In my previous article on Kettlebells and how they can improve your Kinetic Chain Linking I received some criticism due to a misunderstanding about what muscles comprise Core Muscles.
Definition Of Core Muscles
After doing a web search on what Core Muscles are composed of, I can see why a misunderstanding arose, because “Core Muscles” are also being used synonymously with stabilizer muscles in the Ab and Back Region. According to this definition Planks would be the best exercise to increase Core Strength.
However, when I used the term Core Muscles, I was using it to describe the muscles in the center-line of your body. Wikipedia defines Core as “The core or trunk is the axial (central) part of an organism’s body. In common parlance, the term is broadly considered to be synonymous with the torso, but academically it also includes the head and neck. Functional movements are highly dependent on this part of the body, and lack of core muscular development can result in a predisposition to injury. The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid- and lower back (not the shoulders), and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_(anatomy)).
The definition provided by Wikipedia is more like the way I used to describe what Core Muscles are. I view the Core Muscles as being all the muscles in the center-line of the body providing stabilization. I wouldn’t view Ab exercises exclusively as training the Core Muscles. I would also need to include all the muscles in your Legs, Chest and Back. All these Muscles are also what I described as the Center Line Muscles.
I have to admit, I am not a student on Physiology so don’t want to dwell on the confusion of definitions. But for the purposes of the blog I posted, I want to make it clear what I defined as Core Muscles as I proposed that strengthening these muscle groups provide the most benefit for increased punching strength, which was the main purpose of my blog.
How Core Muscles And Kinetic Chain Linking Are Connected
I had already mentioned that when you throw a punch, power is generated through your lower body, towards your upper body, through your shoulders and arms, and is expended on making contact with an object with your fist. This means, for example, that if you have strong Legs and Chest muscles, but your Abs and Obliques are weak some of the power generated through your Legs won’t make it to you Chest even through both of these muscle groups may be developed, because your Abs and Obliques won’t be able to transfer all that power. To maximize the potential punching power your Legs and Chest gives you, you would need to train your Abs and Obliques to create a stronger Kinetic Chain Link. None of these muscle groups can increase punching power alone. Only the ability to transfer power from your lower body to upper body and finally through the arms can produce punching power. And the ability to do this depends on how strong your Kinetic Chain is.
The main muscle groups to strengthen, in order to strengthen your Kinetic Chain, so that you can punch harder, are the Core Muscles. The Core Muscles are the muscles in the center line of your body, not the muscles on the edge. Therefore the Core Muscles include your Legs, Abs, Obliques, Lower/Upper Back and Chest. They do not include your Shoulders (Although you should train shoulders for arm endurance, although many Chest Exercises are sufficient to train Shoulders as a side effect), Biceps and Triceps.
If you were to throw a ball, the heavier the ball is, the harder it will be to throw it. If it is light, your throw will be more powerful. This applies to Punches as well. The bigger your Biceps and Triceps are, the more weight your Core Muscles have to move, so your punch will be slower and less powerful.
Therefore, to have a stronger punch you need a strong Kinetic Chain. If you want to strengthen the Kinetic Chain you will find that the Core Muscles in the center-line of your body are the key. Then you would include exercises to train the Core Muscles. But you have to remember that your Core Muscles all need to be trained to provide a stronger Kinetic Chain Link. A Bodybuilder typically trains their core muscles as well, but their punches are weaker than Boxers. Because even if we put punch techniques to one side, Bodybuilders train their Biceps and Triceps more than Boxers and train their legs less. So although they may have great Chest Muscles, their Legs, which is the source of power generation, cannot produce enough power to make those Chest Muscles effective when throwing a punch. In other words, they train their Core Muscles, but not in a way that is required for a strong Kinetic Chain.
Remember, if you want to punch harder, your aim is to have a strong Kinetic Chain, and you can achieve this by training your Core Muscles. The primary aim is not to strengthen the Core Muscles, it is to have a strong Kinetic Chain. Training the Core Muscles are only a way in which you can achieve this. It’s not the be all, end all.
If you want to read my article on how Kettlebells can strengthen the Kinetic chain the link is here https://www.reddit.com/r/LiftingMantis/comments/1jpj1a8/why_kettlebells_are_underrated/.
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