Fighters Only

Issue 163

January 2018

Strong hands and wrists will help you throw that KO blow. Here’s how to toughen them up.

Expert Trainer: Mark Sayer is a Lifelong martial artist with extensive Thai training, currently living in New York City.

Wrist and hand conditioning is essential for MMA. Whether you’re grappling or striking, your hands need strong foundations to land strikes with conviction, or control your opponent with the minimum effort.

But it’s no use doing the kinds of traditional strengthening exercises you’d normally see in the gym, like wrist curls and extensions. You don’t want any flexion or extension of the wrist when you strike, so why train the muscles for this action?

Here’s how you should train your muscles and joints for a fight.

TRAIN THE ISOMETRIC:

When you throw punches, you need your wrists to be braced for impact. Ideally, there should be no bend in your wrist when you strike. These three simple exercises of increasing difficulty will train your joints to absorb the power of a clean strike for maximum damage.

Do 3 sets of 15- 25, with a minute of shadow boxing as active rest:

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Knuckle push-ups on the wall

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Knuckle push-ups on the ground

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Wheelbarrows on your knuckles

If you’re training solo, do some bear crawls on your knuckles

Strike smart

The best way to protect your hands is to be accurate and land them on your opponent’s chin, softer facial features or body. Avoid landing on the elbows and skull. Remember: accuracy beats power every time.

Precision punching

You should also aim to land your punches with the two big knuckles of your fist, or the middle two. Just don’t try and clip someone’s chin with your pinkie, as this is a recipe for disaster...

Train The roTaTional

A well-executed punch, especially a jab and cross, will see your hand rotate from a supinated to a pronated position. To condition your muscles for this action, you should practice the movement using a weight and a high number of reps.

Do 3 sets of 45 seconds, with 45 seconds of shadow boxing as active rest:

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Hold dumbbells with your pinkie as close to the inside of the dumbbell as possible, then rotate inwards

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Use the same movement with a dumbbell that has weight only on one side

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Use a weighted bar. Adjust your grip position to make the rotation more challenging

TRAIN YOUR HANDS AND FINGERS

The human fist was never designed to absorb the impact of a punch with power generated by proper technique and a solid base of strength. Countless fighters have been sidelined by brittle hands breaking when they’re throwing bones, so you want to feel con dent that your best weapons won’t hurt you more than they hurt your opponent. My own personal take on an Okinawan Karate-style hand-strengthening exercise is to grab a weight and grip it solely with your fingertips.

hold for 2 sets of 1 minute, with 1 minute’s rest. add difficulty by walking with the weights in a ‘carry’ exercise

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