Quick question for anyone to answer… I’m seriously considering boxing/mma and i’ve recently read in an article here on the T-Nation that quick twitch biceps are a major plus in the art of boxing… for starters, why is that? and secondly, what are a few workouts that can help improve “quick twitch” biceps? thanks for the help guys
ps - i’ve just recently joined the T-Nation and i’m lovin it! best forum on the web…
My understanding is that there are two types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. (ignore heart muscle).
Slow twitch are good for endurance, running, lots of reps, maybe a farmer’s walk…
Fast twitch grow bigger and have power. Good for posing on stage or punching someone.
Working out with low reps, high weight should work the fast twitch muscles but I think it’s mostly genetic what you have in your biceps.
Skw is right.
I’d think the tricep is more important for boxing though as it’s a “pushing” muscle. Luckily triceps are usually more fast twitch dominant anyway.
Fast twitch allows for explosive power.
Also the bicep thing had to do with hockey fights, pulling your opponent towards you.
If you want to become a good boxer, you need to (obviously focus on your entire body but…) focus mainly on tricep, shoulder, obliques/abs and calve and quads.
A beginner (read: poor technique) will get the most power from their legs and obliques when throwing a punch.
As you become better the ratio of power between arms, abs and legs will be a third of the total (all components give you 33 percent of your punching power).
While fast twitch muscles are great for that KO punch or kick it’s not what you want to focus entirely on. Fights are rarely over with one hit and especially with MMA you will be doing alot of moving and wrestling and wasting of energy. Nothing sucks more than having absolute no energy left in a fight and cardio is an absolute MUST for an martial art or combat sport.
If i were you i’d focus 3/5 fast twitch and 2/5 slow twitch.
As for fast twitch muscle work:
Find a weight that allows you to do only maximum of 6-8 reps of 3 sets (but have failure on the last rep).
Meaning:
100 kg curls (just an example)
First set you do 8 reps. 1 minute break
Second set you struggle but pull off 8 and the last one you cant get past 6-7.
When you’re able to do all 3 sets at their full repage (meaning the full 8 reps on all sets) then add enough weight so that you by the 3rd set you cant reach the max rep.
This is progressive overload and will help work the fast twitch. To break it down:
Low rep high intensity for fast twitch training.
High rep low intensity (doing +50 pushups for example)is more endurance.
I’d rather do chinups and pullups to work on the bicep though. Your whole body will get the work out (component) such a shoulders and back, which help with power in punches as opposed to the curls which are more isolation of biceps.
In boxing the bicep isnt that important anyway except maybe in a hook like movement.
Good luck, train smart and fight with honor.
[quote]sopos wrote:
Quick question for anyone to answer… I’m seriously considering boxing/mma and i’ve recently read in an article here on the T-Nation that quick twitch biceps are a major plus in the art of boxing… for starters, why is that? and secondly, what are a few workouts that can help improve “quick twitch” biceps? thanks for the help guys
ps - i’ve just recently joined the T-Nation and i’m lovin it! best forum on the web…[/quote]
Don’t worry about fast twich/ slow twitch. Mostly that’s determined by genetics. The training for your sport is the same in any case. Proper training will improve the ratio as you go along.
You need power, strength and muscular endurance. For power, practice olympic weightlifting variations. For strength, that’s already been explained. For muscular endurance, practice HIIT, sprints and lots of high rep exercises.
Above all, practice the drills specific to your sport. Nothing gets you better at punching than practicing punching.
Stu
thanks guys - thats a lot to take in, but it all makes sense and i’ll def start workin on it
soap