Does working construction help Joe Smith punch so hard?

It comes down to genetics. Some guys have ridonkulous punching power and when it comes to Joe. Him working from 9 to 5 lifting and busting stuff certainly helps strengthen his whole body.

 

It plays a part. I’ve gotten into a couple of scuffles on construction job sites, and I’ve played finger wrestling( where you lock middle fingers and try and twist each other’s finger into submission) with concrete guys, and their arm muscles are like steel cables.

 

Yes, doing daily motions and lifting that activate muscle in your whole body will give you that "wirey" strength. You have functional lifting power and explosive hitting power at the same time. In terms of sports, it's way more useful than getting jacked with huge muscles (which can make you slow and stiff). Another big advantage is that you can have huge stamina to go along with being very strong due to working long hours at your job.

 

It gives you man strength. But hard manual labor(he's in the labor union) can be bad for athletes because you burn so much fuel and glycogen during the day that by the time you hit the gym you start overtraining and regressing pretty fast unless you are eating a lit of hearty and massive meals a day. Manual labor/construction undoubtedly gives you "man strength" like nothing else. Ever see a 40-60 year old man pick up something wicked heavy and haul it without breaking a sweat and he has a dad bod but worse? And then some punk 22 year old kid built like Adonis can't even get it off the ground let alone carry it? That's man strength. Same with mechanics, they have extremely powerful muscles surrounding their elbows and the heads of those muscles in that area are very big and strong.

 

Helped more than working at a bank would have. Kid Gavilan's bolo punch is always credited as a product of his time in the Cuban sugar fields. Rocky Marciano was a ditchdigger for a time. Being an athlete makes you suited for physical labor. Doing physical labor turns you into an athlete. Both are also often taken up by people without a lot of alternatives.

I'm not sure you can explain somebody's above average punching power with their time spent swinging a hammer specifically. I bet a blacksmith does has a good hook though.

 

A lot of Joe's powershots are very telegraphed so he won't land on good opponents, but he does throw some short, beautiful looping shots that I guess would be considered crosses but he throws them from medium-close range. Like the shot that took out Fonfara. He generates a ton of power and hides them very well.

The punches he was throwing at Jesse Hart(and landing) were so telegraphed that Hart needed to get knocked out like a tool just for not avoiding them.

 

So you're saying dart players train by writing stuff on paper ?

 

Pretty sure they train by drinking beers

 

Joe Smith is far from the biggest one hit puncher in the sport. Inoue, Wilder and Beterbiev all have a better claim.

 

yeah, his dad and grandad probably also worked in contrsuction, so they passed on the construction gene on to him also

 

Smith isn't even top5 among hardest punchers. I'd put Lemieux and Gassiev ahead of him as well as Beterbiev, Inoue and Wilder.

 

Construction fellas have huge forearms