A perfect punch with the right technique makes you knock out the opponent in a snap. Whether you practice MMA and boxing, or street fighting, hard and fast punches are the winning ingredient. But there is a misconception that you can punch harder if you have a huge torso or big muscles.
That is a plus point if you have one, but with the right technique and right timing, you can easily knock out your opponent. In this guide, we will describe whatever it takes to punch harder. So let’s move on and see how to punch harder?
How To Punch Harder and Faster in 2024 – Step By Step Guide
Okay, master the punching technique; first, you have to mold your body to do so. Hard punchers are not born; they are made by practice and skills.
Step 1 – Get Your Body Ready For Punching
To get the max out of your body for punching, you have to strengthen your muscles. You have to practice compound exercise to increase the overall strength of core muscles rather than individual muscles. Below, I’m mentioning some of the strength-building exercises.
1. Snatch
In snatch exercise, you involve your core muscles, shoulders, forearms, and legs. What you have to do is hold a weight, say it’s a dumbbell or a bar. Using your hip, legs, and core muscles, you have to move the weight above your head. Make sure you do this fast, as snatch is all about the striking movement of your hand. One thing to remember is that if you are a beginner, then start with lightweights.
2. Ball Throws
In this exercise, you require a 10-15 pound medicine ball. Ball throws are simple but challenging to perform. You have to lay back straight on the floor and throw the ball with strength up in the air using your chest muscles, triceps, back muscles, and shoulder. Try to throw the ball as far as possible.
Moreover, if you are thinking about punching harder without a punching bag, you can practice medicine balls.
3. Plyo Pushups
The most important exercise that Mike Tyson and other boxers practice is the pushup. This exercise can blast muscle strength. A variation of the pushup is the plyo pushup, in which you need to explode your hands to leave the ground. Suppose you are a beginner, then try to reach the target of 400 pushups a day or more. But for the pros, it is a must to practice poly pushups.
4. Hitting Punching Bags
Put on a lightweight pair of boxing gloves and, using your whole body, say it’s your legs, shoulders, forearms, and wrists hit punching bag harder. A good rule of thumb here is that you strike the punching bag for ten seconds and then rest for ten seconds.
5. Axe Chops
You can do ax chops with a resistance band. Hold the resistance band in your hands and widen your feet a little more than your shoulder. Start to pull the resistance band while moving your hips. This exercise will strengthen your leg and core muscles.
Below I’m providing the video which will thoroughly explain every exercise in detail:
Step 2 – Harden Your Punches
If I ask hard punches or heavy punches, what will you say? You might say heavy punches, but that not the case. Boxers fear hard punches more than heavy punches. You can punch hard only if you have strong knuckles and forearms. You can practice different exercises at home to punch harder. Below I mention some of the practices to make your knuckles strong, but be ready to expose them to some pain:
1. Perform Pushup With Knuckles
If you find it harder to do knuckle pushups on the bare floor, you can use a yoga mat to do so.
2. Strike Punching Bag Barehanded
Just wrap your fist and start hitting punching bags. To prevent any injuries, you can use heavy-duty cotton wrist wraps on both hands. At the start, you can spend few minutes punching barehanded.
3. Rice Bucket Method
In this practice, you need a bucket full of rice. Make sure the bucket is large enough to accommodate your hand. Now grab some rice into your hands and try to twist and push your knuckles into the rice bucket. Add this exercise to your regime, and you will see good results.
4. Hitting Newspaper Pile
It is a bit of an ancient method. If you heard of hitting a wall for hard punches and wondered how to punch harder using a wall, this is the way to do it.
In this method, you nail some newspapers into the wall and hit it. The thing you have to do is remove one newspaper every day and beat them. Finally, you will come to hit the wall, and this way, you will strengthen your knuckles.
The most crucial factor here is pivoting your body. Most of you might think that it is not a must, but for powerful punches, it is, as this way you put your hold body to punch.
When you throw a punch, check that the foot related to the punch is on a pivot point. This way, your hip muscle will also be involved in punching. Once the punch has been let go off, you have to force your shoulder’s energy into it and gather force from your body to deliver it. Your hand should be relaxed, and that will gain from all the momentum you have generated.
Remember, fluidity and alignment of the punches are the keys to success. When you punch to make sure that your hands are to the chin, and when you strike a point, it moves as fast as possible while using your shoulders, legs, and core strength. Further, when you draw a punch, move your hand back to your chin as soon as you hit. Ensure that you got to pivot, shoulder and wrist in the same flow.
Step 4 – Increase Your Hitting Speed
Remember that formula you studied in high school? Power= Speed X Mass. Yes, a little math will work here. According to science, to hit a powerful punch, you need a big body and speed. If your torso is not gigantic, you can eat food to gain some weight, but don’t forget to practice the exercises mentioned above. Moreover, by increasing your punches’ speed, you can draw harder punches; it all depends on your practice and training.
Step 5- Practice The Art Of Precision
Pro boxers say that precision is more critical than powerful punches. Hard punches relate to hitting your opponent at the right time, right place, and with power. While practicing with walls or punching bags, you can skip this step, but you have to be mindful of where you want to strike your punch when you are in the ring.
Moreover, to polish your skill, you can mark the punching bag and aim to hit that point. Furthermore, you can get dummies to spar and practice harder punches.
The Take-Away?
Boxing and martial arts require practice, patience, and stamina. You cannot go into the ring start smashing everything that comes in your way. You have to be mindful of your practice and you have to stay consistent. When trying to punch harder, make sure you put your full concentration and mind into it. But remember, you have to give yourself some time to strike harder.
Related Posts to * How to PUNCH Harder? - Increase Your Punching POWER
