07:11
Faizan
Boxing is a physically demanding sport that requires a high level of physical fitness and muscular power. The standard push-up provides both of these benefits: it's a compound exercise that works your shoulders, back, triceps and core. These muscle groups are essential to good boxing form, as they provide the force and speed behind your strikes. By incorporating 100 push-ups into your exercise routine, you can build your core strength and upper-body coordination to improve your power and punching ability.
Push Up Technique
Lie on the floor face-down with your hands just under your shoulders. Keep your palms flat and your fingers facing forward. Your legs and feet should be together with your toes on the floor. Contract your abdominals, pull your shoulder blades down and squeeze your glutes together to help keep your body straight and rigid throughout the exercise.
Raise yourself up off the floor and into a plank position by pushing against the floor and straightening your arms. In the plank position, your body is completely rigid from head to toe. Keep your body as straight as possible and avoid letting your hips or stomach sag or your bottom raise up in the air.
Lower yourself to the floor by bending your elbows, until your nose almost touches the floor. Lower yourself slowly and in a controlled manner, rather than let yourself fall by way of gravity. Once you've touched the floor and then returned to your starting plank position, you have completed one rep.
Repeat until you have completed 100 push ups. Depending on your overall level of fitness, this could mean that you do three sets of 33, or five sets of 20. Even if you can only do ten push ups at first, by maintaining proper technique and incorporating push ups into a regular routine, you should gradually be able to increase the number you can do at one time to 20, then 30 and up to 100 in a single session. Take 30 second breaks between sets to let your muscles recuperate.
Variations
Perform incline and decline push ups to build up your pectorals. These push up variations target your upper and lower pectoral muscle, which plays a role in bringing your arm across your body as in an uppercut. For the incline push up, you begin with your arms on a stationary object such as a weight bench, and use the same technique you would for the standard push up. The decline variation starts with your feet elevated on a weight bench and your hands on the floor.
Perform one-handed push ups to build up your latissimus dorsi muscles. Your lats are located on the sides of your back and are where you get much of your striking power from. One-handed push ups begin in the plank position, but with one hand on the small of your back and your feet spread out in a "Y" position to give you a better base. You then lower and raise yourself on your remaining arm. While this exercise is extremely difficult, it will develop tremendous strength in your lats.
Perform knuckle push ups to increase your forearm strength. The knuckle variation is similar to the standard push up in all ways except hand position. Whereas in a standard push up your palms are flat on the floor, in this variation your hands form a fist. This variation builds up your wrist and forearm muscles, while also having the additional benefit of increasing your pain threshold in your knuckles.
Push Up Technique
Lie on the floor face-down with your hands just under your shoulders. Keep your palms flat and your fingers facing forward. Your legs and feet should be together with your toes on the floor. Contract your abdominals, pull your shoulder blades down and squeeze your glutes together to help keep your body straight and rigid throughout the exercise.
Raise yourself up off the floor and into a plank position by pushing against the floor and straightening your arms. In the plank position, your body is completely rigid from head to toe. Keep your body as straight as possible and avoid letting your hips or stomach sag or your bottom raise up in the air.
Lower yourself to the floor by bending your elbows, until your nose almost touches the floor. Lower yourself slowly and in a controlled manner, rather than let yourself fall by way of gravity. Once you've touched the floor and then returned to your starting plank position, you have completed one rep.
Repeat until you have completed 100 push ups. Depending on your overall level of fitness, this could mean that you do three sets of 33, or five sets of 20. Even if you can only do ten push ups at first, by maintaining proper technique and incorporating push ups into a regular routine, you should gradually be able to increase the number you can do at one time to 20, then 30 and up to 100 in a single session. Take 30 second breaks between sets to let your muscles recuperate.
Variations
Perform incline and decline push ups to build up your pectorals. These push up variations target your upper and lower pectoral muscle, which plays a role in bringing your arm across your body as in an uppercut. For the incline push up, you begin with your arms on a stationary object such as a weight bench, and use the same technique you would for the standard push up. The decline variation starts with your feet elevated on a weight bench and your hands on the floor.
Perform one-handed push ups to build up your latissimus dorsi muscles. Your lats are located on the sides of your back and are where you get much of your striking power from. One-handed push ups begin in the plank position, but with one hand on the small of your back and your feet spread out in a "Y" position to give you a better base. You then lower and raise yourself on your remaining arm. While this exercise is extremely difficult, it will develop tremendous strength in your lats.
Perform knuckle push ups to increase your forearm strength. The knuckle variation is similar to the standard push up in all ways except hand position. Whereas in a standard push up your palms are flat on the floor, in this variation your hands form a fist. This variation builds up your wrist and forearm muscles, while also having the additional benefit of increasing your pain threshold in your knuckles.
Posted in: boxing
