I’m trying to improve my arm quickness for boxing and I have been weight training for several months. Are there any specific exercises that will help me develop more explosiveness when I’m boxing?
Although most resistance exercises like barbell curls or triceps pushdowns will develop the overall strength and size in your arms, what you are looking for is something that will help with the quick and explosive power when punching and this will need to be developed using different movements rather than focusing on traditional weight training exercises.
A great exercise to increase arm speed for boxing is to use elastic exercise bands and attach one end to something that is fixed and secure such as a door knob or you can wrap it around a pole. You want to make sure whatever you attach it to will stay in place and not come undone since you will be doing explosive movements with it. You want to make sure the end of the exercise band is placed at chest level to ideally and no lower than waist level when you are doing this exercise. Your goal is to have the band at about the level of your punching motion so you can punch straight out and avoid having to punch in an upward or downward motion because the band is either too low or too high.
With the band placed at the right position, grab the handle with your right hand and start punching 20-30 times as fast as you can. If the resistance is too light, step farther away from the pole or door and create more resistance which will make the exercise more difficult. Once you get to the desired position, you should feel a nice level of resistance in the exercise band as you punch. Do 8-10 sets of 20-30 reps on this exercise for each arm to build up the quickness and explosive punching power in your arms.
Along with the exercise bands, probably the best way to improve your punching quickness is to work with a heavy bag and speed bag at your local boxing gym. If you like to workout at home, you can get a piece of equipment that is an all-in-one unit that has both the speed bag and the heavy bag attached. The heavy bag will allow you to work on your explosiveness and power while the speed bag trains your hand-eye coordination and overall quickness.
If you want to focus more on body weight exercises to improve your punching quickness, then explosive pushups are great. Do a regular pushup but at the bottom make sure to pause for 2-3 seconds and then explode up and propel yourself into the air with your hands coming off the floor. If you can clap your hands while they are in the air that’s great but if not, then just come back down until your hands touch the floor and do another rep. This is an advanced exercise so make sure you’re strong enough to do them to avoid injury. Do 10-15 reps of these pushups for 3-5 sets for a great explosive workout that will increase the quickness and explosiveness in your arms and also develop your chest at the same time.
