RESEARCH indicates a punch starts from force development in the lower body. The lower-body needs to be strong to transfer this energy to the hips, through the core and to the fist to deliver forceful punches. This is what we call the kinetic chain.

In our data analysis, we discovered strong relationships between jump height and medicine ball throw distance. This suggests the higher you can jump, the harder you can punch.

The ability to jump is reliant on the amount of impulse produced from the lower body. This means that lower body strength training can have a huge impact on a boxer’s punch force.

Additionally, the ability to produce force in the lower-body is important to run at high speeds during your conditioning. The faster you can run, the more strain you can put your muscular and cardiovascular system to improve fitness.

One of the main moves to develop lower-body strength and speed is THE ROMANIAN DEADLIFT!

Benefits of the Romanian Deadlift

  • Develops the posterior chain, this is important to improve function of glutes and hamstrings, as well as strengthening the lower back and core. This is important for athletes as the posterior chain is not strengthened through traditional boxing methods, therefore the Romanian deadlift can also reduce the likelihood of injury.
  • Movement assessments show that boxers are quad-dominant athletes and find it difficult to hinge at the hips, this means that the glutes can become under-active. The Romanian deadlift is a great tool to learn the hip-hinge pattern.
  • Promotes a forceful hip extension, which important transferring force generated from floor to the hips and through to the core.
  • Develops core strength, this is important for rotational velocity and effective mass.
  • A large eccentric component to the lift will strengthen hamstrings and glutes, this develops an effective stretch shortening cycle whilst reducing the likelihood of injury.

To check out Boxing Science’s elite Train like a Champion programme click HERE