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Dana Weissbach, April, 2007 vol. 1, no. 13
Every now and then a student will ask ‘How come we don’t do any ab training?’ They ask this question because their definition of abdominal training is limited to sit-ups, crunches and curl-ups. What they don’t realize is that there are different methods for training the abdominals.
The irony is, boxing training with WBK works your abdominals BIG time! The “CORE” (which also includes the low back muscles) is your balance, strength and speed ‘center’. Once you’ve acquired proper punching mechanics, you cannot throw a good punch without using your abdominals. Otherwise, you’re just throwing arm punches that have no power and can lead to injuries.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on the abdominal muscles of the core.
Let’s take a look at the 4 muscles that make up the abdominals, the roles or jobs they’re designed to do and how WBK works em’!
The Abdominals
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Basic Job Description
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How WBK
works em’!
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Rectus Abdominus (RA)
Rectus = straight;
Abdom = abdomen
(front view)
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The RA is the large muscle on the front of your torso, commonly referred to as ‘the abs’ or ‘6 pack’ & is responsible for the washboard look.
It is the muscle that is predominantly worked while performing sit-ups and crunches, yet it does much more than just ‘crunch’ your body.
Some of its main jobs include bending forward at the waist, assists in rotating your trunk and stabilizing your pelvis during movement.
The RA contains a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers so it responds well to high intensity and high speed movements. |
Woodchops are performed during the warm-up to wake up and activate the RA muscle plus more. When doing Woodchops, the RA helps to accelerate the trunk forward and helps to decelerate the trunk while leaning/extending backwards.
Maintaining the Boxer’s stance requires that you balance & move on the balls of your feet – to do this demands that all of your abdominal muscles be called into play - otherwise you’ll fall over.
Punch-out drills on the heavy bags are explosive and fast and therefore require that your RA be called upon to a) maintain your balance, b) keep your shoulders aligned slightly in front of your hips and c) to generate powerful punches.
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External Obliques (EO)
External = toward outside;
Oblique = running at an angle.
(side view)
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The External Obliques are the largest abdominal muscles per square inch.
They are located on both sides of the RA (left and right) and they perform many jobs.
They assist in rotating the trunk and bending/flexing it forward and sideways.
They also help to stabilize the spine, pelvis and rib cage. When you put your hands in your pockets, the direction of your fingers runs roughly in the same direction as the muscle fibers of the EO’s.
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Consider tornados for a moment – think about how powerful they are! The force of a tornado is directly related to its ‘rotational’ ability. If tornados only moved back and forth or side to side, they wouldn’t generate such magnificent power.
The same principle applies to generating powerful punches – the power comes from the rotating/ torquing/twisting of your trunk. The External Obliques play a major role in rotating your trunk when you throw punches.
Throwing a proper RIGHT hand punch is dependent upon your RIGHT EO contracting & throwing a LEFT hook activates your LEFT EO.
If you don’t rotate when you punch, you won’t be able to punch through a wet paper bag!
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Internal Obliques (IO)
Internal = towards the inside; deep
Oblique = running at an angle.
(side view) |
The Internal Obliques lie underneath the EO’s and to the sides of the RA. The muscles fibers run upwards and right angles to the fibers of the EO’s. They are also greatly involved in rotating your trunk, bending forward & sideways and stabilizing your spine and pelvis.
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Both sets of obliques (EO’s and IO’s) work in unison together i.e.: especially when throwing combinations of punches.
When you throw a RIGHT hand punch, you activate your LEFT IO, and your RIGHT EO. When you throw a LEFT hook you must activate your LEFT EO and your RIGHT IO.
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Transverse Abdominus (TA)
Transverse = running straight across or horizontally
(side view) |
The TA is the deepest (innermost) of the 4 abdominal muscles. It’s job is to pull the abdominal wall inward (as in when you forcefully exhale), it compresses the abdominal contents (acting like an internal girdle or corset) and its job is to stabilize your spine and pelvic region. |
To throw powerful punches you must exhale forcefully on the punch – this activates the TA.
Double-Skips require explosive movement that is generated by the abdominals/core and the legs. Your abs and legs must contract powerfully to get you off of the ground.
Upon landing, the TA contracts to help stabilize and protect your spine and organs from the impact.
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It is important to realize that in sport and life, all 4 of the abdominal muscles work together as a team or ‘functional unit’. Here’s a couple of examples to illustrate this point:
- In Sports : Throwing punches, shooting a hockey puck, swinging a golf club, tennis racket, bat, etc… requires that all 4 abdominal muscles work together (and rotate together) in unison to properly execute the required movement(s).
- In Life: Your abdominal muscles react and work together as a team in order to prevent you from slipping and falling on an ice surface. Whenever you recover/regain your balance quickly after slipping – thank your 4 abdominals for doing their job!
Because muscles don’t function independently or in isolation of one another, training them to work together as a team makes a lot of sense. Keep in mind that in a 1 hour WBK class, your abdominal muscles undergo an incredible volume of contractions every time you punch, skip and dance around the heavy bag.
Next time you’re in the middle of a vigorous punch-out, check in with your mid-section - Notice how its working, balancing, bending, crunching, twisting, rotating and generating power ALL at the same time!
To think that your abdominals aren’t being worked with WBK is ABSolutely crazy! :)
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