Punches, kicks, and strikes: what strength training should you do?

In our time, it is difficult to conceive that practitioners of combat sports cannot enjoy the benefits that bodybuilding and muscle strengthening provide them. As you know, bodybuilders are masters in the art of hypertrophy with a power take-off quite considerable. When it comes to combat sports, it's more about improving strength and the ratio between lean muscle mass and weight, given that there are many categories of body weight, depending on the categories of each martial practice. Muscle mass gain in fighters will therefore be of a different nature than bodybuilding but it will be just as important, if not more so.

In this article, we will discuss the muscular strengthening of fighters, but also the possibility of functional development of strength in strikes, punches and kicks. Several sporting criteria must be taken into account, such as strength, striking speed but also endurance and stamina.

Muscle strengthening for fighters to improve strikes, punches and kicks

As with most sports, martial arts practitioners will benefit from the muscle strengthening offered by bodybuilding while taking into account the weight limits imposed on them when categories must be taken into account. On this point, diet and management of food intake will be at the center of the subject. However, we must still too often deplore the rather poor quality of muscle strengthening training among combat sports practitioners. The correct and optimal execution of the different exercises will therefore be of great importance here, especially in terms of results on the explosive muscular strength . This is why in this article, we will focus mainly on weight training based on the strength and strength/speed gains envisaged. In this regard, the gain in strength/speed will rather be worked on during specific training sessions, even if we can give you advice on this subject...

Strengthen your upper body, pectorals, shoulders and arms to gain punching power

The practice of combat sports and striking in particular, is based on many physical criteria. More specifically, it is mainly the impact force of the blows delivered, the endurance of striking but also the speed of the sequence of blows. Working on these aspects of strength/speed and endurance with weight training supposes that we use bilateral training with basic exercises like the bench press For example.

With these exercises, the first thing to do is to work on strength and explosiveness. But we can also complement this type of exercise with unilateral work (a muscle or muscle group worked on the right side then the left side) in order to optimize the strikes alternating right and left. Pure strength and explosiveness will also be worked on by classic bench press or squat training for example, then by explosive sets on the positive phase (contraction) of the movement for this same exercise. In this case, we will suggest that the unilateral exercise be performed with the Cross Over (facing pulleys).

So for upper body exercises we would have:

• Bench press: 3 sets of 12 repetitions + 2 sets of 10 repetitions with explosive movement on the pectoral contraction movement (rhythm: 1-2-3/1)
• Unilateral crossover: 3 sets of 12 repetitions

Strengthen the shoulders to increase the power of punches

Strengthening your chest muscles is essential for building upper body strength. However, it's important to remember that your shoulders play an equally important role when it comes to delivering a powerful, fast punch. In this case, the military development with the bar towards the nape of the neck is an almost obligatory deltoid strengthening exercise in the context of martial arts and combat sports. With this exercise, lateral and front raises will then be performed in order to strengthen the medial and posterior deltoids, muscles essential for powerful and precise execution of punches on the opponent. Thus, we will have:

• Military press with bar behind the neck: 3 sets of 10 repetitions
• Lateral Raises: 4 sets of 10/12 repetitions
• Front elevations: 3 sets of 10 repetitions

Strengthen arm muscles to achieve more impact on punches

Obviously, biceps and triceps have their role to play in punching and the force released. As you know, the punching force of the fists is very often decisive in the outcome of a fight. However, it is also important to keep in mind that the triceps constitute more than two-thirds of the mass of the arms and therefore, they are the majority in the release of muscular power. Thus, you will have to concentrate all your energy on strengthening your triceps as a priority.

You will therefore focus on extension exercises for these muscles, firstly with a bilateral extension exercise on the high pulley with a bar, then with a seated extension exercise, arms behind the head, with a dumbbell. For the biceps, barbell and dumbbell curl exercises will also be practiced. Also take into account that your arms are not the only ones developing strength in your fists, but that the shoulders, back or pectorals count just as much, if not even more.

• High pulley triceps extensions with the bar : 3 sets of 12 repetitions
• Seated dumbbell triceps extensions behind the neck : 3 sets of 10 repetitions
• Alternating Dumbbell Curls : 3 sets of 12 reps
• Barbell Curls : 3 sets of 10 reps

Develop thigh strength for greater stability and strength on kicks and punches

The goal of thigh strengthening exercises is obviously to work on the strength and explosiveness of kicks but also to improve the fighter's balance and grounding. To this end, several complementary exercises will be performed: squats, leg presses, bench extensions and calf raises on the machine, seated or standing, depending on the equipment.

• Full squat : 2 sets of 10 standard repetitions then 2 explosive sets on the bar raise (8 to 10 repetitions)
• Leg press : 2 to 3 sets of 12 repetitions while correctly controlling the load
• Leg bench (quadriceps extensions) : 3 sets of 12 repetitions
• Machine Calf Raises : 4 sets of 15 reps

Naturally, this involves organizing your strength training sessions so that you can perform these exercises over several training sessions. To avoid rapid body exhaustion, avoid doing your strength training sessions on the same day as your martial arts training, it's pretty obvious to guess. Also, organize yourself to take enough rest between your sessions to avoid overtraining and injuries. Also, remember to maintain muscle mass and density by consuming enough proteins each day.

YAM Nutrition