Q for biomechanical people and trainers of female boxers

[Sharla]

You might have a point there! I did naturally plant my weight down more and push my hips through for front kicks more than I ever do punching. My current gym has been better than past gyms because they have taught me to move out the way but I haven't felt a lot of power and maybe that's the difference. I'm having one of those days when you realise you've missed something really obvious - like looking for something in the fridge and missing it because it's only one shelf higher than it normally is - at eye level! Thanks Monkey CC.

[Trainer Monkey]

Man i get your issue totally now
What you should be doing,isnt pushing from the hip,but snapping and exploding from it,and traveling it to the shoulder and the arm
Go work the heavy bag,and do what I was saying,and youll feel your power jump,and jump hard
Im glad I could be of help

[Sharla]

Right thanks Monkey I think I need to take it to the gym and muck around a bit to completely understand what you are saying but you've been a big help

[FeuerFrei]

I've been googling Q angle etc to make sense of my knee MRI results (which are at the end of this post in case anyone happens to have any comments ) and I read the on average a female has her body weight sitting one inch lower and behind that of a man. A woman will tend to have her body weight over her heel whereas a man will have his over his toes. Thinking about it I'd be surprised if a female can really train exactly the same way a man can and have the same power/balance. What adjustments would the trainers recommend for a female boxer that are not applicable to the guys?



MRI results:

A routine MR protocol demonstrates normal appearance to the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments. The medial and lateral menisci also appear normal. No abnormality is seen in the medial or lateral collateral ligaments. The chondral and subchondral surfaces appear normal and there is no increased signal within the marrow space.

The infrapatellar tendon on the sagittal PD images appears normal. There is increased signal within the marrow space of the inferolateral patellar facet. The overlying patellar cartilage thickness does however appear normal. The appearances would be consistent with some patellar marrow oedema and probable early chondromalacia. There is no significant joint effusion.

Hi, Sharla. If you're still trying to figure out the MRI results, the best I can decipher is this:
The main ligaments that hold your knee together look good. The cartilage pads in between your leg bones where they join to make the knee joint look good. The tendons of your knee look good. The cartilage in your knee is not wearing thin. In MRI's increased signal seems to mean possible damage or areas beginning to show some wear so they are detecting some swelling and inflammation in the marrow of you patella (knee cap). Chondromalacia is the softening of the cartilage. They are most likely referring to the cartillage on your patella (knee cap) and that it may start to wear a bit.

Hope this helps a little.

[Sharla]

Thanks Feuer CC I appreciate your help

You've got it right. I also asked the physio and knee surgeon about it and the basic idea was that I did damage the cartilage enough to let too much pressure through to the knee bone and give myself a bruised bone.

The MRI results are a bit misleading since they can tell how much the cartilage has narrowed if at all but it can still be damaged enough to not protect the knee well. They say the only way to really check just how damaged the cartilage is is with an arthroscopy but I probably won't need one (fingers crossed).

The freaky thing is that you don't have pain receptors in your cartilage apparently so by the time I started feeling knee pain I had already done the damage because it was my bone being bruised! I was just happily running along messing myself up!

[Trainer Monkey]

Im a big fan of breaking down fight tape,you allways learn something,even if what your learning is "Dont do that"

First go and watch the tape on the first two Holyfield/Bowe fights
Bowe is clearly the more powerful fighter,and usually gets off with the same speed.But he cant take him out,and other then the uppercut,he rarely hurts him.Its enough to drive you distraction really,but then look at his hips.Its like the bottom half of his body isnt particularly interested in what the upper half is about.
Then go and watch just about any Ann Wolfe fight,and notice how her entire body explodes in to her power shots

[Scrap]

Power is generated from the posture of the head

[Sharla]

Thanks Monkey, I'll go and chase up those videos. It's always good to be able to see female examples of how to do things correctly since it's easier for me to get my head around how it's done.

When I was kickboxing years ago and first learning to check my trainer was getting POed trying to tell me how to do it but his huge frame and odd hip shape was just too different for me to emulate. I got it immediately when I was able to see another girl in the club do it. Unfortunately I'm the most experienced girl in my boxing club now.

So the posture of the head Scrap. I might have to video myself sparring the guys to see what my head's doing. I get the feeling my head might go back too much when sparring the taller guys more than the shorter ones.

One of my coaches always tells me to look at my opponent in the eyes but he's 6 foot something and looking up at him just makes my chin come up. Need to improve my peripheral vision I guess. Still I don't want to be looking down either I guess so if I just aim to keep my chin in but my head only tilted slightly foreward would that be what you mean. Is there another way to feel / see if your head posture is correct? Thanks for the input

[Scrap]

If when if Boxing you feel your dorsals in the upper back are tight the postures wrong and it affects breathing and the lower back which affects the biomechanics of the hip adductors .

[Trainer Monkey]

Thanks Monkey, I'll go and chase up those videos. It's always good to be able to see female examples of how to do things correctly since it's easier for me to get my head around how it's done.

When I was kickboxing years ago and first learning to check my trainer was getting POed trying to tell me how to do it but his huge frame and odd hip shape was just too different for me to emulate. I got it immediately when I was able to see another girl in the club do it. Unfortunately I'm the most experienced girl in my boxing club now.

So the posture of the head Scrap. I might have to video myself sparring the guys to see what my head's doing. I get the feeling my head might go back too much when sparring the taller guys more than the shorter ones.

One of my coaches always tells me to look at my opponent in the eyes but he's 6 foot something and looking up at him just makes my chin come up. Need to improve my peripheral vision I guess. Still I don't want to be looking down either I guess so if I just aim to keep my chin in but my head only tilted slightly foreward would that be what you mean. Is there another way to feel / see if your head posture is correct? Thanks for the input

Allways,and I mean allways,take the opportunity to get tape on yourself.Even if your trainer isnt as hands on as I am with Feur,you might catch something you missed in the heat of the moment.
Hell,email me them,and Ill break them, down for you if you wish,I watch tape constantly anyway,might as well be doing it for someone I like

[Sharla]

My upper back is always tight. I'm not sure how much of this is from computer work and how much is from training. Sometimes I think I'm tense at training because I'm thinking/ concentrating too much.

There are still days when I just can't loosen my neck and shoulders up by relaxing mentally which came easily to me a few years ago. So maybe I am holding my head the wrong way in training.

So would i be holding it too far forewards or back?

Thanks Monkey - I'm limiting myself to water sports for the rest of this week (running to check my biomechanics with the physio has bothered my knee) but I'll try to get hold of a camera and send you something over the next couple of weeks

I'm constantly amazed at how many of my issues Scrap and Monkey can diagnose easily over the net when I've been bashing my head against the wall trying to figure it out and my trainers can't tell me!

[Trainer Monkey]

My upper back is always tight. I'm not sure how much of this is from computer work and how much is from training. Sometimes I think I'm tense at training because I'm thinking/ concentrating too much.

There are still days when I just can't loosen my neck and shoulders up by relaxing mentally which came easily to me a few years ago. So maybe I am holding my head the wrong way in training.

So would i be holding it too far forewards or back?

Thanks Monkey - I'm limiting myself to water sports for the rest of this week (running to check my biomechanics with the physio has bothered my knee) but I'll try to get hold of a camera and send you something over the next couple of weeks

I'm constantly amazed at how many of my issues Scrap and Monkey can diagnose easily over the net when I've been bashing my head against the wall trying to figure it out and my trainers can't tell me!

Computer work is death for your shoulders,back,and neck,just a serious heads up there.
The angle just sucks for loosness
Yeah,when you get tape,Ill break it down and tell you what Im seeing,as you quickly pointed out something I was missing in Feur's fight.An outside perspective allways helps

[Trainer Monkey]

If when if Boxing you feel your dorsals in the upper back are tight the postures wrong and it affects breathing and the lower back which affects the biomechanics of the hip adductors .

100 % agree here
If your shoulders slump forward because of muscle tightness,it cuts off a good chunk of your lung capacity

[Sharla]

Yep an outside perspective is always good. I've heard that if you proof read one piece of your own writing more than a few times you won't pick up your mistakes after that because your brain just glosses over it. I look foreward to getting your input and Frei's aswell if she doesn't mind spotting it too

I'll be annoyed at myself if I've been reducing my own lung capacity after that effort building up my aerobic fitness just to make it dissappear plus wreck my knee! I have to laugh at the irony though!