Why dont trainers put more emphasis on leg strength?

[edgarg]

Having larger, stronger quads and calves not only makes a fighter more explosive but also allows fighters to take a better punch.

Fighters with iron chins all have freakishly strong, developed leg muscles. So why dont more places put more emphasis on this the way the wildcard gym has for their fighters?

I don't think it has much to do with Quads and such, it has more to do with the structure of the leg. The dimension of the legbones and the density, which supplies the solidness and base on which the tendons, sinews and muscles hang. Lots of roadwork can help as this kind of concussive exercise can build up bone.

Just my opinion.

[vacon04]

Hard to tell, since legs are really important for boxing. I prefer to train to get stronger and yeah heavier legs and retain speed, than to get heavier arms and lose speed because the body is not able to move the arms as fast because of that extra muscle.

Also it's important to say that most of the power, not only of boxers, comes from the legs and the core, not from the arms. When throwing a hard punch, most of the power is achieved through rotation of the waist and legs, and as I've said this is not only for boxing, you just see how baseball players hit the ball with a lot of power by doing a fast rotation of their body, so it's basically the same principle for boxing.

[sweetscience18]

Most training methods already condition the legs for boxing. Resistance training for legs increases explosion but the muscles in your legs are very big and can hold alotta weight so it could help your fighter if hes okay on weight but if not itll be too much muscle to cut. Getting rid of weight from your legs can be very difficult and exhausting.

[slick1two]

People tend to hate on MMA fighters due to their lack of skills, but strength and conditioning is one aspect where many MMA trainers and fighters have been drilled on and work hard on in the gym. Ariza's methods are not new, MMA conditioning coaches stress the need for explosive plyometric training to aid a fighter in combat. Since an MMA fight involves heavy use of legs, in terms of kicks, and sprawling, to avoid take downs, and the grappling aspect requires a super strong base in order to help push off for take downs. Punching requires the use of legs big time as well, so it is totally logical that boxers can benefit by having strong legs. I see a lot of them with chicken legs and massive upper bodies.

I mean when you get hit hard, you see the legs go wobbly and many a chicken dance follows.

[Dirt]

i dont know if there's a correlation of leg development with a granite chin. you can't really train a chin. you can avoid being more glass chinned by not draining yourself though....

i feel you on the part that leg development is important. all the power comes from the feet up.

[lefthook00]

Advantages:
You will become more explosive. You don't become slower when your legs get stronger and bigger, you get FASTER, more EXPLOSIVE. Why do you think olympic sprinters, NBA players, NFL players be squatting all day? Foot/leg speed is just as important as hand speed, sometimes more so. Leg training also strengthens your HIPS, your back, your base, and your overall strength, you will understand when you start squatting/deadlifting heavy. It increases the torque on your punches, increases your punching power.

Disadvantages:
Since your legs are literally the bottom HALF if your body, you will gain a good amount of weight if you seriously train your legs. It will be harder to make weight, you might have to move up. If your body is unbalanced(your legs are much stronger than your upper body), you might have to fight in a higher weight class against fighters with stronger/bigger upper bodies, and you might not be handle to take the body blows/clinching/inside fighting...if you start to train your upper body really hard to try to catch up to your legs, then you will gain even more weight and you'll have to move up ANOTHER weight class, and before you know it, the disadvantages of weight gain will be greater than the advantages..there is a middle ground. If you want to keep fighting in the same weight class, you will need an experienced strength&condition coach to train you for SPEED and EXPLOSIVENESS, and you will need a good nutritionist to make sure you eat the right things to keep you the same size. It might also affect your cardio, more muscle = hogs more oxygenated blood = you gas out faster.

[shadeyfizzle]

i dont know if there's a correlation of leg development with a granite chin. you can't really train a chin. you can avoid being more glass chinned by not draining yourself though....

i feel you on the part that leg development is important. all the power comes from the feet up.

Theres a direct correlation between leg development and granite chin. What happens when a fighter gets rocked??? They get shaky legs. Having a stronger base gives a fighter stabilty and act like shock absorbers. Letting them take stronger punches without getting rocked.

[bballchump11]

i dont know if there's a correlation of leg development with a granite chin. you can't really train a chin. you can avoid being more glass chinned by not draining yourself though....

i feel you on the part that leg development is important. all the power comes from the feet up.

stronger legs will make your chin better to an extent. I think the TS is putting too much importance on it though since a fight like Margarito has chicken legs. But trust me, they do help. Go squatting and then run some sprints afterward and then have somebody punch you. Your legs will go wobbly a lot quicker