Plyometric exercises should be part of every boxer’s training routine since they help to develop explosive power in your movements. Plyometric exercises teach your body to move explosively while simulating the physical demands of competing inside a boxing ring.

People who have never tried plyometrics before should consider getting sessions with an experienced trainer before going at it alone. You only need to perform plyometric movements once or twice weekly at maximum intensity to reap its full benefits.

Adding Plyometric Movements To Your Boxing Training Routine

Also called plyo workouts, plyometrics were developed to help improve sprinters’ performances. Over the years, it has become an integral training technique used to prepare for many sports since most require explosive movements.

Boxers often use customized plyo workouts made specifically for their sport. These movements help to generate explosive power in their punches and movements. Explosive power is the ability to generate the highest amount of force possible in minimal time.

Plyometric exercises often consist of a lengthening, load, and fire phase. Let’s take a closer look at these aspects:

Lengthening

This refers to the initial phase of many plyometric exercises, where your muscles lengthen to absorb impact or slow down your movements. For example, muscles like your quads are lengthened when you land from a jump and descend into a squat.

Load

This is when your muscles have reached the maximum length they can achieve when performing any exercise. At this point, your muscles are ready to contract again, so it doesn’t take much time for you to explode into a jump. One of the keys to getting the most out of plyometric movements is to contract your muscles explosively once loaded. This helps to teach your body to convert the absorbed energy from the impact into an explosive movement.

Fire

Fire refers to when a person’s muscles contract explosively and quickly so your body moves in a different direction. When done correctly, your body uses the energy stored during the lengthening process and the energy generated by your muscles to power your movement. This allows you to generate more force than you can do with your muscles alone.

Some of the benefits boxers gain from adding plyometrics to their training routines include:

• Improved rate of force development, which improves hand speed and the power behind punches.
• Improved balance, movement, and footwork.
• Increased motor unit involvement during warmups.
• Improved reactive strength.

Five Plyometric Movements Boxers Should Add To Their Training Routines

Without further ado, let’s take a look at a handful of plyometric exercises that should be part of your training routine:

1) Squat Jumps

Squat jumps are an excellent way to build explosive power in your legs. The exercise targets many of the muscles in the lower body, like the quads, calves, and glutes. It’s also a familiar exercise since many athletes are acquainted with conventional squats.

Here’s what the exercise looks like:

• Get into the starting position with your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart and cross your arms over your chest.
• Drop into a squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
• Push yourself upward explosively, jumping into the air as high as you can.
• Land gently on your feet to complete a set. Make sure you land in the original starting position. Try to complete three sets of as many reps as you can pump out.

2) Plyometric Push-Ups

Here’s another effective plyometric exercise that’s a variation of a popular bodyweight exercise. Push-ups are an excellent way to increase muscle mass and strength in your chest, triceps, and shoulders. Adding a plyometric twist to the exercise helps to build explosive power in this area.

Having explosive muscle strength in your chest and shoulder muscles is essential for throwing punches rapidly.

Here’s how you perform plyometric push-ups:

• Get into the standard starting position for push-ups by getting into a high-plank position with your hands a little more than shoulder-width apart.
• Slowly lower yourself to the floor as you would when performing conventional push-ups, and stop when you’re about to reach the floor.
• Push your torso up explosively so your hands leave the floor. Land in the original position to complete a rep. Aim for around three sets of 10 to 15 reps.

3) Bounding

Bounding is a plyometric exercise that’s performed to improve muscle strength and explosiveness in your legs. It’s also an effective way to train your feet to spend minimal time on the ground when moving or changing directions.

Here’s what the exercise looks like:

• Extend one of your feet as far as you possibly can before landing.
• Explode forward by swinging your back leg before landing on your lead foot.
• Continue leaping off one foot onto the other as fast as you can. Try to keep the length of time each foot spends on the ground to a minimum.
• Aim for about three sets of as many reps as you can pump out.

4) Medicine Ball Pass

The medicine ball pass also helps to improve explosive power in the chest and shoulder muscles, increasing the power behind your punches and their speed. This exercise can be performed solo by standing in front of a wall or with a partner.

Here’s how to perform the medicine ball pass:

• Get into the starting position with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
• Hold the medicine ball at chest height, using both of your hands.
• With your feet firmly planted on the floor, thrust the ball as far forward as you can in a quick, explosive movement.
• Catch the medicine ball as it rebounds off the wall or as your training partner throws it back to you and repeat the process.
• Attempt to get three sets of 10 to 15 reps.

5) Medicine Ball Slams

Medicine ball smashes help to increase explosive strength in your core and the rest of your upper body.

Here’s what the exercise looks like:

• Grab a medicine ball to start the exercise, and keep it over your head with both hands.
• While keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, step forward slightly with one foot and explode as you bend at your waist and slam the medicine ball on the ground as hard as you can.
• Catch the ball as it returns to you and return to the starting position. Aim for three sets of as many reps as you can perform.

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