The strength and conditioning programs that elite fighters use to accomplish these goals are just as effective in helping non-fighters get in shape. For everyday practical purposes, a strong upper body helps prevent injuries, keeps you pain-free, and at the same time helps develop muscle to burn fat. Resistance training helps you increase your BMR (basal metabolic rate), which will allow you to burn fat when not working out. Of course, a lean, powerful upper body is also beneficial for aesthetic purposes and a confidence booster.

Kickboxers fight rounds between 2-5 minutes, sometimes throwing up to 100 punches per round. This output requires serious upper body strength and endurance. For this purpose, having massive, bulky arms is not beneficial nor practical. Too much muscle on a fighter becomes a burden to carry around, reducing their mobility, which is critical to generating punching power. However, it is still very important to develop strength so that you can actually punch hard!

Today I am going to show you exercises that I (and my other fighters) use. I have broken them down into five kickboxing-based strength and conditioning sequences that you may perform 2-3 times a week. These circuits will help you develop a lean, powerful and healthy-looking upper body. Let’s get started!

5 Kickboxing Conditioning Circuits

The exercises in each workout are completed in a three-round circuit, similar to how fighters fight. It is suggested to take a 1-minute break between rounds. However, if you feel like you need more, you should take it. Each exercise in the round should be completed as fast as possible, unless otherwise specified.

Circuit 1: Shoulder Drills, Part 1

You can perform the following exercises in a fighting stance (one foot forward and one back), or you can stand with your feet shoulder width apart and side-by-side. These exercises will be difficult and burn your arms. It is important that you keep pushing through and when it gets hard. Keep working! This is not an easy routine.

Perform two 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute break between rounds, using 1-3lb dumbbells.

Exercise 1: Straight Punches (30 seconds)

Keep your shoulders relaxed and don’t extend your arms all the way. Keep loose and let your arms flow. Punch out with a continuous 1-2 (jab cross) combination.

Exercise 2: Overhead punches (30 seconds)

Keep your shoulders relaxed and extend your hands directly over your head. Keep your elbows tucked in. Continuously punch above your head until the time runs out.

Exercise 3: Back Fly (30 seconds)

Bend over and keep your spine neutral. As you bring your arms back, try to keep your chest out and squeeze your shoulder blades together.

Circuit 2: Shoulder Drills, Part 2

Exercise 1: Front Raises (30 seconds)

Keep your shoulders relaxed and bring your arms up at a quick rate. You should try to do around 20 reps every 30 seconds.

Exercise 2: Side Raises (30 seconds)

Keep your shoulders relaxed and extend your hands up directly to the side of you. Keep your arms straight and get to work.

Exercise 3: Forward Arm Circles (30 seconds)

Keep your arm as straight as possible in front of you. Then move your arms in a small circle in front of you. Change directions every 15 seconds.

Circuit 3: Pressing Moves, Part 1

Perform two 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute break between rounds.

Exercise 1: Normal Push-Ups (20 seconds, 10 seconds rest) 

If you are comfortable with push ups, perform regular push ups and make sure to touch your nose to the floor. If you need to make an adjustment, perform push ups on your knees. The key here is to focus on keeping your chest open and back straight. Perform as many full push ups as possible.

Exercise 2: Explosive Push-ups (20 seconds, 10 seconds rest) 

This set is similar to set 1, except now you will push off as high as possible. Don’t rush it; focus on quality over quantity, and make sure you get as high as possible when you perform each push up. Take a rest if you need to. If you need to make an adjustment, do the push up on your knees.

Exercise 3: Pulsing Push ups (sets of 10 for 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest) 

Keep your elbows as close to you as possible and hold the push up at the middle position. Pulse by doing half push ups in sets of 10. If you need to make an adjustment, perform these from your knees.

Circuit 4: Pressing Moves, Part 2

Perform two 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute break between rounds.

Exercise 1: SAS (Single Arm Stability) Bench Press (20 seconds, 10 seconds rest)

This exercise is an an adjustment of a single-arm dumbbell bench press. You will slide half of your body off the bench (the side that you have the weight). When you perform the press, your body is going to naturally try to turn, so you must engage your entire core so that you body does not flop. It is very important that your shoulders and hips do not flop around. Keep everything engaged. This exercise will not only work your chest muscles as a normal dumbbell press, but also engage your core as it transitions power.

Exercise 2: Explosive Bench Press (20 seconds, 10 seconds rest)

This is similar to the first exercise, with the exception that you are going to do the press with a medicine ball (or light weight) that you can throw up as high as possible. You can have someone standing over you to catch the medicine ball, or catch it as it falls back down.

Note: Be very careful and start slowly, do not drop the ball on your own face.

Exercise 3: Medicine Ball Wall Throws (30 seconds) 

Take a medicine ball (approximate 3 lbs) and stand approximately 10 feet away from a solid wall (make sure it is solid). Stand facing perpendicular to the wall. Using your whole body to turn, throw the ball as hard as you can into the wall. Catch the ball when it bounces back, and turn back to your original position to stop the ball (resistance both ways). As you get more and more comfortable, you may adjust the distance.

Circuit 5: Pressing Moves, Part 3

Perform two 3-minute rounds with a 1-minute break between rounds.

Exercise 1: Farmers Walk (20 seconds, 10 second rest) 

Grab two weights, one in each hand. Keeping your back perfectly neutral (shoulders back, core tight, chest up), lean forward slowly and allow the weight to almost “tip” you forward. In order to prevent yourself from falling over, walk with small steps on your forefoot. It is critical to keep your spine straight. Do not flex your spine; keep your chest up, shoulders back, and squeeze your core the whole time as if someone were about to punch you. As you walk, you will tend to tip side-to-side to compensate for the weight. You must prevent yourself from doing this in order to get the full benefit of this exercise.

Exercise 2: Briefcase Carry (20 seconds, 10 second rest, alternating hands) 

The briefcase carry is similar to the first exercise, except now you only have a weight on one side. The focus is still on keeping your back straight. When you have a weight in one hand you will tend to lean toward one side, but you must resist that tendency.

Why train like a fighter?

Prepare for Life’s Challenges: Train Martial Arts

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I started my journey in the martial arts studying Shaolin kung fu. I love the pretty circular movements found in the Chinese martial arts. My favorite kick was the crescent kick, or outside half-moon kick, because it’s flashy. That circular high kick and some similar kicks thrown in many martial arts have a particular aerobic and spectacular beauty to them. While beautiful, such kicks have limited effectiveness in a street fight. I have yet to see a crescent kick thrown successfully in the UFC. When it comes down to real fighting, if you’re going to throw a damaging kick, make it a roundhouse kick.

With that in mind, let’s consider two key questions:

1. Why is the roundhouse kick so effective and powerful?
2. How do I throw said kick?

To the first question, the muay Thai roundhouse kick is so damaging because it uses the whole body in the same way swinging a bat is ultimately a full body motion. When swinging a bat, we move through the ball, using our legs, core, and arms. In a similar sense, our roundhouse kick moves across the opponent by using the rotation of our bodies when kicking. This kick generates superior force by weight transfer and connecting to the ground, versus the snapping motion that many other martial arts kicks use.

Start With Your Stance

In terms of optimally throwing the kick, let’s start with the basics – the ground. In a muay Thai stance, the feet are generally in the traditional 45-degree angle also seen in Western Boxing. However the body is more upright than in Western Boxing, in order to explode up onto the ball of the foot to throw kicks. Also, unlike boxing, the weight in your stance is distributed more to the rear leg. Additionally, the weight is in the ball of the feet on both the rear and the lead foot, whereas in boxing, the weight is in the ball of the foot only in the rear leg.

With the weight on the ball of your foot in the front, it allows you to easily lift up the foot for a lead left roundhouse or to pivot on the ball of the foot to start the rear leg roundhouse. Once you have the foundation correct, you are in a position to begin your roundhouse kick. For ease of explanation, I’m going to assume you’re right-handed and therefore your left leg is your lead leg.

Step #1

Pivot the lead/left leg on the ball of the foot and open up the rear/right hip as you begin your motion. This can be performed by stepping with the lead leg to a 45-degree angle or skip stepping to generate more power.

Note that any time a step is added to a kick sequence it takes time, giving your opponent the opportunity to adjust or counter. When pivoting, the kicker is coming up on the ball of the foot completely to generate maximum speed.

Step #2

As your hip opens and you swing your rear/right leg, point the rear knee toward opponent as you pivot. As you pivot the lead foot, that heel rotates towards your opponent. Also slightly bending the front knee of your lead/left leg will enable you to generate more torque and power. Power, though, ultimately comes from the hip. Your right hip should fully rotate over the left hip while you swing your body. This means your kicking hip ends up in a parallel position over the hip of your base leg.

Yet another way to generate speed and power is to whip the hand down at your side of the kicking leg. This is done at the risk of leaving your head open to a counter strike, so use this technique with caution. It’s vital to keep your other hand up near your chin to help protect from this counter attack.

Step #3

Impact. Connect with the shin right above the foot. Your kicking leg should be straight, for the most part, as you make impact. Remember, the leg comes across your opponent like you’re swinging a bat. Once you’ve made contact, bring that leg back the same way you came in, and do it quickly. Leaving your leg out there even for a fraction of a second is another good way to leave yourself vulnerable to a counter and/or takedown. Kick hard and fast, and then move.

Rounding It Up

The muay Thai roundhouse kick is the mother of power kicks, but it’s certainly not the only effective kick. In fact, while it’s unparalleled in power, it takes more time to throw. The commitment of rotating the hips and even whipping the arm down can leave one vulnerable to a take down. Using the roundhouse kick effectively can be tricky in the way that using a powerful right cross in boxing requires being set up. This is because of the commitment of transferring your weight towards your opponent and the time taken to throw it correctly. Therefore, a roundhouse kick has to be used strategically. When it is used effectively it is an awesome and powerful sensation in the way that swinging a bat and connecting with a ball gives one such a pure feeling of power and speed.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Swinging the Bat: How to Do the Muay Thai Roundhouse Kick appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Though boxing didn’t start in the United States, over the years it has become woven into the fabric of our culture – a slice of Americana in the same vein as jazz, apple pie, and baseball. If one were to name the great champions of the past hundred years, certainly the majority would be American. From Sugar Ray Robison to Sugar Ray Leonard, boxing was part of America and part of America was boxing.

Prominent boxing gyms evolved in the early part of last century in inner cities across the USA. Gyms like Gleason’s and Kronk became famous for producing Olympic medalists and world champions alike, decade after decade. Boxing became part of an inner city lore that has been lauded as the true essence of the struggle for what it means to be an American: the triumph of the individual and control of one’s own destiny. The triumphant story has been told and retold, from the fictional “Rocky” to the real-life Rocky Marciano. If one wanted out of the inner city and a better life, one literally had to fight their way out in many cases.

Thankfully, opportunities have broadened and newer horizons have arisen for the youth of our inner cities. In the wake of such change, boxing gyms have shut their doors in urban areas nation-wide, and one is now hard-pressed to find a decent boxing gym in many of our great cities. With those doors shut, boxing is no longer an iconic American pastime but merely part of our past.

These days many in the inner city would rather play team sports and have a chance at a college scholarship versus the prospect of getting knocked out by another inner city boxing rival. Who could blame someone for such an outlook? Additionally, other sports and channels have evolved – extreme sports, niche sports, and even technology have paved the way for many to make a name and a brand for themselves. And, of course, mixed martial arts (MMA) has become the central focus in the fight community, leaving the boxing world more a part of history than a part of the present.

However, it isn’t just the changing landscape and new opportunities that have changed boxing in America. Boxing has lost its way primarily because of one word – respect. Boxing in its pure form is a martial art. The martial arts are steeped in tradition both in their internal and external essence. One learns to control breath, find their sense of presence and stillness, and build the body and mind in finding a true self-awareness. More than anything, boxing in the past was about respect, as it is in all martial art traditions – both getting and giving it.

However, somewhere along the line, boxing lost this sense of tradition. With its tremendous popularity and success in the past, boxing allowed many disingenuous and shady characters to join its ranks. Promoters, coaches, and managers became figures of corruption. Instead of being known as a ticket out and synonymous with respect, boxing became known as a sad state of affairs. One from which it frankly has never recovered.

In 1984, the men’s US Olympic boxing team won nine gold medals. Ten years later, in 2004, the United States produced one Olympic gold medalist, Andre Ward. We have not won a gold medal since. The US took home exactly one medal in the 2008 games (a bronze) and as previously mentioned, we didn’t produce any medals in men’s boxing in the 2012 London games. What happened?

Look no further than the famed heavyweight division of boxing, where the United States produced the likes of Johnson, Dempsey, Louis, Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Tyson, Holyfield, and on and on. Name one prominent American heavyweight in recent history. You can’t, because there isn’t one.

Our recent Olympic hope was pinned on former University of Northern Colorado quarterback Dominic Breazeale. Really? One can hardly blame Michael King for trying to think outside the box, but what boxing needs isn’t necessarily athletic talent, but a new identity as a sport. King loved to talk about Breazeales’ stature and athleticism, but USA boxing needs fighters with heart – fighters who are martial artists, not just athletes. What boxing in our country needs is to be reestablished as a real martial art. The egos, hot-heads, and punks need to be eradicated.

Boxing is a wonderful skill set and discipline for kids to learn in both the inner city and suburbia alike. In the practice of boxing, one finds rhythm, a genuine mind-body connection, and a way to stay centered. Bruce Lee liked boxing as a striking modality and used it extensively in developing Jeet Kune Do. Boxing is ultimately a martial art and to participate in it or observe it in its pure form is still breathtaking and intoxicating. Boxing needs to hit the reset button and restore true respect in getting back to its roots. Boxing needs to compete with the new school by getting back in touch with its old school.

Critics contend that boxing cannot compete with the popularity of mixed martial arts, but boxing IS the mixed martial arts. Boxing will succeed and kids will again come to love it because ultimately all of us crave and want discipline. The way to get respect is to give it, and this concept is why American boxing once dominated the global boxing landscape. American boxers once inhabited that true spirit of work ethic, determination, and grit that propels fighters to greatness.

The answer for what ails boxing is respect. Respect for one’s self, one’s sport, and even one’s opponent or adversary. Those elements are also the cornerstone and foundation of what it means to be a real martial artist. Deep down we are all warriors inside and out, but this must be cultivated and practiced if it is to be perfected. One cannot just take an elite athlete and simply make him a boxer. One has to create a martial artist. A true warrior. This is where we must begin.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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