The sport of boxing is amongst the most dangerous ones. Its rate of injuries, compared to its peers, is high and can cause real damage. If you don’t wear protective gear, you’ll find it much more problematic to keep yourself safe. Now, constant punching will inflict high stress on your hands. And, it can be bad for you.
Boxing can damage your hands, wrist, fingers, and knuckles, if you don’t wear two layers of hand protection gear. The protective gear you should always wear is hand wraps and boxing gloves. The sport of boxing will put high amounts of stress on your hands; thus, protecting it should be your priority.
Frankly, I don’t see a reason not to wear hand protection gear, especially if one of your goals is to improve your mental and physical selves. Boxing is one of the best martial arts for self-improvement; you can end up an entirely different person after a year of consistent training.
Nevertheless, is the training worth anything if you have lost some of your health?
I know a few boxers who have only started to appreciate their health and well-being after they lost it. Can you imagine not being able to grab small objects because your wrist is refusing to work? Well, if you can’t, start wearing protective gear (we’ll cover what you should wear exactly in the next section.)
As you may know, punching isn’t a motion our hands should constantly perform. Although it’s an instinctive action we execute in a time of danger, our hands are more for grabbing and moving objects. Thus, constant stress with the use of punching—will only cause trouble.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn more about preventing hand pain or fixing its damage, follow the link to a complete guide I wrote on the subject.
Ways to prevent hand damage from boxing
This section will discuss 7 ways you should start implementing in your life to ensure you don’t hurt your hands in the process of boxing.
Your purpose or goal from your training can be anything, ranging from learning self-defense to self-improvement. Regardless of your pursuit from this wonderful sport, you must always protect yourself.
That includes wearing as much protective gear as possible at all times. Times when you don’t want to wear hand wraps and boxing gloves—will inevitably come. You’ll want to start hitting the punching bag without protective gear or warm up.
That’s the optimized way you can ensure causing long-term damage to either your wrist, fingers, or knuckles. In these times, you’re responsible to stop yourself and start taking care of yourself.
Your health is the most important thing you should keep safe. If you’ll lose it, there would be no purpose for your hard work.
#7 – Working on your punching technique more often
The first way you should always ensure to do is—working on your punching technique more often.
Professional boxers are a perfect example of this. I don’t know how long you have been boxing for; however, I can tell you that even the elite boxers sometimes stop going all-in on the heavy bag and start working on their technique again.
A single punch, with improper technique—is all it takes for you to hurt your hands in the long-term. That’s why wearing hand wraps and going slow in the beginning of your training—is vital.
It’s critical to make one distinction; I’m not suggesting you stop going hard on the heavy bag. Rather, what I’m saying is to keep pushing yourself, wisely. Working on your technique—is vital, especially if you’re an inexperienced boxer.
And still, even the pros return to the basics once in a while. Make sure you do, too.
#6 – Buying high-quality boxing gloves and hand wraps
The second way to protect your hands will be to purchase high-quality boxing gloves and hand wraps.
Protective gear is the most important thing you can invest your money in. Also, you must have both layers to ensure the long-term health of your wrist, fingers, and knuckles.
In the pro scene, you must always wear both layers, hence gloves and hand wraps. Such competitions understand the importance of health and protection, even in one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
If you want to buy such equipment, here are the best hand wraps, and the best boxing gloves. Follow the links to ensure the short and long-term health of your hands in boxing. (Amazon)
#5 – Punching with your fist tucked
The next way, which also relates to the first one (working on your technique), is always punching with your fist fully closed. If you do boxing for a while now, you know how painful it can be when you throw a strike without proper technique.
You might feel your pain anywhere on your hand, which can be extremely painful. Striking with your hand completely closed, that means creating more pressure than what you’re used to, will ensure you don’t hurt yourself in the process of punching.
That’s what hand wraps are effective for. They essentially keep your hand tucked in, to ensure you don’t punch with your fist closed.
If you punch bare-handed, on the other hand, and don’t create enough pressure to tuck-in your fist, you’ll experience a large amount of pain and damage your hand.
#4 – Doing a proper warm up before boxing
I’ve personally implemented this method into my life and made it a habit in all the sports I do. For instance, I now do a much broader warm-up before I go boulder climbing.
Studies have found that warming up before exercising—is key to preventing injuries in all sports.
Performing warm-ups increases muscle temperature and blood flow, which contributes to improved exercise performance and reduced risk of injuries to muscles and tendons.
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As you can see, performing warm-ups will make you more flexible. Likewise, your muscle temperature and blood flow will increase; that, as you can see, will improve exercise performance and reduce risk of injuries.
There’s no boxing gym that respects itself that won’t have at least a 10-minute warm-up at the beginning of each session. If you train alone, do yourself a favor and start sweating a bit before you begin training.
#3 – Stretching your hand
This method closely relates to the last one (warming-up before training). Studies have also found stretching to be a preventive means for both short and long-term injuries.
However, research has shown that stretching can help improve flexibility, and, as a result, the range of motion of your joints. Better flexibility may: Improve your performance in physical activities. Decrease your risk of injuries.
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As you can see, stretching can play a key role in preventing injuries and optimizing your performance. I’ve become a big fan of stretching myself, as you can see the immediate difference it has on how you perform in the workout itself.
Athletes and boxers must be as flexible as possible. Not only does it help them stay in their prime, but it also assists them to avoid injuries.
Stretching your hand, wrist, and fingers—is vital before every boxing session. I highly recommend you watch the following video, as it explains perfectly how you can do that in a simple way.
#2 – Having boxing gloves on
The next two ways we’ll discuss will examine protective gear. I know you may already understand the importance of wearing both boxing gloves and hand wraps. However, I want to emphasize their importance.
First, let’s examine the benefits of having boxing gloves on.
Just imagine the enormous amount of impact and stress your hand will go through if you box for an hour. Such amounts will end up hurting you more than benefit you if you don’t wear protective gear.
Boxing gloves essentially reduce the impact your knuckles receive while ensuring you punch with a closed fist. Although hand wraps ensure your fist is always closed and tucked-in with pressure, boxing gloves also contribute to that result.
As such, always wearing boxing gloves when punching—is vital.
#1 – Wearing hand wraps
Now, let’s discuss wearing hand wraps. As we have understood, punching with your fist closed—is critical. If you throw a strike with an open fist in a considerable force, prepare to feel a large amount of pain while not being able to step in the ring in the near future.
You will hurt yourself if you don’t wear hand wraps. Not only do they reduce the impact you’ll feel from constantly punching, but they also ensure your fist is always tucked-in.
Likewise, it’ll force you to make closing your fist a habit. You will accustom yourself to always having your fist closed. That’ll ensure you don’t hurt your hand while throwing a punch.
Concluding, wearing both hand wraps and gloves—is critical. If the professionals always wear both layers, do you think you can skip it? Lower your ego; keep yourself healthy.
I wrote a complete guide on hand wraps; in it, you’ll find numerous reasons why you should always wear them and which ones you should buy. If you’re interested in keeping your hand in the best shape as possible, follow the link to learn more.
How to fix your hands after boxing
Now that you know how to keep your hands healthy in the first place, it’ll be best if we go over what you can do after you have already hurt them. The first thing you should do is, as you can guess, visit a doctor. You’ll never know what you really have until you get that identified by a professional.
If your hand hurts because of vigorous boxing training, visit a doctor before taking any further action. Resuming your training even when either your wrist, fingers, or even knuckles hurt—will be unwise. A study found that accurate medical identification and treatment—will prevent long-term permanent damage.
I want to emphasize the last part; accurate identification is the first step. You can only guess what you have, and let me tell you something: it won’t help you.
With correct identification, you’ll be capable of treating what you have. Unless you don’t want to step in the ring in the near future, you must treat every issue you have with your hands.
Is hand shaking after boxing normal?
Shaking is a symptom for many issues. However, if you feel that your hand shakes after boxing, it’s most likely a single thing causing that to happen. While all boxers will feel some part of their hand shaking at some point, it’ll be best if you try to identify it.
It’s normal to feel slight shaking after an intense boxing session, although such shaking can be due to numerous reasons, such as a lack of nutrients or sleep. Nonetheless, when hitting the punching bag with full force for a few sets, you’ll notice that your wrist, hand, and fingers might shake. That’s from the impact and stress of the hits.
Yes, the impact is so high that your hands will shake after an intense session. That’s why you should always wear hand wraps and gloves, even if you don’t feel like it.
If you didn’t wear any protective gear in the training and your hands shakes, that’s because you didn’t wear neither wraps nor gloves. If you had worn them, the impact on your hands—would have been reduced.
Is arthritis common in boxers?
Arthritis is common amongst amateur, professional, and retired boxers because of the constant stress your wrist goes through in boxing training. Arthritis is one of the most common injuries amongst boxing trainees because it requires you to put a joint under high stress. What other way is there to put stress than boxing?
Final words
Boxing is one of the most dangerous sports. The rate of injury amongst boxers—is extremely high. As a result, you must always ensure to wear both hand wraps and gloves, if you want to keep yourself healthy.
Although martial arts can be a solid way to improve yourself, if you lose your health in the process, it’s not worth it. That’s why you must always wear both hand wraps and boxing gloves. Yes, both at the same time.
Likewise, I encourage you to implement all the ways I’ve offered in this article. That’s why if you desire to keep your hands healthy in both the short and long-term, I highly recommend you to implement them!
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about nose injuries in boxing, treatment and prevention. If you want to keep your nose and face safe and healthy, I encourage you to read the article.