I’m delighted to have another special guest blog on Boxing Life by Eric Wong the author of the Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program and Precision Movement Academy, he has elevated the performance of mixed-martial artists and boxers from around the world.
This time Eric has given his top medicine ball exercises to help improve your overall punching power.
These medicine ball exercises are really simple to do and you will definitely notice an improvement in punching speed and power the gym.
Hopefully these exercises can try something new out.
Jamie, Boxing Life
I get a lot of questions about what exercises to do for MMA. If you’re already fairly strong in the basic exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc. then incorporating medicine ball exercises into the mix will really ramp up your power.
Medicine ball exercises provide you 2 MAJOR benefits that you can’t get using other tools:
- Medicine balls allow you to work in the rotational and diagonal planes of motion, which is where you develop your knockout power
- You can throw medicine balls, provided you’re outdoors or you have a concrete wall inside, which allows you to train at full velocity which further develops your knockout power
Contrast this to doing exercises with a barbell – you can generally only work one plane of motion called the sagittal plane, which doesn’t work your rotational power at all.
Plus, if you try to train at high velocity, you generally have to slow the bar down so you don’t throw it, which limits your ability to develop max velocity.
Here are two of my favourite exercises that you can incorporate into your routine right away to improve your boxing game:
Medicine Ball Side Toss
Reps: 6-8 per side
Rest 90-120 secs
Sets: 3-5
This exercise will target your rotational power. Once you incorporate it for a few weeks using the reps/rest/sets outlined, you’ll feel more ‘pop’ in your punches and kicks, especially your hooks and roundhouses.
Make sure you rest enough, most fighters don’t take enough rest between sets when training power, which limits your ability to improve, since you start to get into the endurance energy system instead.
Medicine Ball Push Air Toss
Reps: 4-8
Rest: 90-120 sec
Sets: 3- 5
This is a great exercise to train your upper body pushing power and quickness. The fear of the ball coming down and hitting you in the face causes you to move faster than you normally would, helping you train your squat getup speed which will help you if you’re a striker.
So incorporate these exercises into your training plan and you’ll be amazed after a few weeks and how much more powerful and how much quicker you are.
The biggest problem most fighters have is that they’re not following a program that complements their MMA or Boxing training and gets them results. So make sure you’re following a program
For more unique and effective free training techniques like this, visit my website https://www.precisionmovement.coach
Once again we really appreciate Eric guest blogging again, make sure to check out his useful heavy bag core exercise article for more training ideas.
Check out more boxing training workouts here or why not learn more about Eric’s Precision Academy which has some amazing online fitness courses.
Or why not read about Phil Daru’s Heavy Hitter Boxing Program.
Thanks for reading everyone.