What is the best way to build bone density?

Question

I heard stressing them and then letting heal and grow is an option. I beat the crap out the bag till my knuckles are bruised real bad..then let them heal..(few days to a full week). Then repeat process. Is this a healthy way to build bone density in the knuckles? I know Muay Thai fighters beat their shins to condition them..so I wonder if it works for the fists. I box alot and I want to pack a killer punch. I want thicker and heavier bones. I know drinking milk helps build strong bones. But what could I do activity wise to make them stronger and heavier? Knuckle push ups?..I already do those. What else does anyone have in mind?

I know about the bucking sand in a bucket method...is that really efficient?





Don't suggest weights for a killer punch.
I did that for about a year until I decided to give it up due to lost of speed. I strickly train on the bag. I'm all about speed, I already have enough power, I don't need to be all buff or have alot of muscle mass.


Thanks

Answer 1

Well first off, if you are hitting a bag without gloves, chances are you are bruising yourself but doing little for density, as you can't hit as hard as you can with wrapped and protected, you will build callouses, but not bone density.

I think hitting the bag is great, just make sure you are wrapped and wearing protection, this allows you to put more work into the bag.

A killer punch has less to do with bone density and more to do with technique. All the bone conditioning exercises in the world will not make your punch more killer, as the density changes you will be doing add such a miniscule amount of weight that it is hardly noticeable. However repeated hitting of the bag, does allow you to the desensitized the nerves in your hand, allowing your brain to let you punch harder.

Knuckle pushups are good for callouses and hand conditioning, but doesn't build density.

You want stronger punches and stronger hands, just do what boxers do, condition yourself, and wrap up and hit the heavy bag a lot.

I actually would suggest resistance exercises for punches, such as using elastic bands, pulleys and the like. YOu want fast twitch muscle, and that can be easily built with weights if you know what you are doing. Not all weight lifting makes you bulky or massive. Trained properly you will develop lean, strong, fast muscle. Anyone who tells you weights will only make you bigger, or slow you down, essentially is ignorant of weight training.

Explosive reps, circuit training, olympic style lifts, and a variety of other techniques promotes lean, strong, fast muscle.

Virtually every athlete at any level weight trains, they just know how to lift for their specific sport.

That is my two cents... good luck!

Answer 2

Make sure you take a multivitamin, calcium supplement or drink lots of milk while you're working on your bone density. The extra calcium will help them heal and grow faster.
Your bones are made up fibrous material which break under stress and rebuild with more support making them tougher (not so much stronger).

The sand in a bucket method is more for skin and making your palm strikes stronger though I am totally sure of it.

And as for weights, you can use them to make you faster but you need to use little weights. Nothing over a pound or two in each hand. You really wouldnt notice the difference when holding them and striking. You will notice a speed increase when you put the weights down after a few routines.

Answer 3

A person's level of bone density is generally determined by nutritional intake (notably calcium) during the first 17 years. After this age, the human body's natural ability to increase bone density starts to level off and remain at a constant level. When one reaches the age of 35 - 40, bone density starts to enter a slow but gradual decline. It is usually not possible to increase bone density past the age of 17. However, a regular intake of vitamins and minerals such as calcium is advised to delay the onset of orthopedic conditions such as arthritis.

I believe much of what you are referring to (in regards to the training undertaken by Muay Thai boxers to condition their shins) has more to do with conditioning the nervous system and increasing the pain threshold than it does with the density of the skeletal system.

Knuckle push ups build callouses (or calluses), which is an especially toughened area of skin that has become relatively thick and hard as a response to repeated contact or pressure.

There was a belief several years ago that repeated bruising of bones will lead to an increase of calcium deposits, thus making the bone stronger. While calcium deposits may form, changes in the strength and dexterity of the bone will be negligable. Also, excess calcium deposits can lead to cancer of the bone, such as osteosarcoma.

Answer 4

How old are you, dude?
Keep stuffing up your knuckles is a really good way to train..NOT, it is utter stupidity not being able to train for days because you have to heal your hands, it is a rather childish way to train, seen too many Hollywood crap movies, eh?
Yes, some guys do really crazy things like young and hard Muay Thai fighters, but are you one of them?
Why do you want heavier bones? Have you ever broken one during training?
You are not automatically packing a harder punch with heavier bones. Body weight plays a part, but you also need speed and technique in order to punch hard.
Resistance training will strengthen your bones and joints and muscles, and if you train close to your techniques than it will make you a lot faster, too.
Any growth in the body (bones, muscles) is stimulated by damage and the body's subsequent repair work, leaving the damaged areas a little stronger than before, therefore you need a good and balanced diet with plenty of good fats, protein and carbs, alongside with all the essential vitamins and minerals.
Forget about all the milk drinking crap, you need a highly bioavailable calcium supplement.
Hitting sand is dumb, sand compacts, you may as well punch concrete.
Get a bit of common sense my friend, train smarter, not harder. The mistakes you make now you'll regret in the future.

Answer 5

Traditional Kung Fu training for iron palm is a good and gradual way to toughen up the hand.

You fill up a small sack with beans and put it on a solid bench. Every morning you will spend a hour pounding it with various strikes such as palm, back fist, finger jabs, knife and ridge hand. You do not need to rush it or bruise yourself, just lightly pound away. Apply good lintments afterwards to minimise injury so that you can continue the same training the next day.

When the beans have been pounded to sand-like, change a new one and start the same routine again. You should note that you must take a shorter time to ground the new beans.

The above method might lead to excessive hardening of the hand, I do not recommend it unless you are a kung fu fanatic and training to craft your hands into weapons...

A safer method that works very well for me is finger push ups. Used to have problem with the heavy bag till I started doing finger push up intensively. You should aim at at least 50 continuously which will really toughen up the whole hand. When 5 fingers become too easy, move on to just 4 and less.

Have fun punching away!

Answer 6

Actually milk is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes and disease in children and adults. It contains cow puss too! UUMMMM!!! (1)

Strength Training builds bone density, and I don't mean body building. (2)

Know to answer your question...

Yi Jin Jing, AKA MuscleTendon Change,

and

Shi Shwei Jing AKA Bone Cleansing Classic.

These are ancient Chinese exercises that are extremely effective and powerful, but you have to complete the whole process or you can cause damage to yourself. OF COURSE, you HAVE TO learn this from a QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR.

That's the hardest part.

Answer 7

It's actually better to continually beat on the bag than making it get bruised and having to wait a long time for it to heal.
Eventhough you don't see the immediate result, your bones are actually fracturing. There are microscopic holes in your bones, and as the bone continues to break, the holes get smaller and smaller. This makes the bone more dense.
Don't beat your bone with something hard. Heavy bag will do.
Even for Muay Thai. If you roll something on your shin, or kick some thing hard, it will mess up your shin. (They kick banana trees in Thailand but banana trees are actually really soft.)
Just hitting something that is about as hard as a heavy bag will do.

Answer 8

Vitamin D aids the metabolism of calcium, and calcium is used for building bones. get plenty of both. Sunbathing helps to form Vitamin D, but beware of skin cancer. Milk has calcium and may be fortified with Vitamin D. You can take some pills with them too.

Answer 9

Purposely training to the point you damage yourself is not a good practice, and it could result in permanent damage rather than a "killer punch".

If you train often, as it sounds like you do, the repetition turns to perfection over time and you will be as good as you ever wanted to be. Don't try to short cut the process with some harmful type of training that you are doing.

Answer 10

Drink milk, it has calcium which is the best thing for bones, i hope thats the answer because i didnt read everything u wrote, it was just to long. And dont drink full cream or skinny milk just the normal stuff is better. And something about raw eggs and yolk...hmmm research it and google might be helpful here....... hope i helped =D