Why core strength and small muscles affect punching power; A Theory

[Double Jab]

Two key points need to be known at first.

1. Force is mass x acceleration, which means, you want to move as much of your weight, as fast as possible, to the smallest area of your fist, for the mathmatically ideal punch.

2. Your body (more specifically your central nervous system), will actually inhibit movement, whether you want to or not, if it has the possibility of injuring a body part.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I hear you say, over the internet...*cough cough* lets test that theory.

Pushups, most people can do at least ten, so try it.

Done? Pretty simple huh? Now try this. Get up on your fingertips like this guy.



And try doing the same ten pushups.

For those people who are not normal finger strengtheners, you will notice this is much more difficult (or for me, I could only do them from my knees.) And it wasnt about how hard I pushed (believe me I tried, it was embarrassing), it was the simple fact I was unable to continue doing them, even though, I knew, for a fact, my pectoral muscles were able to handle the load. I pushed and pushed harder, but my pectorals wouldnt contract, and the pushups were unable to be completed.

Now, what does this mean? It means that if there is a part of the body that is not up to par with the rest of you, it will reduce the effectiveness of your entire body in motion, your "kinetic chain" if you will (The ability to work together as one.)

So lets say you want to throw a right cross. Random untrained person, you generate 1000 lbs of force from your back leg, the momentum travels up your leg and reaches your abs that contract slightly forward to keep the weight moving, but loses about 200 lbs of force, then the obliques engage, turning the right shoulder forward, which loses another 100 lbs, and the right hand extends, and since the shoulder isnt very strong on its lonesome, it only pumps out 400 lbs of force in the end.

But, with proper full body strength, much more force can be carried through the body, from the leg to the hand at the tip of the punch, because the body can handle such force from proper core and stabalizer muscle training, greatly increasing the end result (a more forceful punch).

In a nutshell : This isnt news to alot of people, I know that, but I just wanted to make sure to remind people, make sure to do your slow and controlled bodyweight exercises. Your ab bridges, your bicycle situps, your slow controlled pushups, hanging leg raises, pull ups and chin ups, squats on an upside down bosu ball, without using momentum. This will really stress the muscles that hold your body in place. When you start shaking because it is difficult, you know you are working something, that is trying REALLY hard to stabalize you.

Just a reminder, its not all about the bench press people.

[questking]

was nice reading would be more interested in "this like" posts !

[austinlarg]

funny i just read an article in a ****zine about how sit ups and crunches were pointless for fighting. very well known ****zine by the way

[Double Jab]

funny i just read an article in a ****zine about how sit ups and crunches were pointless for fighting. very well known ****zine by the way

Heck I'll be honest, it is possible that ****zine article has some evidence that I do not have, so I never close off my mind to the fact that I could be completely wrong.

The only thing I know for a fact is that it has worked for me, and that I could actually feel the difference before and after, but again, thats just my experience.

[austinlarg]

Heck I'll be honest, it is possible that ****zine article has some evidence that I do not have, so I never close off my mind to the fact that I could be completely wrong.

The only thing I know for a fact is that it has worked for me, and that I could actually feel the difference before and after, but again, thats just my experience.

Not saying you're wrong buddy. Don't worry.

The point of the article was to do ab exercises that are more focused on what you'll be doing in a fight. Workouts that are more targeted or tailored toward your fight rather than ab exericses that just exercise the muscles in general.

[austinlarg]

oh and fingertip pushups are killer!!!

[EzzardFan]

Double Jab - I see where you're headed, and agree with your general direction, but many of your presumptions are invalid... you're on shaky ground.

Force is mass x acceleration, which means, you want to move as much of your weight, as fast as possible, to the smallest area of your fist, for the mathmatically ideal punch.

.

That is almost correct. But only part of the story. First the important correction. Force isn't mass x acceleration. Force EQUALS mass x acceleration. That's not quite the same thing.

Now for the reality. A punch comes in three parts. Firstly there's your force part, this is where your muscles provide the necessary impetus to accelerate a portion of your mass with your fist sticking out in front of it. Secondly this generates MOMENTUM in your fist. Momentum EQUALS mass x velocity. It's momentum that actually does the damage not force. If you don't believe me then try throwing a punch at your bag with similar force at very close range and then at optimum range. The difference is that the punch at optimum range has more momentum because it's traveling at a higher velocity.

Now when that punch hits the opponent it's momentum is transferred into the opponent via a rapid deceleration, which produces a force on the opponent. This is Newtonian physics. You see this in action every time you hit a bag, and also if you play with a Newton's Cradle.

But the important thing is to generate as much momentum as possible, and in order to do this you must transfer as much mass into the punch AND accelerate it to the highest velocity possible.

The greater the % of your mass is transferred into the punch the better. This is what's known as leverage. Take an untrained man of 250lbs, he can perhaps transfer 20% of his bodyweight into his punch, that's 50lbs. Now a trained man of 150lbs can transfer perhaps 50% of his bodyweight into the punch, that's 75lbs.

the next important factor is velocity. If the 250lbs man is able to accelerate his fist up to 50 feet per second then he has generated a momentum of 2,500ftlbs/sec. If the 150lbs man is able to accelerate his fist up to 100 feet per second then he has generated a momentum of 7,500ftlbs/sec. The force generated on the opponent is purely a product of this momentum.

The force the person uses to accelerate his mass is due to his fast twitch muscle response. This is a power issue, and you build power by working a huge variety of compound exercises at high frequency. You can try to do this with weights but that is in effect the opposite of what's involved in punching - in punching there is not a huge weight dangling at the end of your arm slowing it down (well other than a 16oz sparring pillow). In punching you are accelerating your fist away from the weight. The closest you can come in exercise terms is either to accelerate your fist into the heavy bag, or to accelerate your body away form the fist in a pushup.

If you do pushups then you should do them as follows:

1) Train many different varieties.
2) Never repeat a set of the same variety within a 7 day period.
3) Perform them as quickly as possible, doing full range is not important to punching and is actually counter productive. Doing short strokes constantly accelerating and decelerating (same thing) the muscles. Remember any effort beyond the initial accelerative twitches is counter productive. We're aiming for acceleration NOT distance!
4) Do each set to fail.

These compound exercises work the muscles harmoniously, and that takes you to the intended point of your post. I think

Peace

[Double Jab]

Double Jab - I see where you're headed, and agree with your general direction, but many of your presumptions are invalid... you're on shaky ground.

.

That is almost correct. But only part of the story. First the important correction. Force isn't mass x acceleration. Force EQUALS mass x acceleration. That's not quite the same thing.

Now for the reality. A punch comes in three parts. Firstly there's your force part, this is where your muscles provide the necessary impetus to accelerate a portion of your mass with your fist sticking out in front of it. Secondly this generates MOMENTUM in your fist. Momentum EQUALS mass x velocity. It's momentum that actually does the damage not force. If you don't believe me then try throwing a punch at your bag with similar force at very close range and then at optimum range. The difference is that the punch at optimum range has more momentum because it's traveling at a higher velocity.

Now when that punch hits the opponent it's momentum is transferred into the opponent via a rapid deceleration, which produces a force on the opponent. This is Newtonian physics. You see this in action every time you hit a bag, and also if you play with a Newton's Cradle.

But the important thing is to generate as much momentum as possible, and in order to do this you must transfer as much mass into the punch AND accelerate it to the highest velocity possible.

The greater the % of your mass is transferred into the punch the better. This is what's known as leverage. Take an untrained man of 250lbs, he can perhaps transfer 20% of his bodyweight into his punch, that's 50lbs. Now a trained man of 150lbs can transfer perhaps 50% of his bodyweight into the punch, that's 75lbs.

the next important factor is velocity. If the 250lbs man is able to accelerate his fist up to 50 feet per second then he has generated a momentum of 2,500ftlbs/sec. If the 150lbs man is able to accelerate his fist up to 100 feet per second then he has generated a momentum of 7,500ftlbs/sec. The force generated on the opponent is purely a product of this momentum.

The force the person uses to accelerate his mass is due to his fast twitch muscle response. This is a power issue, and you build power by working a huge variety of compound exercises at high frequency. You can try to do this with weights but that is in effect the opposite of what's involved in punching - in punching there is not a huge weight dangling at the end of your arm slowing it down (well other than a 16oz sparring pillow). In punching you are accelerating your fist away from the weight. The closest you can come in exercise terms is either to accelerate your fist into the heavy bag, or to accelerate your body away form the fist in a pushup.

If you do pushups then you should do them as follows:

1) Train many different varieties.
2) Never repeat a set of the same variety within a 7 day period.
3) Perform them as quickly as possible, doing full range is not important to punching and is actually counter productive. Doing short strokes constantly accelerating and decelerating (same thing) the muscles. Remember any effort beyond the initial accelerative twitches is counter productive. We're aiming for acceleration NOT distance!
4) Do each set to fail.

These compound exercises work the muscles harmoniously, and that takes you to the intended point of your post. I think

Peace

It's people like you that give me a reason to post things like this. You read it, tell me what is incorrect, and I learn and am better for it.

I like how you explained the idea of rapid deceleration of momentum as the force of the punch, considering it is that force traveling through the head or body of an opponent that causes that damage, I never thought of it like that and it makes alot of sense, thats awesome.

Here is where I actually need to ask your advice. Two questions.

1. Considering that it is that original acceleration that leads to a potential deceleration on an opponents noggin, it would be ideal for all the muscle fibers to contract at the same time to generate the most amount of force quickly, and high frequency and high volume exercises train the muscles to do that, engaging as many muscle fibers as quickly as possible at one time, to create momentum, yes?

2. As a more simplified version of my original post, would I be incorrect to say that the muscles will inhibit themselves if the potential of injury is apparent, and that if there is a muscular imbalance within the body along the kinetic chain of a punch, that the end result could potentially be much weaker strike due to a "seemingly" insignificant muscle refusing to contract in the correct manner?

[kbpoetree]

Heck I'll be honest, it is possible that ****zine article has some evidence that I do not have, so I never close off my mind to the fact that I could be completely wrong.

The only thing I know for a fact is that it has worked for me, and that I could actually feel the difference before and after, but again, thats just my experience.

oh i luv someone who can admit that...i kinda agree with u tho it takes all parts to create a gr8 punch...ur on to something its called sweet science for reasons

[TheAuthority]

Great post EzzardFan!!!

The only thing I disagree with is ...

4) Do each set to fail.

If you are wanting to develop explosive power you need to fresh. When fatigued, your ability to recruit fast twitch muscles at a high rate of force development is reduced. With this in mind, to develop explosive power you are better off stopping well before failure. For example, if you can do 20 clap press ups, you would be best off doing 5 reps (approx) and focussing on exploding from the ground with as much force and as fast as possible. The taking a relatively long rest period before repeating (i.e. to allow your CNS to recover).

Do you agree / disagree?