A bench press does not have anything to do with punching power.
Proper mechanics, the speed of the blow, power in the hips and legs, lining up someone in punching range, timing, setting blows up (to punch where they will be not where they are) and snap all have a role in the power of a punch, a bench press does not.
Tommy Hearns is one of the skinniest people to ever fight and one of the welterweight divisions feircest punchers. I highly doubt that in his prime he could bench his weight even once. Earnie Shavers was also very slight and is considered the biggest puncher in the history of boxing.
Bench press may be impressive in an ego contest, but it has nothing to do with fighting. It is also not an accurate judge of strength, or of functional strength. A lot of it has to do with length of your arms.
buddie
True. I was built like Hearns and could hit pretty hard, with good mechanics and proper hip/shoulder placement.
Also Bob Foster, Sandy Saddler, Arguello, Diego Corrales....some tall skinny guys who could definitely bang.
How 'bout on the ground, where you can't brace and get good rotation?
thats bullshit!! i bench 650 and have a 19 inch cock and i can punch through solid concrete!!!!
Squats and Deadlifts would help tremendously because of increased power in the hips, I'd bet.
if you want to increase punching power, work on increasing core/trunk balance and strength. this will enable you to concentrate the forces from your punch in the same vector direction instead of the forces going in many different directions.
"A bench press does not have anything to do with punching power."
With all due respect to my friend buddie I'm going to disagree with this. At least part of it.
I totally agree with the other statements that buddie made about the factors that can affect the power of a punch. The factors involved in punching are many. Speed, targeting, hip rotation, leg drive, relaxation until impact and many other variables all play a part in the effectiveness of a punch.
However, to say that strength does not play a factor is not totally accurate. With all other things being equal, a stronger punch will be a harder punch. If a person has "perfected" all of the other factors that buddie mentioned and on top of that they increase their strength by a factor of three then the punch will be harder than it was previously. One of the places where people go wrong with blanket statements is that they discount other variables in the equation. Quite often as a person becomes stronger they may become slower, or as a person gains strength they may lose some of their range of motion. So, the gain in strength is negated in the effectiveness of the punch, not because of the strength itself, but rather the other variables affectd. True enough Hearns had one of the hardest punches in his class ever. But it's hard to deny that if he was three times stronger in his arms and chest that he would have had an even harder punch.
I think a lot of the general public equates pure strength with being able to develop power in fighting techniques. As fighters, trianers and/or athletes we all know how far from the truth this is. However, it's difficult to deny that one of the few things more dangerous than a well trained fighter is a bigger, stronger, faster fighter that is just as well trained.
Best in Health and Training, J. R.
nothing can REALLY improve punching power, you either have it or you dont...
jrs has bench pressed the correct
punching power is just like sprint speed, training will improve it, but to hit hard you have to be born with it
Tightening mechanics can improve punching power, but I will agree with the statement that you have a certain amount of power "achievable" under the best conditions and you cannot exceed the limit that you are ultimately given.
JR, I suppose I agree with you, however, Hearns was not as big a puncher as he moved up in weight. But a lot of this is probably attributable to his slowing down and fighting stronger guys.
Most guys with a big bench hit like cream puffs, but weight does make a huge difference and solid weight obviously better for a number of reasons than is fat.
Consider this:
Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Joe Louis, Evander Holyfield, Rocky Marciano, Micheal and Leon Spinks & Joe Frazier all fought below the "super" heavyweight or heavyweight (when applicable) limit durring their amateur careers. Many fought 2 divisions below (at light heavyweight in the amateurs). Being big and strong doesn't always mean you are a good striker.
Bas was barely a heavyweight when he won the UFC heavyweight championship.
Liver shot,
buddie
When all else is equal the stronger person will have the stronger punch.
skill beats strength 9 times out of 10. (Do not see Bob Sapp vs. Ernesto Hoost as an example)
buddie
Fact: 99% of your punching power comes directly from bench press and curls.
Tyson was smaller than almost every single fighter he faced in his career the same is true of Marciano and Dempsey and Louis were outsized much of their careers. Anyone want to tell me those guys can't punch harder than some of their more muscular adversaries?
buddie
"skill beats strength 9 times out of 10. (Do not see Bob Sapp vs. Ernesto Hoost as an example)" Agreed. Also, see UFC 1-7.
"Tyson was smaller than almost every single fighter he faced in his career the same is true of Marciano and Dempsey and Louis were outsized much of their careers. Anyone want to tell me those guys can't punch harder than some of their more muscular adversaries?" Yup, this is true too. I don't think anyone can argue that there are many examples of smaller fighters that can hit harder than some larger fighters. But that's not really the topic here. If you compare one person to another (Ally vs. Sapp) then you are not just comparing their strength, but also all of the other intangibles that have been mentioned. The comparison needs to be made from a single person to that same person, with all else staying the same, with the exception of strength.
However, with that being said, buddie did blow my theory out of the water with his Hearns example.
:)~~~pptthhhh
Best in Health and Training, J. R.
Tank Abbott is one of the hardest punchers ever in MMA, can bench press 600 lbs, and is not exactly known for his punching technique.. Hmmmmm..... how does he do it?
If you've added 100+ to your bench press, you've probably increased your punching power. That's the only way though. A good punch is thrown nothing like a bench press. If you're just learning how to box and your boobies are sore, you're doing something wrong.
I think punches are best characterized by momentum (momentum = mass*velocity). In other words, the speed of a punch is important, but so is the fist's "resistance" to a change in speed. I.e., the lightweight boxers are obviously faster than the heavyweights, but they don't have the same punching power because they lack the follow-through. Take Tank Abbott -- the guy sure as hell isn't the fastest puncher in the world, but if his punch connects it will rock your world since it will either go right through you, or force your body to absorb all that energy (see follow-through).
Yeah, but you take a pure powerlifter who benches 500 lbs and compare him to some average Joe on the street. Who do you think is gonna punch harder?