In this article, I will tell you what you need to do to increase your punching speed, be it for boxing, Thai boxing, or mixed martial arts. One thing to keep in mind is that hitting speed is much more than the time it takes for the punch to go from A to B, anyone with experience knows that. To increase your hitting speed you have to look at your game in general, there are no quick fixes and the painful truth is that anything to be gained in the art of combat involves a lot of hard work. Now, hard work doesn’t mean you should discard intelligence, and you may currently be focusing your efforts the wrong way. So, read what I have to tell you, make any necessary adjustments and I guarantee you will increase your punching speed.
1) Throw twice as many punches as you are currently throwing per training: To hit fast you need to hit efficiently, and throwing lots of punches is the only way to communicate with the muscle fibers performing this action. It’s a shame you can’t just email them telling them to pick things up, but unfortunately, to be more efficient, you have to land thousands of punches. To hit efficiently, you need the fewest muscle fibers to activate to execute the action, and you need the surrounding muscle fibers to relax so that the necessary fibers can function without restriction. Sport-specific repetitive motion is the only way to achieve this.
I’d say most good amateur boxers throw around 200 punches per 3 minute round, some of the best can go up to 300 punches per round. If you’re putting 6 rounds in the heavy bag, some double-ended bag work, speed bag, shadow boxing, and focus gloves, then you will probably hit somewhere in the 2500 hit range. Now consider that some of the best professionals are throwing 5,000 to 6,000 punches per workout. If you want to hit fast, throw a lot of punches. At the end of the day, efficiency = speed
2) Hit fast when you train – imagine running four 400m sets against some of your friends. Let’s say you run it consistently in 1:15 seconds and while you can run it in 60 seconds, you opt to run each set at 85% and get less than 1:10 seconds. You could probably do this all day and not get tired. Now, throw a guy who executes it in under 55 seconds and watch what happens to your energy levels as you try to catch him. I guarantee you will tire yourself out in a couple of tests. Everyone has their speed threshold, and if you consistently train at 85% of your maximum punching speed, you can expect to hit 85% of your potential. Too many fighters hit 85% in the gym and burn out in the fight when the stakes are all high and speed really counts. Try to constantly push your speed threshold. To be fast, you must train fast.
3) Work on your footwork – some people don’t realize this, but there is a difference between the speed of the hand in throwing combinations on the inside and the speed of the punches when the distance is reduced from the outside . Some fighters are capable of making combinations at once with lightning speed, but they feel lost when outside against an opponent with quick feet. If you’re fighting from the outside, your hand speed is limited by the ability of your feet to get you to your target, in other words, if your feet can’t get you there fast enough, your punch will be short. Invest in rounds improving your footwork.
4) Increase your total combat rounds – I recommend 3 combat sessions a week if you are not already at that level. Combat is the ultimate in simulating a real fighting situation where speed is paramount. Plus, all other aspects of hit speed, such as timing, distance, reaction, feints, and setups, come into play.
Depending on your level and your training partners, it can be a bit difficult to do that much combat, but you don’t have to train like this all the time. Set a period of a few weeks and stick to an improved schedule. Needless to say, there are some gyms that advocate sparring 5 days a week until fight time, I agree with this as long as the fighters are doing the rest of their work, and not just leaving the gym once. for the sparring to end.
5) Sprints / Tabatas: It is easy to have speed in the first minute of a fight, but the best fighters can maintain their hitting speed throughout the rounds as the fight progresses. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to simply be in better overall shape and have your body conditioned to deliver speed over and over again. The most effective way to do this is to incorporate speed work into your training. Aim for two speed workouts per week. My recommendation is the Tabata sets; This is where you run for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. Traditional testing has kept it at 8 total sets per Tabata workout, which is challenging enough already, but you can eventually try to increase it to 14-16 sets total and possibly more. If you’re just starting out, then 6 sets is a good way to get into the groove.
6) Flexibility – This is the most overlooked aspect of speed. But tight muscles are like tight rubber bands all over the body, they will only slow you down. The more flexible you are in your hips, hamstrings, chest, shoulders, and upper back, the less restriction you will have on your movements. The only thing that restricts a flexible body is gravity and the air around you.