Power Puncher

I’ve been training for boxing for a little while now and attend classes aimed towards a group of us so my training tends to be probably not 100% what i need for what i desire. I’m a fairly big guy and my style of boxing is similar to that of George Foreman (though obviously not quite to the same degree) and I was wondering how training would differ from boxing training for general boxing training (a lot of running and a lot of skipping and pad work) to somebody who’s really looking for those solid blows?

Any guidance would be brilliant thanks

To be honest it’s really not going to change. Punching power is going to come from a combination of correct mechanics, correct timing and judgement of application, and individual factors like bone structure size/density, body mass, and natural speed/explosiveness/number of fast twitch fibers. You can add additional power by training to increase speed/explosiveness and adding additional body mass (if you don’t care at all about competing within a specific weight class). But even then your are going to be ultimately limited by natural genetic factors. Not everyone was born to be Mike Tyson or George Foreman.

Your best bet to maximize punching power is still to maximize your mechanics (via hitting the pads/heavy bag). If you want to do additional strength training you can, but the mechanics are what is going to allow you to really demonstrate any strength you do have to it’s maximum benefit.

Also, skipping rope and jogging are still going to be beneficial as well unless you want to be dead tired after 1-2 rounds and also to build up the strength in your ankles (which is important since the power in all punches comes from the ground up and weak ankles will mean you’ll never reach your punching power potential).

What sento said.

[quote]jackbradneyraw wrote:
I’ve been training for boxing for a little while now and attend classes aimed towards a group of us so my training tends to be probably not 100% what i need for what i desire. I’m a fairly big guy and my style of boxing is similar to that of George Foreman (though obviously not quite to the same degree) and I was wondering how training would differ from boxing training for general boxing training (a lot of running and a lot of skipping and pad work) to somebody who’s really looking for those solid blows?

Any guidance would be brilliant thanks[/quote]

Hello & welcome to the forum.

I hope that you will stick around, contribute & take from this forum as there are some great guys here - who really live the life and share some great stuff.

I hope you dont mind I dissect your post. It’s kinda in my nature.

-Group sessions
These are where pretty much everyone begins.
One of my original trainers used to tell us;
“This is not training. This is a class. We teach you the skills -
YOU train them; at home, when you wake up, before bed, its up to you.”
As such your group classes are the same tonic administered to all boxers
that start from scratch. You’ll reap what you sow.

-George Foreman Style
I’ll be entirely honest here. George had two “careers.” His first was a
story of amazing natural talent and unharnessed potential. George could
box. But he fell in love with his own gift and neglected the technical
and proficiencies which could have seen him as No.1 in the era.
His “style” in Phase 1 was that of a sinister puncher boxing flat footed
neglecting to use his own leverage and forgetting about defense. This is
not a style to be idolised. Great jab though.

George Foreman T2: There were obvious adjustments. With age came maturity
and he had a much more technical analytical approach. Defense was better.
He actually pulled his jab, so as to land more power shots. What he did
was inspirational, but I’m not sure I’d mould myself on that.

-Training
As mentioned in the first post, training starts generally. Everyone runs,
skips, hits bags, pads and spars. Your style, approach and training is in
the hands of your coach.
Not for you though - you are an intelligible adult - and you can steer
yourself.
You should continue using the group classes. This is your support
infrastructure, your measuring stick and your best resource for contact.
There is nothing wrong with hitting bas/pads. You must do this. What
matters is how you do this. And this is the hard part…
You must expand your knowledge of the sport, your understanding of a fight
and formulate your own strategy of how you will approach the game.

-Development of solid blows
They say that you are born with punching power. To a certain extent this
is true. However, I belive there are measures we can take to hit harder.
1)Increase overall strength. Squat, Deadlift, Press and Pull.
2)Increase explosivness.
3)Increase anaerobic capacities. Exploding once isn’t enough.
4)Maintain/Develop Flexibity.

5)Understand and Practice Punch Mechanics.
This is why the “old school” training is important.
Practice does make perfect and for you to transfer your bodies strength
into a single blow, you must have your homework done on correct
movement, you must understand the leverages and you must tirelessly
rehearse the minute transfers of weight and pivoting motions that can
optimise your output.

Brilliant advice, thank-you very much! I’ve got some experience training on my own though not with boxing but i’ll do a bit of research and see what i need to do to get out what i want, thanks guys