Train The Skill, Train The Attribute (Why we punch with hand weights)

“Hi Coach, I'd like to know if you should shadowbox with hand weights, or if there are any disadvantages?

When should or can you use hand weights?

And how much weight should you use?

I read somewhere that it's not so good for the shoulders, is that true?” - Tanner

This is one of those questions that gets people arguing as there are a number of points to consider here.

And the discussion goes further than shadow boxing with weight and into:

Whether we should or should not load sporting motions

The why behind exercise selection

Dogma vs critical thinking

Managing Shoulder Endurance

So lets start by answering Tanners question simply.

Should you shadow box with hand weights, yes you absolutely can if it suits your needs.

When should you do it? It's a shoulder endurance drill to help you keep hands high, so do it at the end of training

How much weight to use? Very light. From a few pounds to a kilo or 2. There's an argument for slightly bigger weights, I'll get to that in a while.

What punching with light weights does, assuming you shadow box lightly without speed, power or locking out joints is give the shoulders a little more work.

And gives you an opportunity to build endurance in the shoulders and hopefully prevent the hands dropping.

It's nothing more than that.

The Force Profile Mismatch: Why Dumbbells Don't Build Punch Power

We don't use punching drills while holding weights to build striking power as the force profile is wrong.

For power we punch heavy bags, we throw medicine balls and we get generally stronger and more powerful.

We build general ability with standard strength & conditioning work to increase potential, then shape that potential in the boxing gym.

The Overload Limit: How Heavy Implements Can Ruin Your Sporting Form

And this is the mistake many “functional trainer” types have been making for years at this point.

As soon as we add load to a sporting motion, we run the risk of changing how the body creates the force. This has been studied quite a lot in Baseball (weighted ball and weighted bats) and in shot putters using heavier shots.

While a mildly heavier implement can lead to increases in performance when returning to the regular implement, these improvements tend to happen when the session is ended with the regular implement.

And there tends to be an upper limit to how much extra load we can add before the kinematics (how the body moves) alters in an unhelpful manner.

To this end, we generally do not load punches for power development.

But I did say there was an argument for heavier dumbbell work, have I just contradicted myself?

Targeting Elements: Offset Loads and the Art of Deceleration

No, because what we can do is target specific elements of a technique.

The light hand weights target shoulder endurance, that is a specific element.

A heavy dumbbell can be used to encourage the body mechanics, the legs, hips even lats, to load up for the initial loading of a punch.

In an old boxing manual written by the legendary Jack Dempsey there is talk of holding the dumbbell at one end, or only loading one end of an adjustable dumbbell. This is so that as you extended the arm, the offset load flips over giving a large forearm load to decelerate.

When I had a set of metal indian clubs, I used to enjoy this drill and how quickly my punches turned over in the window immediately after.

So can we load sporting movements?

No.

Can we target elements of sporting movements?

Absolutely, with care, some imagination and a critical eye on wether or not there are tangible results from the exercises performed.

The Sprinter’s Audit: Demanding Tangible Results from Your Drills

It would benefit every coach or keen athlete to look at the work of track & field athletes.

Take sprinters for example.

To run fast in a straight line, these guys do dozens of drills, each to improve a particular element of the stride.

And if it doesn’t serve up results, those drills come under review and may be thrown out in favour of other drills.

If everyone thought this way, we’d see a lot less nonsense being carried out in the name of “functional training”

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net