Strengthening wrist for punching

[Bastich]

Last night we did a lot of work on punching techniques using a heavy bag.

I was fine for a few minutes but found that my punches started to weaken due to my wrist bending on contact. Could somene please suggest some exercises that would help strengthen my wrists to prevent this., or would evenmore bag work be the answer. Thank you.

[Kuma]

More bagwork will help, as some of the reason may be a technique issue. However, there's lots of exercises you can do to get stronger wrists. Here's a few good ones that are either free or charge or very low cost:

1) Seiken pushups - Can't go wrong with these.

2) Wrist roller - All you need is a roller, a length of rope, and a small weight. Keep your arms out straight and just use the wrists themselves to roll and unroll the rope as the weight suspends from it.

3) Levers - Get a stick with some kind of weight on one end (a sledgehammer works best). Hold the stick straight up and down, arm extended to the side. Now, just bend the wrist towards you until the weight almost touches your nose or shoulder then go back up. You can also rotate the wrist left and right while holding the stick.

[tallgeese]

I'd agree, to get better at bag work, or any apect of it, the best thing to do is bag work. It will also pay dividends in your fighting ability.

FOr specific strengh exercises, I'd work on utilizing push ups off your fists, grip training, wrist curls, ect.

[Killer Miller]

Wrist bending at impact means that you are not hitting with the first two knuckles. Also, if you are bending your arm on extension, this can also cause some wrist bending.

Your problem is more technique than strength.

- Killer -

[the beast]

Myself, I like the wrist roller, wrist curls and reverse wrist curls to strengthen the wrists.

[joesteph]

I was fine for a few minutes but found that my punches started to weaken due to my wrist bending on contact.

Do you feel that your fists are truly straight if you run you fingers along the top of the forearm onto the back of the hand? If not, you may be hitting hard with your finger joints first, and the leverage may be taking its toll on your wrists.

Killer mentioned technique, so that's what made me think of this. You might also see if turning the fist no more than three-quarters gives you a straighter line, Bastich. It's a very natural, very comfortable fist position.

[sperki]

Did your wrist bend the same direction regularly (up, out, etc.) or was it collapsing in all directions? If it was always going the same way, it might be an indication of form issues.

[Shizentai]

Personally I'd recommend knuckle push-ups and makiwara training if you have access to one. Punching bags are good for some things but terrible for others. Case in point, when you punch a human body, it won't spin around in a circle on you like a bag might. The makiwara allows you to practice your striking surface and wrist alignment without the spinning. That way when you go to strike something squishier and rounder like a bag (or in application a body) you should be able to do so without straining your wrist as much.

[Bastich]

Thanks all for the replies.

I will definately concentrate more on my technique.

I think you may be in right in that when i start to tire i may become sloppy.

I have also started doing push ups on my fists rather than flat handed, this is more because of pain and lack of strength in my wrist which prevents me from doing them flat handed.

I have also just ordered a set of the perfect push up exercise aides. Has anyone used these and do they really work?