Speed is one of the most important skills that every boxing enthusiast needs to have.
With great speed comes great power, because it translates to more kinetic energy. Thus, your punches become more powerful if you make them quick.
Luckily, there are several home exercises that can help increase your punching speed. Adding these to your home routine can help improve your game in no time.
Check these out:
4 Simple Exercises To Improve Hand Speed For Boxing
Shadowboxing
Shadowboxing is one of the best exercises for developing and practicing techniques, which is essential in throwing fast and accurate punches.
For best results, level up your shadowboxing exercises with weights. Adding resistance and increasing the difficulty promotes brain-muscle connection and muscle reflex.
Sample Workout
Use lighter dumbbells or hand weights, around 1-5 lb, depending on your level. Then, slowly throw punches as part of your usual shadow boxing routine.
Then, gradually increase your punching speed and power. Practice your full arsenal of jabs, straights, hooks, and uppercuts.
If you’re a beginner and you feel you can’t throw different combinations, you can throw just one type of punch at a time – aim for 50-60 reps with no rest.
Then, rest for one minute and then throw another set, this time a different type of punch.
Jumping Rope
Jumping rope is a great, whole-body workout that is used in boxing quite a lot.
This exercise helps you develop certain muscle groups responsible for throwing fast and powerful punches, particularly the muscles in your upper back and shoulders.
At the same time, it helps enhance your endurance which you need to survive a strenuous training session, sparring, or actual boxing match.
To improve your hand speed through jumping rope exercises, you need to utilize speed. This means you have to do it as fast as you can.
Sample Workout
Squeeze in jumping rope workouts in your routine every other day.
If you’re a beginner, start with one to five minutes, three times a week. More advanced levels can try 15 minutes and slowly aim for a 30-minute jumping rope workout, three times a week.
Heavy Bag Training
Heavy bag workouts should be a major component of your boxing routine. They are the most effective exercises for developing a wide range of skills, including building your hand speed and endurance.
Fighters and fitness boxers can perform so many workouts and routines using boxing punching bags. If you’re specifically targeting to increase your hand speed, you should perform fast and intense punching workouts for short periods.
Sample Workout
Simulate the punch-and-stop scenario in an actual fight by throwing punches non-stop for 10-20 seconds. Then, rest for 10 seconds, and go back to intense punching.
You can do one type of punch at a time or perform different combinations, depending on your skill and endurance level. Make sure not to drop your hands.
Perform at least three sets during you heavy bag workouts.
Resistance Training
To move fast, you need strength. Thus, your boxing routine should also include resistance training to help build speed.
Sample Workout
Some of the most effective resistance training exercises for increasing hand speed are:
Explosive Push-ups
Focus on your speed, not power. Do at least 10 quick sets of 10-15 reps. Find the variation on where to set your hands and how long to go. Finish each set as quickly as you can.
Never sacrifice form.
Even if you’re doing fast push-ups, make sure you maintain optimal form so you can maximize its benefits. Once you get the hang of it, you will notice an incredible increase in your hand speed, particularly when throwing combinations.
Clapping Push-ups
This plyometric workout is similar to explosive push-ups, only that you will do a clap in between. Aim for three sets of 10-15 reps.
Resistance Bands
Similar to shadowboxing, you can develop faster punches using resistance bands. Resistance bands apply constant force as you throw punches, which allows you to build speed and power.
Using a resistance band when doing punching drills also helps develop the size and strength of skeletal muscles needed to throw explosive punches.
Conclusion
In boxing, speed is everything.
Speed lets you throw powerful punches that will more likely land on your opponent. To develop hand speed, there are certain exercises that you should add to your routine.
These include shadowboxing, jumping rope, heavy bag punching, and resistance training. Don’t forget that speed, power, and endurance go hand in hand.
Thus, if you want to increase your punching speed, you should also work on strengthening your body, especially the muscle groups in your upper back and shoulders.
