Bench pressing and Punching Power

[crimsonfalcon07]

Bench pressing will help a natural puncher ,stronger shoulders will produce stronger punches , ppl are fixated on maximum weights but you can also just lower the weight and thrust upward for explosive movements and mix it up .

The answer to this question is old trainers most of them don’t find weights a good idea bc that’s what they are taught and they couldn’t be wrong bc any fighter of any size will gain better performance lifting weights if they do it right still preaching that for 37 years now and counting . Lol

Weights aren’t just for strength enhancement, it’s useful for getting better overall balance , core strength which makes you more athletic , overall health and can be used for training stamina depending on what you’re doing etc etc .

Another benefit from proper strength training is stabilization. There's boxers that don't have a good stable platform, and when they land, equal and opposite reaction means that there's energy transfer. If they have good structure, the force goes into the opponent. If not, it goes into the weakness in the structure, typically one of the joints in the kinetic chain.

Lots of things can be helpful; they just need to be applied relevant to a good understanding of the goals.

Improving technique and structure is generally the first and most effective way to improve power, because very few people have perfected those. Next would come improving acceleration, because it has a proportionally greater effect than increasing mass, but without the draining downsides of increasing mass.

I personally think plyometric pushups are a more efficient way to train relevant strength for punch power than bench, personally, but that doesn't mean bench can't be helpful, especially to overcome plateaus.

[Dr. Z]

Why do boxer trainers act like bench pressing has nothing to do with punching power ? Deontay Wilder has one of the highest bench presses in boxing 365 lb and he hits the hardest other boxers in the past Rahman benching (500 lb) showed the same, but for some reason current trainers act like it does not help at all why is this ?

I have never heard of a light puncher who is good at the bench press. Think about it.....Yeah, it helps but too much muscle causes the body to slow down and you lose some flexibility.

I think the shoulder muscles and the arm muscles have more to due with power.

Working out with 8 -15 pound dumbbells is IMO a better way to increase punching power. Just go through the motions of each punch.

That is free advice.

[N/A]

Lifting weights is beneficial (you can try talking with some weightlifters about how they often outrun runners or jump longer and higher than athletes, at least from a static position), no question about it. It is a key moment to do it adapted to the needs of your sport and when it comes to boxing in particular, you must avoid getting too big in some areas, as well as not making your muscles stiff - they might look better, but doesn't have the properties a soft muscle has.

Bench press, in particular, is similar to straight punches, but doesn't represent the entire movement of a punch and the dynamics that stand behind it - a punch starts from your legs. So it is beneficial, for sure, but it is by far not the only exercise that a boxer needs to consider and I don't believe that nowadays people involved in sports lack information about it. My impression is that many boxers tend to have rather skinnier legs.

Rahman never benched 500 lbs, those are just rumours. Such a result makes him competitive with the average powerlifters - people who train for that in particular and take much heavier doses of PEDs than him.

At some point, you have to work over antagonistic properties even, but that is what an athlete aims to improve - everything about himself.

[Dr. Z]

I’ve lifted weights since I was fifteen. Had my weight training certificate since I was 19 and redone several times. I think people need to trust their own experiences more than anything though. Course some people can’t be trusted.
Bench press was always my weakest lift comparably to most everything else. It doesn’t mean I didn’t work on it at times and make gains. I’m just not a natural at it. Arms and legs blow up with little effort. My first training partner was all chest and shoulders, kill me on those lifts. I’d kill him on the limbs.
If bench was my weakness then punching power was my strength. I know that sounds braggart but I’m just being honest. There’s 16yrs old benching close to 400lbs on YouTube. I won’t ever lie about any of my lifts cause that’s tacky. Stronger people motivate me. People who improve their weaknesses motivate me. Anybody good at anything motivates me. There’s always someone tougher and stronger.
Be it punching, tackling, running, rugby or football, my power was alway the most impressive thing that I produced. I could always hit. Bench has always been something I connect with the least. I can throw a good spiral mid range like an average Joe but I can’t launch it deep like anyone sort of talented. I don’t know how their shoulders hold up, it kills mine pretty quickly. On the other hand I can pound a bag all day long, I love it, and feel no issues. It makes all the sense to me in the world.
I think you can improve but there’s a lot of things you just have to be hard wired for. Look at footwork in boxing. Some people are just awful at it but great at other aspects.
I was told throw a hundred punches. Take the best one out of them all and try to make them all like that on the next set. Then just continue the process.
Trust what seems to work for you. Only you can feel your own hands. Check the wear pattern on your glove. That helped me.

You seem to know your stuff. By chance do you have long arms?

IMO the punching power is in the shoulders first , the arms second, and the legs third. Velocity + mass = power. Always has, always will. That is where the weight or mass of a person comes into play.

[4truth]

I don't think, though I could be wrong, that pumping 400 pounds on the bench press will do as much for punching power as simple pop-up pushups. Force without much velocity is more push than punch. i'm thinking that a punch's impact is the most important factor in the effect it will have.

explosive-pushups.gif

[juggernaut666]

Another benefit from proper strength training is stabilization. There's boxers that don't have a good stable platform, and when they land, equal and opposite reaction means that there's energy transfer. If they have good structure, the force goes into the opponent. If not, it goes into the weakness in the structure, typically one of the joints in the kinetic chain.

Lots of things can be helpful; they just need to be applied relevant to a good understanding of the goals.

Improving technique and structure is generally the first and most effective way to improve power, because very few people have perfected those. Next would come improving acceleration, because it has a proportionally greater effect than increasing mass, but without the draining downsides of increasing mass.

I personally think plyometric pushups are a more efficient way to train relevant strength for punch power than bench, personally, but that doesn't mean bench can't be helpful, especially to overcome plateaus.

I don’t really consider any push up a substitute for bench , the closest thing I’ve used decades ago was chair push ups where you can dip down closer to the floor with two chairs on each side with legs on any platform . The only push ups I do are stair and knuckle push ups ,mainly bc I have a torn pec and it’s harder to put weight on a open hand ,also my wrists don’t bend backwards fully so it’s virtually impossible for me to do flat push ups .

The bench press just makes the shoulders bigger stronger you need dead weight going against you , unless you have someone on your back doing push ups I don’t think it has the same effects , if your going for speed itself then the type of push ups you mentioned are probably better but benching and knuckle push ups will make you a stronger puncher , and when I say knuckle push ups I mean on real concrete, steel , gravel etc…..not a rug or mat .

[crimsonfalcon07]

I don’t really consider any push up a substitute for bench , the closest thing I’ve used decades ago was chair push ups where you can dip down closer to the floor with two chairs on each side with legs on any platform . The only push ups I do are stair and knuckle push ups ,mainly bc I have a torn pec and it’s harder to put weight on a open hand ,also my wrists don’t bend backwards fully so it’s virtually impossible for me to do flat push ups .

The bench press just makes the shoulders bigger stronger you need dead weight going against you , unless you have someone on your back doing push ups I don’t think it has the same effects , if your going for speed itself then the type of push ups you mentioned are probably better but benching and knuckle push ups will make you a stronger puncher , and when I say knuckle push ups I mean on real concrete, steel , gravel etc…..not a rug or mat .

Thing is, bench trains for the wrong thing. It trains you to move heavy weight in shorts bursts. Combat sports are fundamentally about endurance, especially boxing, which requires you to be able to maintain performance for 48 minutes of effort at the championship level.

So you need to be able to keep your muscles firing for long periods of time. Bench for bulk also increases the oxygen demand of your body, reducing your stamina. There's ways to make bench work, but it's still less efficient than alternatives.

The other issue is that bench generally means steady state pressing. Punch power comes from efficiency of technique, particularly in maximizing weight transfer and acceleration. Force= mass times acceleration. The more mass you can recruit, and the faster you can get it moving, the better. That's why if you understand the mechanics of power, you can still generate knockout power in comparatively short punches.

I also like knuckle pushups because they help train wrist stability. But there's a ton of variants of pushups you can use to train in different ways that are helpful. Bench athletes tend to end up with lots of shoulder injuries, for a variety of reasons. It's not that it's not useful, but it's just less efficient. If you're using it to train your power, you have to train explosive movements, but if you train your body to get used to it in small sets, as is common with bench, your gains come at the expense of your stamina.

It's the difference between exercise and training. If it's not purposeful, it's going to be less efficient. Bench is great for a football player, for instance, because football plays are explosive and very short. But you're not going to see endurance athletes doing a lot of it because it's not good training. Look at the difference between a sprint workout and a distance workout. You train for what you want to do.

[juggernaut666]

Thing is, bench trains for the wrong thing. It trains you to move heavy weight in shorts bursts. Combat sports are fundamentally about endurance, especially boxing, which requires you to be able to maintain performance for 48 minutes of effort at the championship level.

So you need to be able to keep your muscles firing for long periods of time. Bench for bulk also increases the oxygen demand of your body, reducing your stamina. There's ways to make bench work, but it's still less efficient than alternatives.

The other issue is that bench generally means steady state pressing. Punch power comes from efficiency of technique, particularly in maximizing weight transfer and acceleration. Force= mass times acceleration. The more mass you can recruit, and the faster you can get it moving, the better. That's why if you understand the mechanics of power, you can still generate knockout power in comparatively short punches.

I also like knuckle pushups because they help train wrist stability. But there's a ton of variants of pushups you can use to train in different ways that are helpful. Bench athletes tend to end up with lots of shoulder injuries, for a variety of reasons. It's not that it's not useful, but it's just less efficient. If you're using it to train your power, you have to train explosive movements, but if you train your body to get used to it in small sets, as is common with bench, your gains come at the expense of your stamina.

It's the difference between exercise and training. If it's not purposeful, it's going to be less efficient. Bench is great for a football player, for instance, because football plays are explosive and very short. But you're not going to see endurance athletes doing a lot of it because it's not good training. Look at the difference between a sprint workout and a distance workout. You train for what you want to do.

Not really you can train in bench any which way for short or long endurance, in fact there’s no better way to train on bench then count downs where you only rest 45 seconds and try and keep the number up like the first set is 40 , then 39 , 38 …you count down to whatever specific numbers or weight .

I’ve been benching since 1986 I’ve been bc ing since at least 1991 so ? I don’t know what to tell you except do what works for you .

[crimsonfalcon07]

do what works for you .

That's the best advice right there. As I mentioned, there's ways to make it work for you. My comment was simply that I don't think it's the most efficient method. YMMV.

[Blond Beast]

You seem to know your stuff. By chance do you have long arms?

IMO the punching power is in the shoulders first , the arms second, and the legs third. Velocity + mass = power. Always has, always will. That is where the weight or mass of a person comes into play.

I am 5’10”, lots of guys say I must be taller because they claim to be 5’10” themselves , but ive been laser measured and I am exactly that. I don’t have long arms, Im pretty proportioned. From the armpit to tip of my outstretched finger is 32”. I wake up weighing 215-220lbs lately. I am lean with a good four pack and vascularity but it’s not like I am in any sort of cardio training camp shape. I am honestly built a lot like Mike Tyson but look more like a bodybuilder. Still his measurements were my blueprint when I was young. Benched 365lbs x2 was the best ive done at 220lbs and young. I was enhanced though. John Haack can bench 600lbs at around that weight for example, but he’s the best and it’s my worst. I have recently done 315lbs at 210lbs as an old guy and on low dose TRT. I did 275lbs at 190lbs a couple years ago and lost weight to do so. My chest really thins out as it approaches the middle. Almost like a door wedge, thick on one end but thins to a fine point. Genetics. I admire and am not jealous but only stoked for of all the great bench pressers male and female. My twin is taller a little heavier and has benched 405lbs and worked on his bench for all the years that I stopped benching. ( I got a small tear at my strongest and didn’t bench for 15yrs, I am not benching currently either ) He has a full power rack and great equipment. He finally got a monolift he’s trying out now. He’s also experimenting with different width grips as John Haack seems to go narrower. i never lie about my lifts good or bad as you are only cheating yourself.

I have a thick muscular trunk and thighs. I pull back my forward hip and crack my back hip forward with my hands held tight and close then release my fist at the end of my hip rotation. I have 17.5” arms that are lean. I am with you, all imagine is speed times mass. I am not a trained boxer but ive followed the sport and mimicked everything I’ve seen since I was a little kid. I tried every combo I saw. What I wish I could do is move my head and waist like those great defensive fighters or %10 as well. Getting punched in the face would help you learn for sure but im not tough enough to do that for fun.

Sorry for long reply. Been a while. It’s my thing.