone is asking whether everyone here should start becoming weight lifters or body builders.

Proper weight training as a cross training exercise can most certainly increase the benefits of your boxing training (Get that? Boxing training. Not weight lifting.) and build up areas that would take longer and be less effective doing only pull ups and press ups as you advocated.

Go tell the 43 year old Bernard Hopkins that modern training techniques are ridiculous and that he should stop everything he does and just go back to press ups, pull ups, sit ups and push ups. Tell me how that goes for you? Actually, don't bother, because I know for a fact that he would tell you to "F*ck off". Before you open your mouth, just try thinking for one, or even two seconds.

These kinds of threads are getting old. "How weights affect boxing."

It all comes down to some arguing that they are beneficial, and others arguing that they aren't. Let people do their own ****, and stop trying to force information on others when they don't really care.

Can weights be helpful? Yes. Can they be harmful? Yes.

Let people do their own ****, and stop trying to force information on others when they don't really care.

:rolleyes:

Hey genius, when someone asks for advice on a boxing forum about weights, some people are going to give it. That is the whole point of this thing! It is given, and I'm sure taken, with a grain of salt.

No one is trying to force information on anyone. The internet, and forums in particular, are great resources (and quite often terrible) to get a myriad of information from and then make up your own mind about what to do with it.

So before saying people don't care and that everyone should let everyone do their own '****', try reading the thread title. It's what a forum is for!

:rolleyes:

Hey genius, when someone asks for advice on a boxing forum about weights, some people are going to give it. That is the whole point of this thing! It is given, and I'm sure taken, with a grain of salt.

No one is trying to force information on anyone. The internet, and forums in particular, are great resources (and quite often terrible) to get a myriad of information from and then make up your own mind about what to do with it.

So before saying people don't care and that everyone should let everyone do their own '****', try reading the thread title. It's what a forum is for!
I understand that. I'm saying that most of these threads turn into arguments, and I think that its simply best to let people do their own things when they do turn into arguments.

Obviously the original poster is looking for information, and you're providing him with it. That's good.

The problem arises when you all start arguing with one another, instead of addressing the original poster.

Genius ;)