Increasing punch & kick effectiveness by:

[Zephyor]

Can I increase the proficiency of my punches and kicks by strapping weight to the wrist/forearms and lower legs while drilling the strikes? If so how effective would it be in terms of speed and power? I guess it could do me well if i use the weights for running too.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Can I increase the proficiency of my punches and kicks by strapping weight to the wrist/forearms and lower legs while drilling the strikes? If so how effective would it be in terms of speed and power? I guess it could do me well if i use the weights for running too.

No., If you want to increase proficiency then you have to train multiple areas of punching starting with technique and then learning to connect power from your core or from total body mechanics such as using the mass of your body in a punch.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that punching power and speed is only in the arms. You can actually increase speed if you learn how to relax when throwing a punch.

 

[Touch Of Death]

No.

 

[drop bear]

it is debatable. I know guys who train in weighted gloves.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Can I increase the proficiency of my punches and kicks by strapping weight to the wrist/forearms and lower legs while drilling the strikes? If so how effective would it be in terms of speed and power? I guess it could do me well if i use the weights for running too.

Unlikely. It changes the mechanics of the punch at both ends, so while you might become a bit more efficient at starting the punch, you're likely to also develop a reflex retraction at the end of the punching stroke, effectively pulling that power back out. It's less of an issue if you actually hit things with some power (if you're not hitting with power, there's no real advantage to the extra weight) while wearing the weights.

What it might do is improve your muscle stamina in the shoulders and such, making it easier to keep your hands up late in a fight, when fatigue causes many fighters to drop their hands more than usual.

 

[jks9199]

Depends. Define proficiency. Using weights within reason will increase your strength, which may be useful... or a hindrance.

Increase your skill; develop more efficient strikes utilizing more of your body mass with proper support and speed. That's the best way to increase striking proficiency. It's even "easy" -- PRACTICE under supervision and guidance. OK, I lied. It's anything but easy, and not nearly as cool sounding as using weights...

 

[Touch Of Death]

Imagine a punch is a bullet. Adding weight stresses ligaments, that wouldn't normally be stressed. It is the same with doing your techniques super slow. You have built un-useful strength. Different things are suppose to happen, especially at the higher levels, when you really want some speed.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Oh yeah, if your elbow starts to hurt after swing your arms around, with weights, it is because, you deserve it.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Unlikely. It changes the mechanics of the punch at both ends, so while you might become a bit more efficient at starting the punch, you're likely to also develop a reflex retraction at the end of the punching stroke, effectively pulling that power back out. It's less of an issue if you actually hit things with some power (if you're not hitting with power, there's no real advantage to the extra weight) while wearing the weights.

What it might do is improve your muscle stamina in the shoulders and such, making it easier to keep your hands up late in a fight, when fatigue causes many fighters to drop their hands more than usual.

Students at my school where wrist weights, but I prefer the iron rings and I've been trying to figure out if there was any difference from the iron rings and the wrist weights. One of the things I noticed is similar to what you stated about changing the mechanics of the punch. I think this is true. The wrist weights tend to stay in one location meaning that the arm is doing some lifting that is normally not happening when punching. The iron rings move around a lot based so the weight seems to shift more naturally than the wrist weights. The rings often provide feedback on my punching. Punches with good technique make the rings feel as if they are going to shoot off my wrist, when my jab technique is flawed then it feels like the weight is going to stay on with no problem.

Imagine a punch is a bullet. Adding weight stresses ligaments, that wouldn't normally be stressed. It is the same with doing your techniques super slow. You have built un-useful strength. Different things are suppose to happen, especially at the higher levels, when you really want some speed.

I was thinking the same thing. A the energy of a jab should go foward but the wrist weight forces the body to also lift the arm just to keep it horizontal. I think the elastic bands may be a better choice for improving punching provided that the tension is pulling in the opposite direction as the punch

 

[drop bear]

Decreasing the time it takes for your stopped punch to start moving? Which doesn't sound like a big difference but it really is.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Decreasing the time it takes for your stopped punch to start moving? Which doesn't sound like a big difference but it really is.

It would probably do this. I say probably because of some mixed results found with baseball players warming up with bat weights - some actually end up slowing down their swing without the weight. In effect, it seems some people develop a muscle memory for the speed they can swing at with the weight on the bat, and repeat that same (slower) speed with an unweighted bat. Other players (the majority, if I remember correctly) do see an increase in speed. Interestingly, this increase is not from additional muscle development, but from some very short-term muscle confusion - the muscles are trying to swing the heavier weight they were just exposed to, so end up swinging the lighter weight faster.

Mind you, that's folks warming up with weighted bats, not practicing with them. I don't know if there has been research on swinging a heavier bat for practice to develop speed with the lighter bat. It would be an inexact analogy, anyway, since the bat is allowed to swing through its arc to dissipate the energy. Someone punching (if they are not punching a target that will stop the punch) has to use muscles to stop the punch and the heavier weight has some chance of causing them to over-develop the stop at the end, because it would require so much more force to stop the punch. I should think this would be entirely (?) mitigated if they are punching some target with force.

You said there was someone at your gym who trained with wrist weights. Have you tried it? If so what was your impression? Do you know of any measurable benefits that person has seen from them? Actually, scratch that last question - I can't imagine a sample of one would give us any usable information, and any improvement may or may not be entirely due to a placebo effect.

 

[Buka]

Can I increase the proficiency of my punches and kicks by strapping weight to the wrist/forearms and lower legs while drilling the strikes? If so how effective would it be in terms of speed and power? I guess it could do me well if i use the weights for running too.

Let's put technique and timing aside for a second. (I can't believe I just said that)

A punch is a whole body movement, as is a kick. If your goal is to increase strength for punching and kicking via weights, you need to increase overall strength in overall body. If you want to isolate two body parts, in addition to overall strength and fitness training, then pick your core and your glutes, not you hands and your feet.....again, that would only be a supplement to overall strength and fitness training.

And remember, bro, nobody ever said this Martial thing was easy.

 

[JowGaWolf]

My long punches are more like bat swings. A jab has a different mechanic than a long fist punch. With the long fist punch I tend to muscle the initial start up of the punch. When the punch gets to a certain point I relax and let the weight and gravity to complete the motion.

The mechanics of a big wheel punch is a balled up fist that creates a weighted end of a relaxed arm. This is similar to wrist weights on the end of someones arm doing a big wheel punch. While it seems like the weight will improve the punch, the actual secret to making this punch work is to use the core of the body to initiate the swing. The stronger the core is and the better it can twist and the easier it is to speed up the punch as well as deliver the power. So while the weight provides some benefits on learning how to relax the punch, it does nothing for actually making that punch faster. The one thing that fast punchers and baseball players have in common is a strong core.

Be a jab or a wheel punch, a flexible and strong core is going to play a major role in just how fast that punch is going to be. As Buka stated, there's more to the mechanics of a punch than moving the arms.

 

[JR 137]

Just me being a middle school science teacher...

Using wrist weights, dumbbells, or any other weight at your hand should develop some speed in your punching. You're adding mass, and it takes more force to move an object with more mass.

But on the flipside of that, when you've got weight in your hand/on your wrist, the force from that weight is pulling straight down. It's the equivalent of doing a chest press/bench press motion while standing up instead of laying on your back; the force is pulling downward and not toward your chest. You won't be worked my those pushing muscles too much, you'll be working your muscles that keep the weight from falling to the floor.

If you want the most efficiency in training punching muscles, the resistance has to be opposite of the movement. How do you get this while standing? Make a dist with a resistance band in your hand, and have someone hold it or tie it to a place that's right behind your shoulders. Or use a pulley with weights where the pulley is behind your shoulders or in a straight line to where the punch ends. If punching straight, the pulley will be right behind you. If punching high, it'll be angled downward, and angled upward if punching low. Picture a straight line from your fist and arm, through your torso, and to where the resistance is anchored or the pulley is.

Yes, it can get more complex than that, such as how fast you're punching activates different types of fibers, incorrect amount of weight will alter your mechanics, etc.

 

[drop bear]

I asked my friends at the gym. one opinion is that modern science does not really support it for sciencey reasons. the other is triple g does it.

both guys were using hand weights at the time. both guys can also box my head off.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I asked my friends at the gym. one opinion is that modern science does not really support it for sciencey reasons. the other is triple g does it.

both guys were using hand weights at the time. both guys can also box my head off.

Fine, use weights, but I recommend you only do it 1% of the time.

 

[KaiShiQuan]

I'm pretty new, but one thing my personal trainer (who has trained in boxing and kickboxing) had me doing was triple super sets in a 5x8-12 of deadlifts, military press, and cable back extensions for a couple months, paired with shadow boxing with weights at the Muay Thai gym. It was torture the first two weeks but I noticed my punches got a lot more powerful very quickly. I've switched to a more endurance based weight routine now and began focusing more on my technique, but it really helped solve my own personal noodle arm punches pretty quickly. Not sure if this is the answer you were looking for though.