muscles used when throwing a punch?

Question

I have been bodybuilding and training in mixed martial arts, I can punch about twice as hard as before I was doin g these things.

However I am wondering if anyone knows the actual muscles involved in punching.

I think you use your triceps and shoulder muscles.

anyone have any ideas ?

Answer 1

depends on how you throw your punch




.

Answer 2

the muscles you Ideally use to throw a punch are your legs, hips (abs would add to this), shoulder and arms. thats for a straght punch. other muscles in your back and chest will add to it. this is what makes the difference between having punching power and not. Ideally it should be your legs driving your entire body weght behind a punch. EDIT: I'm not surprised by the lack of knowledge about punching. Many martial arts teachers put people through a process of "dumbening" (to steal a word from the simpsons) where you actually lose common sense. To not state that power comes from the leg push is one thing, to state that it is solely the arm is blatant ignorance of fighting that NO martial arts student should have. Yes there are times you are not able to maximize in every situation, however to ignore this reality that it is very doable most of the time and at most ranges (obviously not in groundfighting- that is why a groundfighter can nullify a striker's abilities when taken down). "chambering" serves no purpose except to take away your power and give your opponent an advantage. It is no surprise boxers don't take other martial arts seriously.

Answer 3

tricepts and shoulders are important yes, there is also a lot of leg strength involved as you need a base to throw a punch, pectorals are extremely important while throwing hooks, while it's more shoulders, legs, and back when throwing uppercuts. All punches require leg strength, and a solid core (back, abs, sides, pecs) will give you a base that is a little higher and will allow you to solid punches while not in a regular stance, which is useful if you commonly use slips and kicks in your fighting style.
Also, if you are throwing a boxing jab, there is a lot more shoulder action than say, a kung fu jab where your hand is vertical and you are striking with the bottom three knuckes instead of the top two (even in boxing i prefer this jab, as it is quicker and sets up really nicely for a left hook.) this jab is deltoid and tricept with less wasted motion. Throwing a right cross uses nearly every muscle in your entire body, straight up from the toes to the fingertips, one of the reasons it is such a strong punch.
So if you are training for throwing punches, train everything, and pay special attention to shoulder, wrist and hip flexibility.

Answer 4

First you have to learn proper technique. You might hear alot of guys say its all technique and muscles don't matter, but they only say that to skinny people so they don't get discouraged. Kinda like when a fighter goes to their corner, the trainer always says "your can get this guy" when they know they don't have a chance of winning.

You use almost every muscle in your body, depending on what punch you throw or your technique. If you watch Mike Tyson when he threw uppercuts alot of that came from his leg strength. Thats why when he missed he came off the ground sometimes. I think quads and chest are really the core of your whole body. If you can bench press and squat, those really help.

Answer 5

If you have already trained in MMA, you must realize a solid punch involves as much lower body muscles as upper body.

Yes, the obvious upper arm muscles are involved most directly, as well as the upper and lower back, abdominals and pectorals.

But real power comes from sitting down on the punch, from driving from planted feet through the hips as well. Power comes from the ground up.

Best to you.

Answer 6

Pectorals, shoulders and biceps. I'm sure many other muscles are used but these are the muscles that feel a little sore the next day after punching my punching bag.

Answer 7

I'm guessing what you said, but I agree with USMC it depends how you throw it, I throw my weight into my punches.