There are actually too many benefits of pad training to list. But let’s start at the beginning.
Pad training—what is it exactly? It is a form of kickboxing training where you train one-on-one on your punches and kicks. Punching mitts are used for this. This means that the person holding the punching mitts does not experience any discomfort in their hands or wrists.
Today, we’re going to discuss the benefits that pad training has for you.
Benefits of pad training
- training your reflexes
- great conditioning
- improving your techniques
- improving your defense
Training your reflexes:
One of the major benefits of training with punching mitts is that your reflexes improve. When someone instructs you to perform a specific technique on their command, you have to react quickly.
This ensures that when you spar, you can throw your punch faster and respond more quickly to your trainer’s commands in the ring. In addition, training with punching mitts makes your punches and kicks faster and more powerful.
The more often you practice a particular technique, the better you become at performing it.
Improving your conditioning:
Training with punching mitts is also a great conditioning workout. When your trainer holds the punching mitts at speed and makes you move very quickly through combinations, with short rest periods, you build excellent conditioning for kickboxing matches.
Pad training is also one of the best workouts used by all kickboxers for this reason. Training with punching mitts in this way gives you a very realistic workout that closely simulates a kickboxing match.
You also get short rest periods in the ring and often find yourself in situations where you have to move faster than feels comfortable.
Improving your techniques
Pad training is the best way to improve your techniques because a trainer is constantly watching you. They make sure your technique is correct, your hands are where they should be, and your stance is right.
Constantly hearing what needs to be improved will only make you better. Pad training also has another advantage over punching bag training: hitting the punching mitts feels better than hitting a punching bag.
Pad training is also one of the best ways to practice and improve your techniques. You learn so much from training with punching mitts because someone is constantly telling you what you are doing wrong, such as reminding you to keep your hands up.
This makes you pay more attention to what you are doing wrong and what you can or need to improve. In addition, pad training makes your punches and kicks harder and faster. For example, the more often you throw a straight right, the more powerful it becomes.
Improving your defense:
When someone holds the punching mitts for you, they can correct your guard by tapping you with the punching mitts.
This trains not only your guard and how quickly you pull your hands back, but also your reaction time so that you can see punches coming. If you often get hit in the head in the middle of a combination and have to block those punches during your combination, you are training your reaction time.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. does this type of exercise frequently during his pad training. You can also practice evading punches while training with punching mitts! Have your training partner calmly punch back at you after and/or during a combination on the punching mitts.
This forces you to evade their attack. It makes the training more realistic and more competition-focused. In a real fight, you will of course also get hit.
So you need to practice evading these punches, because doing so teaches you to see them coming.
Are you looking for a complete training set to use for your workouts? Then check out these excellent punching mitts. You can experience the benefits of pad training for yourself in no time!