What muscle makes you punch harder?

Question

Ok, so i go to the gym about 4 times a week and i was wondering what muscle makes you hit harder and what exercise can you do to make you hit harder.

Answer 1

Had to break-out my college A&P text when I read Sassy's reply that "testosterone" is a muscle. The question did ask "what muscle" or did I misread it? No it does say muscle. Looking at the muscle glossary, hmmm no testosterone listed under muscle. Isness is correct (I was an amateur boxer for almost 5 yrs) true power comes up from a good base of support to its apex as it lands on the opponent. But in my experience you should work on your deltoids (anterior, middle and posterior) or the shoulder because its the joint that provides most of the motion but physically is very unstable (held together by ligaments muscles and tendons) unlike the hip joint which has a ball and socket and is very stable. You can work the delts on a pulley system or do dumbell exercises like forward flexion, backward extension etc.

Answer 2

Legs. All power comes from the ground. You ll see that many of the most complete punchers in boxing history had gargantuan legs. Rocky Marciano is one of these people that immediately comes to mind. He actually had a relatively skinny upper body, but tree trunk legs. Then comes the hips and core, for the power generation and snap. And never neglect upper body and back work to apply and support the weight of your punch. In other words, thoroughly train every muscle in the entire body for a fully developed punch. And remember, a hard punch won t come from only lifting weights. You also need to work the heavybag and shadowbox regularly. Never neglect form or accuracy for power. The power will come in with form and accuracy. Another good workout to do is take a 5-10lb (15lb if you have form down) dumbbell and throw 3-4 sets of 10-15 jabs in each hand. This I find works great. Follow these tips and you are sure to develop an ox-like punch.

Answer 3

Punching is more leverage and technique than anything. Just beacue you have big muscles dosent mean your a big puncher. If you have the right technique your going to punch hard reguardless. Some of boxing greatest punchers didnt look like bodybuliders the triceps are helpfull for any sport. However doing extra tricep exerises wont having you punching like Kelly Pavlik who if you seen him is very skinny. But if you notice he gets his weight and leverage behind his punches and knocks guys out dead. Learn the basics on how to throw a punch correct becasue if you can throw the punch the right way its going to hurt. Once you learn how to do that work on getting your weight behind the punch and then power will come.

Answer 4

It's a matter of physics. Strong is a relative term. If the weight of your fist doesn't change then the only thing that changes is the speed of acceleration from the starting position to the contact position. If you increase the rate of acceleration then the force at contact delivers more power. If the contact is moving away from you at the point of contact then the power will be deminished and cause a lesser affect. If the contact is still the full force of the acceleration is given. If the contact is moving forward then the force is increase by at least the amount of it's forward motion. Power delivered is exponential in relation to speed at contact. If you move forward and use the twisting motion of your body you will increase speed and have a much more powerful punch. This is why good punches always start in the feet and wave/spin up the body. Learning to relax all muscles that are not involved in the punch also helps you pick up speed. Increasing the distance is also a useful tactic in order to gain speed and punch harder. The problem with increaseing distance is the opponent has more time to read your attack and counter it by moving out of range. The jab makes up for this by causing the opponent to cover and not be able to read your attack. It's been my observation that the untrained rarely produce 100 pounds per square inch of force. Find a really good trainer that understands technique and you will soon be producing way more than that. Bad training with good technique will lead to injuries, ie a broken wrist. Bad training and bad technique will lead to you being knocked out by you opponent. Practice the correct techniques and the mussels that hurt the next day will tell you what mussels you need to strengthen and train.

Answer 5

Like some of the the other respondents have been saying, the power is first generated from your feet and moves throughout your body until you 'snap' the target with your fist.

However, you can use a pair of light dumbells (2,3,5 lbs.) to work your deltoids which do play a good deal in the power of your punch. A good exercise is 3 rounds of doing each of the following exercises for 30 seconds as fast as you can. 6 exercises total:

1.punching w/dumbells
2.shoulder press
3.lateral press
4.bent row
5.shuffle (extend the dumbells in front of you and shuffle them up & down)
6.Front deltoid press while bending your knees

Start with 5lbs, rest a minute, then 3lbs.,, rest a minute, then 2lbs.

If you do them as fast as you can, it will be a very tough workout..

Answer 6

I agree with Isness. But if I had to pick a muscle that might be responsible for a good portion of the power I would say the shoulders and the upper back. It's the primary muscle that are pulling your arm back and then forward.

Look at a professional boxer. They all have huge shoulders and thick backs.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Honestly, no one muscle is responsible for a hard punch. It's the combination of many (strong, fit) muscles working together with good technique that creates a strong punch. Remember, a punch starts at the back foot, and rolls up the body like a wave... bringing many muscles into action.

Black Belt of 10yrs

Answer 9

I agree with Isnes but i do know that Most of the power in a punch comes from the upper back.

Answer 10

its actualy begins with ur stand, feet, calves, hamststing and quads, the twist of ur hips, abs, and torso, then u punch, and make sure ur opponent receives the snap of ur punch (when ur arm stroke or punch is ending). that will produce a knockdown, Hell, if u wanna check out a knockout artist, check out "young" Mike Tyson. than man is tremendous