How Can You Increase Your Punching Power?

How Can You Increase Your Punching Power?

Is punching power all in your genes? (Genetic Make-up), If your not born with punching power, can you develop it? most people that work and study genetics think power, whether it's running speed or punching power it's all about your genes. Personally i think it is too, to a certain extent. Let's also not get strength mixed up with punching power. I have been around many boxing gyms and seen huge muscular guys that have no punching power at all, i have also seen guys that don't look much but have huge punching power. Being able to lift heavy weights is totally different to being able to punch hard.

So then, how can you increase your punching power?

There are a few ways that i use when i have been out of the gym for a while, and when i do these things i notice an increase in my punching power.

The first one is Press Ups (Push Ups). This will give you good resistance and increase your {push power}. Push power is very important for punching power in my opinion. Do sets of press ups, slowly increasing the amount you do. Do some sets slow and some sets fast. This will definately increase you upper body strength and punching power without giving you the stiffness of arms and body that lifting weights will give you.

The second one is clapping press ups, this is where you do a normal press up but as you actually push up you push off the floor hard and clap your hands together, remaining in the press up position. Clapping press ups will help give you more explosive punching power, because you are pushing off the floor hard, you are basically replicating throwing hard punches.

The next is bag pushes: Stand in front of a fairly heavy bag, and instead of punching it, push it with a straight punching motion, when the bag is coming back at you, push it away again. Do sets of these, i would recommend sets 5 with reps of 10. always make sure you warm up before trying this. Even if you have to stop the bag because its coming back at you with too much swing thats fine.

Always make sure you do this with both arms to keep your training even. You should do the same amount with each arm. The next thing is punching a heavy bag. Training on a heavy bag will tire you out, this is because of the weight of the bag. Punching a heavy bag is a sure way to increase punching power. By a heavy bag i mean, a bag that hardly moves from your most powerful punches. These are the bags you find at boxing gyms that are usually vacant!. Get yourself on this bag (once fully warmed up) and give it a good few rounds of your time.

Pull ups are also very good for increasing punching power, giving you more strength to be able to deliver a solid punch.

Let's also not forget, it's not all about your upper body. Increasing punching power can also be done by using your body weight effectively, twisting your hips and legs into your punches. A good way to practise twisting your body into your punches for maximum power is to stand in front of a heavy bag, throw punches without using much arm movement or power, instead use your body, hips, and legs, so your turning your weight and power into the punches. This can be done with any kind of punch hooks or straights, but it is important that you stand in front of the bag in your fighting position, side on, not both feet together. This method is also very good for stamina , once you can do it properly, to be able to throw punches using mostly your body, hips and legs, and not so much arm power, this will make you be able to last for longer as it does not require as much energy sapping, tensing of the arms and shoulders. Try to use a combination of both arm, leg, and body movement.