Shadow boxing with dumbbells?

Is this a good training method to gain strength as well as endurance in your harms to punch harder/faster?|||Great way to build SPEED with your punches. Don%26#039;t be dumb and go to 10-20 pounders. Start with 3 pounders. EVERYONE starts with 3 pounders, no exceptions. If you think it%26#039;s not enough, it%26#039;s cause your not punching long enough.





But yes, it%26#039;s a great training method.|||Yes, I agree with Chaos.....it%26#039;s great for speed training but use LOW weights. 2 or 3lbs max.





And be careful that you don%26#039;t punch you other hand with the weights.....kinda hurts!|||Yeah, it is. Karate champion in Japan is doing it and so is the K-1 middle weight champion Buakaw Por Pramuk(Muay Thai fighter in Thailand). Just hold the dumbbells real tight and start shadow boxing for about 5-30 minutes using a light weight. Don%26#039;t try to look good and use such heavy weights that you%26#039;ll only last couple of minutes or seconds. Because that%26#039;s not going to do you anything. What do you think? Using 1-5lb. and shadow boxing for 5 minutes, or using 20 lb. or more and only shadow box for about couple of seconds?


Anyways, use a weight that wouldn%26#039;t make you lose balance when you throw any kinds of punches. This training would also strengthen your grip which would help you make your punches heavier.|||It is excellent for not just gaining speed in punching but by also strengthening the exact muscles used in punching. Be cautious though not to lock your arms on the punches as this can damage your elbows.





http://markschat.blogspot.com Fighting and training methods for the unarmed martial artist.|||I use wrist/ankle while doing kata. Only, you have to be careful not to fully extend your elbow, which is improper form any way you put it.





No one should fully extend the elbow during a punch or strike, weights or not. Keep your elbows pointing down always.





Using the wrist ankle/weights keeps your hands free to perform the movement like you would if you were actually using them.





You have to bring down your speed. Punching too fast can cause your elbow, shoulder and or wrist to pull apart, which could cause injury.





If you have seen the Hung Ga practitioners with the iron rings on their arms, this is the type of training.





I also have a weighted vest for doing kata with 20 lbs of small plates in the plate compartments.





This is great training, but you really have to monitor yourself. Don%26#039;t worry about speed... with this type of training, it will come.|||Conditioning is a total package.





Throwing some punches with dumbells is fine as long as it is only a small part of your whole training regieme. In other words, as long as you do not spend more than one part of a ten point curcuit (say ten minutes or so out of an hour curcuit), then you should be fine.





I concur with the others that any weights used should be very light, and weighted gloves might be even better if you decide to do more than twenty minutes or so a day.





There are two reasons for this: one, there are better ways to build endurance and power; two, there is a risk of putting too much load on your joints IF you overdo the repetitions or weight.





My trainers were never big on speedbags or dumbell punching, mainly because they wanted lots of heavy bag work, double ended bag, skipping, running, medicine ball, pushups, situps, ball rolls, etc., and there is only so much time in a day to train.





Mike Tyson%26#039;s main focus in training for power was the heavy bag. So was Dempsey, Foreman, etc





The heavy bag can be worked for an hour a day, or more if you have strong hands, and it will yield better results, and is easier on your joints, provided you hit properly (straight wrist, striking point lower second and third knuckles, wraps, bag gloves, and do not push the bag, hit it.)





However, dumbell punching is certainly a useful tool, as long as it is not overdone and not your main focus for power and strength.





Hope that helps,





Cheers!|||I%26#039;m sure it works, but I prefer using wrist/ankle weights or weighted gloves . With those, I can practices punches, blocks and strikes, and not have to worry about dropping the weights.|||all good answers.. I think a weighted glove is the way to go.. because its more proportioned to your hand/fist just like a regular glove (give new meaning to the term heavy hands)