To better understand which muscles are responsible for the blow, it is necessary to define the blow itself as a physical phenomenon, turn to kinesiology (the science of muscle movement), human anatomy and go a little deeper into martial arts. There is no other way. By studying one side of this issue, many important points are missed. By paying attention to the muscles, natural mechanical processes are missed. Thinking about acceleration, you are distracted from the fact that a person is a living being, which is influenced by many factors (emotional background, preparedness, fatigue, etc.).
Recently, Thai, classical boxing and oriental martial arts have become very popular. People have been interested in fighting since the days of gladiators. Today, when they are popularized, many are beginning to be interested in what a striking action is with a hand, fist, foot, how to hit correctly, etc. Some do it for fun, others for self-defense.
What is impact force and what does it depend on?
Impact force refers to weight times acceleration. In this regard, in order to increase the power of the attack, you need to increase the speed of the strike and the muscle mass of the arms and body. When performing a technical action, there must be a certain rigidity so that the attack does not turn into a slap.
When training a powerful or knockout blow, you need to develop its speed and use several muscle groups (legs, arms, chest, shoulders, back). An important point is also the establishment of the correct striking technique.
Composite
Two components make the emphasis effective. They must always be trained. The first component is accuracy. Without it, you cannot achieve results either in sports or in battle. Boxers develop their accuracy constantly. Having honed this ability and knowing how to use it, you do not need to make several movements at random, but one precise one will replace aimless swings. Tennis, baseball, hockey and other sports require the ability to aim and not miss the ball or other sports equipment.
The second component is strength. Without it, it is basically impossible to hit. Any action requires effort. Strength, in turn, depends on the focus (concentration) of energy, speed, weight that is applied, and the correct use of the muscles of the entire torso.
The force can be constantly increased; purely theoretically, there is no limit to it, unlike accuracy. To strengthen the second component, you need to know which muscles are responsible for the force of the blow.
What muscles are involved when punching?
When throwing a punch, regardless of its type, the athlete uses the following types of muscles:
- quadriceps (when straightening the leg);
- abdominal press, lateral muscles (during a turn);
- anterior delta (arm raise);
- shoulders (arm turns);
- calf muscles (when the fighter stands on his toes);
- back muscles (when turning);
- pectoral muscles (during acceleration);
- triceps (arm straightening);
- muscles of the forearm (clench the hand into a fist).
The blow starts from the foot, after which the impulse travels up the entire body, reaching the fist of the attacking hand.
Leg muscles
This category includes the quadriceps and calf muscles of the leg. Their development is a necessary condition for increasing the power of the blow, as they help to make a good jerk and fill the body with energy. These muscle groups are the largest in the human body. In this regard, with any of the punches in boxing, the legs are usually involved (twisting, turning, sitting down), because maximum force is concentrated in them.
In a study of athletes who most often use knockout punches, it was found that their leg muscles are the most developed. In the process of studying the development of this sports discipline, one can hardly find fighters with huge pectoral muscles and triceps. At the same time, large muscles also have a positive effect on attack power, since the greater the athlete’s mass, the stronger the blow.
Hips and lower body
The hips help stabilize the legs and lower body. When striking, a large load is placed on the hips, consisting of muscular forces arising during rotation and fixation of the fighter. The hips are located close to the center of gravity, so the better trained they are, the easier it will be to keep the body in a balanced position. This is a very important skill because the overall ability to fight, the effectiveness and result of both offensive and defensive actions depend on it.
Using the leg muscles, the athlete makes a rapid movement forward in the direction of the attack. In this case, the movement of the hips is carried out during any blow, helping to put the force of the weight into it and thereby making it stronger.
Abdominal muscles (abs)
The abs are a system of powerful muscles that unite the body into a single whole. It helps to harness the power coming from the calf muscles and release it in the form of a powerful and effective blow.
Back muscles
This group of muscles plays a fastening role, connecting the muscular efforts of individual parts of the body into a single whole. In addition, the back muscles take part in twisting during the attack, which allows you to strengthen the blow. They are also capable of supporting the athlete’s body during a collision with the impact surface. This allows you to maintain the force of the technical action being performed without reducing it due to deflection in the opposite direction.
Shoulder muscles
The shoulders help increase the duration of the shot. They create muscular forces that provide effective forward movements of the arm during an attack. In a situation where the arms are significantly tired, and as a result, throwing strikes and maintaining head protection becomes difficult, the main reason is shoulder fatigue.
According to the physiological characteristics of the body structure, the shoulder muscles support the weight of the entire arm. Therefore, in order to deliver more blows and at the same time maintain the ability to hold your arms in the desired position for a long time, you need to develop the level of endurance of the shoulder muscles. At the same time, the main goal is to increase muscle strength, and not the desire to make them more massive and strong.
Arm muscles
The strength of the blows directly depends on the hands. During an attack, the hand must transfer muscular forces towards the opponent through the strike. At the same time, the hand only partially creates muscular efforts. The muscles of the legs and back (lower back) play the greatest importance. The main role of the attacking hand is precisely to transfer the forces collected by the body to the opponent.
Therefore, the main function of the arms is to reach forward and touch the opponent. It's better to have faster than just powerful arms, as quick extensions will increase your attack speed. In this case, it becomes possible to make an effective strike, bypassing the opponent’s defense. Bending your arms at the elbow joint helps ensure a quick transition from offense to defense.
The triceps influence the speed of the direct strike, as they are responsible for extending the arms when performing a hook and uppercut. If you get carried away with pumping up your arms, they will become too massive, which may not have the best effect on maneuverability. It is better to make them fast and tough, which will allow you to carry out various rapid combinations of hard blows.
Chest muscles
They help connect the muscles of the shoulder and arm into a single whole. They contribute more than other muscles of the upper body to increasing the force of the blow.
Small muscles
This group of muscles includes the muscles of the neck. They help defend against enemy attacks. Strengthening them helps keep the head in a more stable position, as a result of which it will not flop around after an impact. The muscles of the forearm are responsible for squeezing the palm. The stronger the fist, the harder the blow will be. At the same time, a tightly clenched fist reduces the risk of injury to the hands, since the bones are in a fixed position and do not have additional space for possible displacement.
What does a strong blow mean? How strong should the blow be?
In order to deliver a swift knockout blow, the following points must be taken into account:
- It is necessary to invest the mass and energy of the whole body into the attacking hand. The blow itself should be quite hard.
- When in contact with the impact surface, you need to tense all the muscles of the body to avoid deflection in the opposite direction.
- To strike, a fist should be used, not a hand or forearm, since in this case the bones act as the striking surface.
- The maximum clenching of the fist is carried out while directly hitting the target of the attack.
The attack speed must be maximum so that the blow is not noticeable to the opponent. This will help you bypass your opponent's defense and make an effective attack.
How to throw a punch correctly?
To increase impact force, you need to remember the three most important criteria:
- "explosive" force;
- hit accuracy;
- maximum speed.
It is also necessary to master the technique of timely relaxation and subsequent tension of muscle groups. At the beginning of the blow, the arm muscles are in a relatively relaxed state. Further, when the attack hits the target, the muscles go into a state of extreme tension. Timely muscle relaxation has a positive effect on the fighter’s condition , allowing him to save his strength for the subsequent fight.
When a boxer is in a stance, his knees are slightly bent and one leg is slightly extended forward. When impacting, the knees remain slightly bent, while the body weight should be transferred forward. It is necessary to turn your hips towards the enemy and simultaneously strike. To increase the effectiveness of an attack with a close strike, it is necessary to carry out full body movement. In this case, you should not reach forward; the best option is to perform a sharp turn of the body.
When making a swing, you do not need to move your hand in the opposite direction. Such a maneuver will cause additional loss of time and will make the swing more noticeable to the opponent, which will allow him to build an effective defense. In order not to injure the bones of the hands and produce a hard blow, it is necessary to clench your fist as much as possible. You need to strike while exhaling.
Consistent and at the same time almost simultaneous fulfillment of the above requirements is a necessary condition for a powerful and swift attack.
Stretching
Loose, relaxed muscles have the potential to move faster. Don't fight with pain in your shoulders or body. Make sure you do good stretches and spend significant time warming up your muscles. Even on days when you don't train, try to stretch. Many of the fastest fighters I have met are often the most flexible people I know. (I wrote an article about the importance of flexibility in boxing .) FYI, you should stretch for a MINIMUM of 30-45 minutes before each workout and then another 10-20 minutes at the end of each workout. Professional boxers, and perhaps elite athletes, usually do this at double the rate.
How to develop punching power in boxing?
In order to have sufficient strength and be able to stand up for yourself and loved ones, you need to develop the power of a blow. Nowadays, without self-defense skills, you can get into a difficult situation or get seriously injured. To knock down an opponent with a strong blow, you must have such personal qualities as perseverance, the ability to achieve goals, self-confidence, and also adhere to the following principles.
- The force of the blow depends on genes, the technique used, and muscle training . At the initial stage, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of boxing technique and the correct placement of a strike. After this, it will make sense to develop the speed and power of strikes.
- The workout should begin with warm-up movements aimed at warming up the muscles of the arms, shoulders, chest, legs and back. When performing direct strikes, their force will come directly from the triceps. By changing the blow, you can connect other muscle groups. For example, with a side kick, the pectoral muscles are additionally involved; in the lower blow, in addition to the triceps, the biceps, back, lower back and chest muscles take part. In boxing, punching power mainly depends on the legs, and other muscles are of less importance.
- You should start the exercises with push-ups on your palms. In this case, the triceps are involved. The speed and force of the blows will depend on its condition. When performing exercises, your hands should be positioned so that a triangle is formed between them, and your hands should be parallel to the athlete’s chin. Bending his arms, the fighter should touch the triangle with his forehead.
- The second effective exercise is push-ups . It, like the previous one, is aimed at developing the triceps. You need to place your fists next to each other, parallel to your chest, and spread your legs shoulder-width apart. Next, you should perform push-ups in this position.
- Perform push-ups on fists from a wide position. This exercise uses the muscles of the arms and chest. By training the latter, you can increase both the strength and speed of strikes. You need to spread your arms wide and place them on your fists. After this, you can start doing push-ups. They should be as deep as possible, then the muscles will work best.
For these push-ups, you can use three chairs, two of them are used for the arms and one for the legs. This allows you to improve the quality of performing deep push-ups, due to the extremely low lowering of the torso.
- Exercise with dumbbells (weight up to 3 kg) . You should not immediately use heavy equipment, as there is a high risk of damage to the joints. Taking dumbbells in your hands, you need to perform 200 blows (uppercuts, straight and side).
- Jumping rope (at least 3 minutes) . They must be performed as quickly as possible. The exercise allows you to pump up the calf muscles and feet, which have a direct impact on the power of the attack. If you don’t have a jump rope, you can jump with steps (left, right, forward, backward).
You need to perform push-ups smoothly, maintaining a certain pace. If hand tremors appear, this indicates a reboot and the exercise must be completed. By working to the limit of your capabilities, you can develop your abilities and achieve better results. At the final stage of training, you need to spend time working with a pear (20 minutes) . The blows on it should not be so strong as fast. Working with a punching bag will help you relax tired muscles and relax after intense exercise.
From the above, we can conclude that in order to deliver a powerful knockout blow, it is necessary to train the leg muscles and work on the speed of the attack. An important point is to study the technique, having mastered which you can produce a strong blow that can knock out an opponent in the ring in a couple of seconds and fight back in a street fight. It is best to practice such techniques in pairs, but some exercises can be performed at home.
The benefits and harms of boxing with dumbbells
Training with dumbbells allows you to:
- Develop endurance;
- Strengthen the power of the arms and shoulder girdle;
- Increase the speed of the dynamics of strikes;
- Strengthen basic positions;
- Improve physical potential;
An additional bonus of training with dumbbells is that you don’t need anything other than a tracksuit and the actual equipment to do it. Dumbbells differ only in weight and color; We have given the reasons for choosing according to the first criterion above, and the second is the purely personal preferences of each athlete.
Now you know everything about boxing with dumbbells. This is a truly essential type of exercise for every boxer. The benefits of doing them are enormous, but the harm is minimal. Have you already purchased new dumbbells? We wish you success and new victories!
