Thread: Question on hard punchs

whats are some good exercises to get a rock solid punch?.
im not a real fast guy and i dont like to punch fast but i have a normal speed and would like to improve my punch so "when it hits you, It hits you" type deal.
i was thinking along the lines of
chess press..
dumbell curls,
solid crunchs
dumbell punching,
medicine ball workout
skipping
eliptical training
scattered amount of jogging
burpees
pull ups
and hand grips to codition my hands and knuckles.

is there any other exercises i should consider to get a bit fast but mainly a hard punch.? - thats basically all the exercises i does in a daily workout -.

I dont know about exercise dude..

The only thing i could recomend.. Practice correct technique.. Ive had help with tecnique of punches in the past and it helps greatly..Especially the jab..

Of course bieng strong and bieng muscular etc is going to help when you hit someone.. But for the sake of punches like a jab..Where if you just throw it without snapping it out its really just an arm flung into your face.. A large poke.. Its much easyer to get power into shots like your strait right and left hook..Because you put body weight into it..You turn into a left hook with your hips.. put the shoulder and bodyweight into your strait right..And both can be stepped in with from your back foot..Sort of applying your weight better.. If thats the right way to describe it.. But the best thing you can really do is really understand how to throw your punches down to a tee and practice till it becomes the norm..
Hope this is of some help to you.. You got a trainer or anything? take you through your stuff help out etc?.. Hope its not patronising if you are experianced or something i just dont know so jus giving what advice i can think might help
Peace

I've always wondered though,do muscles really matter,I mean when it comes to punching? Look at Tito,he was pretty dam skinny and the guy hit monstrously. Can anyone give a brief run down on where the weight should be when throwing punches? ie left hook,should the weight be on the front foot etc etc. Thanks!

Me personally,I think punching is to do with 2 things:

technique- being able to put the WHOLE BODY into the punch,the hip,the shoulders,the legs turning the body,1 fluid motion but with snap,a kind of twitch. I'm not sure AdamGB(the main man) or Scrap(the other main man) but I always think that there is a common misconception that the power of punch comes from merely the arms,therefore people tend to work their arms thinking that they are developing more power(I could be wrong)

speed-speed kills. I'd rather be a small fast man than a big slow strong man. The big slow strong man may throw a rock at you,but you can use your speed and dodge it and with that same speed,you can throw something back. Defence and offence in one motion.

As you can see,I don't really know what I am talking about but errrr. hope this helps.

ya speed does kill but i vader be a basic boxer not slow or nothing a bit quick on the feet with good footwork and hammerhead for a fist :P something to pound the living daylight out of you.
i don't have a trainer because its really expensive where i live and theres only one boxing gym. i train like a boxer because i love to box, but im in martial arts because its cheap and i can have fun competeing in that. but as i said i train like a boxer because i love boxing i was just hope for some good exercises to build punching strength , i got speed covered. plus im a hefty type guy, not fat but just built like a horse"" i have a nice punch as it is but i just want to have that cannon on my arm. any good exercises for this>?
and to the guys who posted i thank you for your kind help .
-thanks.
(spell check won't work for me )

BHB and Gamo have said it all Pure. Look up some of the threads on plyometrics to work on explosiveness and power. You say you're not fast - so work on your speed.

Yeah, Gamo and Body pretty much said it all.

You need technique firstly and secondly your whole entire body needs to be conditioned to deliver a punch... upper, lower and core.

I swear by hill sprints for developing explosiveness in the legs... you should always do the positive part of the rep (the contraction) quickly and the negative part (eccentric) slowly... gonna give you long muscles and explosive contractions.

You need to have an efficient Anaerobic energy system to you need to work intervals of near to or on your maximum effort... burpees, punch out drills etc.

Scrap will swear by stretching, he's the man to listen to about that, your muscles are basically elastic, very very important part of muscle contractions and body mechanics as a whole.

Trick is not to do Anaerobic training and plyometrics too much, got to recover... it can play hell with your Central Nervous system and Lactic acid...

Correct technique and bagwork. IMO nothing beats heavy bagwork for developing explosive power. All the muscles in the world wont give you a KO punch if you dont have correct technique and body mechanics. A punch great punch should start at your feet and end with your fist, the whole body plays a part.

Core strength is also important. Drop stepping is also a good way of delivering power in your punches. Dempsey used to drop step into his punches and look at the power he used to get and he wasn't the biggest chap in the world.

Yeah, always drop step into my straights...

Really good for straights to the body, makes em lethal

the secret to power punching is to workout on a Power Puncher 2000.

Stupid Q - what's drop stepping?

Do you mean dropping your weight down a lot as you punch down - so no good for a short arse like me trying to aim for a taller guy's head?

As a shorter opponent would you ever really expect to be able to hit a taller opponent's head hard with a straight punch.

Taller people are my greatest weakness and it interfere's with how worthwhile I am as a sparring partner for many of my taller teammates - at least against guys my height I can be technically challenging but against the taller ones I've got nothing! (I'm still working on some great advice given RE fighting taller opponents so I'm really just wondering about the straights)

Dropstepping is when you lunge forward and down into a shot. Not necessarily punching down. I've seen people dropstepping into huge shots where the pads have been placed above their own head height. Sorry to mention dempsey again but he dropstepped in to a lot of his shots against Jess Willard who towered over him.

As you throw the shot move your front foot forward and drop the weight down on to it transferring your bodweight in to the shot. As Adam says its great for straight shots, also works well for right crosses, well it has when ive trained them. Couple it with correct body mechanics, and hip movement and it can create a really powerful shot.

I think that techique is FAR more important than body size and muscularity. (and I'm a big bastard!)

AdamI, know this may sound stupid but what do you mean when referring to the contraction and eccentric? Ie in a push up? Also,are squats god for developing leg muscles(without weights) and what is the correct way of doing them because I don't want to suffer from joint problems which I have heard can happen from squats.

Originally Posted by El Gamo

AdamI, know this may sound stupid but what do you mean when referring to the contraction and eccentric? Ie in a push up? Also,are squats god for developing leg muscles(without weights) and what is the correct way of doing them because I don't want to suffer from joint problems which I have heard can happen from squats.

when i do squats mate i do sets of about thirty as part of my circuit and generally do that about 4 or 5 times through. i get in my stance bend my knees as far down as you can before your sitting on your arse and shadow a one two every time i come up. easy but you can really feel it in your quads and groin after wards if you've done em right.