Hey guys, I've noticed that alot of pros, IE Carl Froch etc. say that they used to shadow box with light dumbbells to increase hand speed - is this something that is commonly used?
Yes it helps with power and speed ,but i'm not a expert and i have seen fighters shadow boxing dumbbells to increase hand speed
Dumbbells aren't the best thing to shadowbox with because they don't always go against the direction of the punch. Particularly for straight punches and hooks. For straight punching use resistance bands. For hooks stand perpendicular to the resistance bands and work on the twisting of hips.
There's no cure for ugly neither is there a remedy for fast hands. Newbies go back into the archives of this site a research.
Punching with the weight at the end of the punches(in your hands) is bio-mechanically in-correct and unrealistic unless you had huge, giant hands that weighed you down. Leads to hurt shoulders from my experience. There are better ways to do the same exercise.
progress through in phases. gen - make sure muscles are strong on all sides of the joints start power - shot put 6-10lb med ball shadow box - 2lb weights (which sounds light but over 250% what you would use in competition) super fast shadow box - no weights (this teaches your muscles to go faster than competition by using less weight than comp 10-12oz)
Common sense, how does punching slow or slower with weights in hands, increase hand speed, it does not. Speed comes from neurone responses, which can be improved by diet and living a healthy lifestyle.
