What muscles are MOST important for punching power?

[billeau2]

I wasn't saying you were old. I was calling your logic out dated. Yes, we all know that technique is the key, but they way you were saying it, seemed like something a 1930's trainer would say.

Times have changed. We now know so much more about our bodies, and sports specific exercises/workouts.

Please don't take this the wrong way...I notice in my outspokeness i have already pissed a few people here off...not my intention but your statement above? It is quite ignorant.

The mechanics of a decent punch have not changed, as our bodies have not measurably changed, evolved, progressed in any Darwinian sense for thousands of years...much less in a few hundred years or so in the ring. People who are not trained will punch downward, why? Well more like watch how an ape will naturally punch then look in the mirror, see that forhead you have which protects the eyes? see how your throat is protected by your chin? see how your plexis is inaccesible going down? same for the Groin? nature protects us from the natural progression of a downward blow....if you reverse the directions on the other hand (and you will not see a primate punch upwards) then it is easy to catch the groin, the throat, the eyes...that is the start of a trained punch....

Boxers in the 30's actually had better punching mechanics...why? because gloves were smaller and boxing was less abstracted from real combat. A front hand jab done with no wrist turn is an untelegraphed and decent punch, it will catch the chin at the right angle actually...but when we put bigger gloves on, made boxing less about the grapple and inside game (how many fighters can't even fight inside anymore?) we actually lost a lot of the natural mechanics that make a punch anatomically maximized.

What has evolved is not conditioning, fighters fought more rounds and at least as robustly....It is not the training or mechanics.... it is simply some advances in nutrition and body size...Yet there is no proof that bigger fighters (heavyweights) are better fighters. Price would get destroyed by Marciano and while Lewis was a great fighter so was the other Louis!

And punching power? Maxie Bear had as hard a right, technically speaking as any fighter in the division...and Ernie Shavers punched at least as hard as the biggest heavyweight imaginable...

No sir. People do not evolve in a generation or three and while in some sports there has been major evolution this is because of social forces....Football players are rioded, nutritionally monitered, capitally controlled and world class athletes as opposed to "Artie Donovan and Bolgnie sandwiches." Fighters are not any more gifted punchers or technicians in this modern era and that is why your statement is off imo.

Peace

Dsimon

[Scarcaztic]

Please don't take this the wrong way...I notice in my outspokeness i have already pissed a few people here off...not my intention but your statement above? It is quite ignorant.

The mechanics of a decent punch have not changed, as our bodies have not measurably changed, evolved, progressed in any Darwinian sense for thousands of years...much less in a few hundred years or so in the ring. People who are not trained will punch downward, why? Well more like watch how an ape will naturally punch then look in the mirror, see that forhead you have which protects the eyes? see how your throat is protected by your chin? see how your plexis is inaccesible going down? same for the Groin? nature protects us from the natural progression of a downward blow....if you reverse the directions on the other hand (and you will not see a primate punch upwards) then it is easy to catch the groin, the throat, the eyes...that is the start of a trained punch....

Boxers in the 30's actually had better punching mechanics...why? because gloves were smaller and boxing was less abstracted from real combat. A front hand jab done with no wrist turn is an untelegraphed and decent punch, it will catch the chin at the right angle actually...but when we put bigger gloves on, made boxing less about the grapple and inside game (how many fighters can't even fight inside anymore?) we actually lost a lot of the natural mechanics that make a punch anatomically maximized.

What has evolved is not conditioning, fighters fought more rounds and at least as robustly....It is not the training or mechanics.... it is simply some advances in nutrition and body size...Yet there is no proof that bigger fighters (heavyweights) are better fighters. Price would get destroyed by Marciano and while Lewis was a great fighter so was the other Louis!

And punching power? Maxie Bear had as hard a right, technically speaking as any fighter in the division...and Ernie Shavers punched at least as hard as the biggest heavyweight imaginable...

No sir. People do not evolve in a generation or three and while in some sports there has been major evolution this is because of social forces....Football players are rioded, nutritionally monitered, capitally controlled and world class athletes as opposed to "Artie Donovan and Bolgnie sandwiches." Fighters are not any more gifted punchers or technicians in this modern era and that is why your statement is off imo.

Peace

Dsimon

Man, I didn't read all that.

The moral of the story. training has advanced. A circuit routine on top of practicing your craft will do nothing but help.

STOP WITH THE ESSAYS. I agree with you guys. I'm merely saying, training your body as well as your form can ONLY HELP.

PS, stop being a butt hurt ALT.

Edit: WHo the hell said people have evolved physically? I said training has evolved. Calm the fugg down.

[2todabody]

No 1 muscle group is more important, (get a total body workout) a punch with the best chance for a K.O starts for the ground up. From digging in (sitting down) on the punch, to creating the torque all the way to the end of the fist. We have all seen these lanky guys like Pavlik etc. bomb guys out, and heavy muscular guys like bradley tickle people to death.

[rambov]

alls I know is that you must have excellent balance. This comes from having powerful legs and a strong mid section. You must have balance. Brings out immense power.

I guess lats and back would be next!

[boliodogs]

The muscles work together for a powerful punch but I think the deltoid or shoulder muscle is the most important and the tricep or back of the arm would be next. The leg and waist muscles work together to turn weight into the blow. A good power punch is an explosion with the muscles working together starting from the foot and ending at the fist. The fighter should be on balance with both feet on the ground for the best power. The fist should be tight with no give when it makes contact. If thrown correctly with all things equel the faster the punch the harder it is. The shoulder and arm supply the speed.

[Scarcaztic]

No 1 muscle group is more important, (get a total body workout) a punch with the best chance for a K.O starts for the ground up. From digging in (sitting down) on the punch, to creating the torque all the way to the end of the fist. We have all seen these lanky guys like Pavlik etc. bomb guys out, and heavy muscular guys like bradley tickle people to death.

Thank you for regurgitating the same stuff that most boxing enthusiasts have known since they were 10 years old.

[Russian Crushin]

Something told me you like to beat *****es with your schlong.

I've cut down after one of them ending up looking like Marg after pac

[TensionKiller]

It actually pisses me off how little people seem to know on this forum. It's not '1930s logic' to say that training for raw power won't do much to your knockout chances. Punching power (ie ignoring factors such as surprise factor) only has to do with muscles in so far as training fast twitch muscle fibres makes you quicker. Even then, one is not going to get that much faster by doing power training - the speed comes more from being relaxed, being naturally fast and crucially muscle memory. More important than speed, however, is technique. This means getting your bodyweight into punches and actually punching through rather than at your opponent. It's very simple really - power (ie strength x speed in weightlifting terms) won't make you punch harder for the most part. It's simple physics - let me explain. Knock-outs occur when the cranium accelerates and causes the brain to move within the skull. This acceleration is faster when punches land in the right place ie on this chin because the moment created is greater as this chin is furthest from the axis of rotation. More importantly, the acceleration is fastest when momentum is highest. Momentum is mass x velocity. In this equation, the mass comes from technique - actual weight can be ignored as people fight others who are at or around their weight. The velocity is largely natural. You can increase it through training a bit but it won't increase that much, and in fact shadow-boxing will help way more in this regard than power training as a result of its effect on muscle memory. Also, singly punch speed doesn't vary that much between people for the most part - it's combination speed that varies mostly. This means technique is the single most important factor. A final point to be added is that the surprise factor is crucial. People automatically slow the acceleration of the cranium when they get punched if they can anticipate it because they involuntarily tense their neck muscles. If you don't see it, however, you won't tense the muscles and the head will move more quickly. This is why people who don't telegraph punches and are fast often seem to knock people out with punches that don't always seem that hard.

This simple physics explains punching power. It amazed me how people are so ignorant of these laws in boxing - these laws can't just be violated. Muscles aren't going to improve your power significantly - technique is. I mean come on, how many guys do you thing were stronger than Hearns in almost every muscle group? The answer is a lot - but none of them could punch as hard as him. The reason most power-lifters couldn't punch for **** is is that they don't have the technique.

Good read. However why are some brains moving less than others.

[Scarcaztic]

The muscles work together for a powerful punch but I think the deltoid or shoulder muscle is the most important and the tricep or back of the arm would be next. The leg and waist muscles work together to turn weight into the blow. A good power punch is an explosion with the muscles working together starting from the foot and ending at the fist. The fighter should be on balance with both feet on the ground for the best power. The fist should be tight with no give when it makes contact. If thrown correctly with all things equel the faster the punch the harder it is. The shoulder and arm supply the speed.

Pretty much this. Basic fundamentals of punching 101.

[Scarcaztic]

Good read. However why are some brains moving less than others.

He's going off on a rant, that most of us all should know by now, because he thinks we told OP to train like a body builder. SMDH.

OP asked what specific muscles recruit punching power, and we answered him.

Stop being butt hurt.