Hi, I would like to know if anyone has advice on how to improve upper body movement and posture. Any excersises that are any good for this? I feel that I'm a little stiff, it feels limiting when boxing, it makes my boxing slower, more awkward and more predictable, I feel.
Shadowbox with lots of head movement, its a skill problem not a muscle problem so you need to work on the skill.
I agree that it's not specifically a muscle issue, but it is a muscle conditioning issue. Simple sparring will teach you how to move but core strengthening exercises will allow for more flexibility in your upper body so that you can utilize these movements for an entire fight.
focus pads with a trainer, the maze ball, the double end bag. a heavybag too* tie a rope shoulder height from ring post to ring post and udip under it just barley clearing it [so you don't waste extra energy] and after a while start throwing 1s and 2s [[straight punches]]
I might be reading the initial post wrong (most probably as it's been one of those days!), but anyway... if you think that there is something wrong with your posture and you feel stiff, you need to address these issues otherwise you will never perform anywhere near to your potential. If possible, get a postural analysis done to identify any problems, and make adjustments as necessary. Then comes mobility/flexibility... my personal recommendation is a little static stretching, lots of dynamic stretching and mobility drills, and finally, dynamic yoga! Once your body is performing well and you feel comfortable within yourself, incorporate boxing specific movements.
It takes a while to get it down. I haven't gotten comfortable with it yet myself, but the key initially is to just force yourself to do it. Exaggerate the movements if you have to...you'll look and feel ******ed but you've got to learn somehow. The slip rope is a great tool. Step and slip, slip, slip bring the other foot over, then step to the other side and slip, slip, slip bring the other foot over. Repeat until your lower back and quads hurt. Then do it faster, then add punches. Head movement is a great tool to have, and it looks ****ing cool when you do it right. Get to work =D
Thanks alot for answers. I agree that what it comes down to first of all is simply to do it, to incorporate the movements in normal training, shadowboxing, heavy bag, pads and sparring. Some upper body movement specific drills could be nice to do for variation as well. The slip rope sounds good. And maybe some kind of Yoga drills to improve mobility and agility. My trainer also made me adjust my stance and posture a bit, told me to widen my stance a bit, and it did improve my balance when punching and moving, so this might improve my upper body movement also. I watched a Mike Tyson training montage on youtube also, he has awesome upper body movement I think, and you can see he focuses on it in his training. From around 2.05 min in for example. Guess his explosiveness is also an important factor when it comes to this. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6zlaIl0yh0[/ame]
