Striking power

Post questions and tips on improving power and jumping ability.
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bowlie
Posts: 3
Joined: Mar 23, 2013 10:56

Striking power

Post by bowlie »

Hi. The way I have been told to develop power for things like punches and kicks is to work on a good max strength base, to lift the ceiling of the power you can generate, then do speed and power work / plyo's / dynamic lifts to bring the power up to the highest level it can go.

I have spent the last few months doing heavy barbell lifting focusing on squats, deadlifts, military press and chinups and I have gotten stronger, but not more powerful. Im not strong by any standards (squat 80kg, deadlift 100, military 35) but im coming back from surgery so im stronger than I was. My end goals are a 60kg military press, 140kg Squat and 180KG deadlift. The thing is I dont have access to lifting equipment at the moment, so im thinking it might be a good idea to work on the aspects of power other than maximal strength right now. Only I dont know how to do this in a proper and structured way.

Thomas Kurz
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Joined: Dec 03, 2003 08:04

Re: Striking power

Post by Thomas Kurz »

bowlie wrote:Hi. The way I have been told to develop power for things like punches and kicks is to work on a good max strength base, to lift the ceiling of the power you can generate, then do speed and power work / plyo's / dynamic lifts to bring the power up to the highest level it can go.
That's a reasonable approach. An alternative is to get a boxing bag (heavy, but not very hard) and work on power of your punches and kicks on that bag. Simultaneously with the bag work (but not necessarily in the sam workouts) you may do some plyometrics. If your punching power plateaus then ease off on the bag work but stress the plyometrics more, and then if you see progress in the plyometrics, return to the bag. Repeat as needed.
bowlie wrote:My end goals are a 60kg military press, 140kg Squat and 180KG deadlift. The thing is I dont have access to lifting equipment at the moment, so im thinking it might be a good idea to work on the aspects of power other than maximal strength right now. Only I dont know how to do this in a proper and structured way.
Working on power without adequate strength base may cause you to plateau early or even get you injured. Not having heavy weighs doesn't have to stop you from increasing or maintaining your max strength. Two-arm military press can be replaced with single-arm press or with progressions of push-ups to handstand push-ups and to single-arm push-ups. Two-leg squats and two-leg deadlifts can be replaced with their single-leg versions too. Leverage in good morning lifts is less advantageous than in deadlifts so a much lighter weight than that your max in the deadlift will be a big challenge in the good morning.

As for the structure of your training, apply info from articles at on those pages:
http://www.stadion.com/strength-training-for-sports-and-martial-arts/
http://www.stadion.com/exercises-and-workouts/
Thomas Kurz
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SDGWarr10r
Posts: 2
Joined: Sep 22, 2013 19:23

Re: Striking power

Post by SDGWarr10r »

Does the heavy-bag method build adequate levels of strength to maximize plyometric benefits, or is it only for people who have built up sufficient strength from lifting or bodyweight-strength exercises?

Also, besides improving balance, does kicking in slow-motion help with kicking power or speed at all? I've seen a few places mention it helps, but I would like to hear a more trustworthy source's opinion on it? I believe you mention in Stretching Scientifically, if not elsewhere also, that strength is speed specific, so I don't really see how slow-motion kicking would help with fast-moving kicks.

Thanks

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