Methods of measuring punch power progression?

Bench press isn't similar to a cross really. The arm comes straight out, whereas a cross the arm extends to the side of your body.

When punching, your muscles aren't working against a resistance until impact, and the work at that point doesn't matter much. The power comes from how fast your muscles accelerate through the punch and into the target. Another factor is your hand-what part are you landing with, is your hand closed, is it closed tightly, is your forearm stiffened, etc.

If you want a motion similar to a punch, do a dumbell shotput for distance. It isn't perfect, obviously, but if you do it every now and then it lets you see if you made any improvement in power potential.

The best measure, though, is to get a person and hit them in the chest, arm, stomach, or face once per month. This allows them recovery time. You can gauge your progress based on the marks you leave or how much the person seems not to enjoy the experience.

It's also a great way to break up with your girlfriend if you're tiring of her :good

 

best one so far Id say but I propose a slight change. Ive seen new guys come into the gym and hit the bag but in an effort to look like theyre the next rocky they basically end up pushing the bag with each hit to get a big swing. Id say if you make a nice deep dent with your straight punches that doesnt go away right away (the material would be compressed and it takes time to go back to normal) and with hooks you could observe how much you "fold" the bag when you hit it.

The upright neider press (you have one end of a barbell wedged between the floor and wall in a corner with a weight on the top end, you hold it in your hand and throw a punch as explosively as possible. its in one of ross's videos) would work if you timed how long it took you to complete the rep so you know how fast you can punch with that weight. If your a physics nut you could figure out how much total force your generating that way too.

 

Jeff - I use a small med ball (1.5kg) and get my guys to throw it 5 times in a right cross motion, and a larger 5 kg med ball which they throw overhead (football type throw), swing between the legs and throw forwards and finally side throws from either arm, then I take an average of the distances. We do this about every 6 weeks and I record the results so we can measure progress. I then review the progress and cross reference it with the training during that period so we can see what works well.

 

No sir, it was a stupid question. Bench is nowhere near the motion of a punch, it's like asking if a bicep curl is a good measure of punching power. No weight lifting exercise can mimic a punch, it doesn't activate the same muscles at the same time and the same speed as a punch. The closest might be an olympic lift. As someone else said medicine ball against the wall is the next best thing other than, gee, well maybe throwing a punch? Again, stupid ****ing question.

 

check out ross's videos in one hes doing the upright neider press and its very close. just saying.

 

I think he's right about the two not even being close. A punch is an explosive whole body movement that starts in the toes and ends in the fist. A bench press is a slow (compared to the punch) arm and chest moment while lying down on a bench.

 

Yeah you're right, my sports science degree doesn't really cover human anatomy, thanks for the tip.

 

Shott Putt is similar to a strasight right, maybe it would be a good test.

 

Listen up okay i'll try and make it as simple as possible, your punching power comes from activating the correct muscle fibres from your feet up to your hands in the fastest, most efficient manner possible, however if you skip any link in the chain or if certain links of the chain are more easily activated than other links creating an imbalance then your power will be seriously compromised. A punch is one motion from your feet to your hands with you generating the force through your legs and core then transferring the force onto the target by tensing your arm at the point of impact. The faster you can complete the movement correctly the better your punching power. Overall strength is a factor with everything else being equal.
You think a punch is a push so bench mimics a punch? Does a bench press use the same muscles as a punch? It uses a few of them, yeah, so does a bicep curl. How fast do you push a weight compared to the speed that you throw a punch? Speed is a factor when it comes to force generated. Speed is useless however if the movement isn't correct ie. missing a link in the chain.
Put it together, a punch is one movement that has close to zero relevance to a bench press, what muscles does a bench press leave out when it comes to a punch? The ones that really matter. The muscle fibres it does activate aren't required or aren't activated at the same speed as a punch. So why would a Bench press be a good indication of punching power?
It was a stupid ****ing question, I haven't used any terminology or jargon so hopefully you can understand why you are a dumb ****.

 

Body mechanics between a chest/arm push and punch differ immensely. To measure the strength of a punch you'd have to measure the impact of a real actual punch. Speed is an extremely important contributor to punch impact, which is completely neglected in the bench press, not to mention about 90% of your body's muscles.

 

bench press would be an indicator of punching power not a great one but it would indicate to some sort of degree, if you took 2 same level boxers with similar body compositions and body weight one being a boxer the other being a banger, 9 times out of ten i reckon the banger would lift more than the boxer, had the 2 guys done biceps curls the difference might not be as significant

clean and jerk, clean and press and snatch would probably be better indicators, substituting bench press for press ups with claps would be better maybe although measuring a 1 rep height (?) is a load of bollox really

 

bench press is mad slow compared to a punch. I think olympic style lifting would be more comparable its more explosive and uses more muscle groups