This question comes from Cheong, in Malaysia. "Will knuckle push ups on the road improve punch or cause severe injury?"
Good question, Cheong. I remember the days of doing knuckle push ups on concrete and wood floors. We would do them on the first two knuckles, plyometric style. Meaning... we would clap our hands in between each repetition, and land on our knuckles. A simpler version would be to thrust your knuckles off the floor a few inches, then land back onto your fists.
I remember doing these pushups so often, that I had enormous callouses on my knuckles. And, I was proud of those callouses. And, all of the other Black Belts that had them were proud of theirs too, whether they admitted it or not.
The question is, can these pushups do damage. The answer is yes! If you do not go about these pushups correctly, you can indeed cause injury to yourself. To do these pushups on a rocky suface, such as a road, without proper prior conditioning, you can cause injury.
When you are first learning how to do knuckle pushups, it's important that you build up. First, make sure that you do your pushups on the first two knuckles. These are your punching knuckles. They are also the largest, and strongest in the hand. This means that you need to slightly bend your wrists outward. Doing this will help strengthen proper punching position.
Your first knuckle pushups should definately be on a soft surface, such as a rubber mat. This will help build strength in your wrist without hurting your knuckles. Once you can do 20 pushups, only on the first two knuckles, you're ready for a hard surface.
When you're ready to move on, begin doing 10 pushups on your knuckles, then switch to your palms. Continue adding more and more knuckle pushups as you feel comfortable. Overtime, your knuckles will become conditioned to this hard surface. Callouses will begin to form on your knuckles, and even on the first joint of your fingers.
If you want to condition your knuckles even more, with larger callouses, move onto rougher surfaces, such as pavement or concrete. At this point, your wrists should be strong, and your knuckles should have callouses.
As for long term side effects, such as arthritist, I cannot say for certain. Personally, I have moved on from doing knuckle pushups on hard and rough surfaces, just in case I was doing long term damage. Quite honestly, I cannot find a good enough reason to continue doing them. In addition to that, I got tired of my callouses ripping off when I would do a bag workout without gloves.
I still do knuckle pushups, but on a rubber floor. The practice keeps my wrists strong for punching. I remember as a teenager, my wrists would buckle when I would punch the bag hard. Since I incorporated knuckle pushups, my wrists became solid and I can hammer the bag for 10 rounds, without ever buckling.
The last benefit to doing knuckle pushups, is that you can go 4 or 5 inches lower than you can on the palm of your hand. This greater range of motion will improve pectoralis (chest) flexibility and strength. Pushups of any sort will always improve punching strength.
On the other hand, pushups is not a means to improving technique, since they are different movements. The good thing is that a pushup develops many of the same muscles used for punching. I hope this information helps!
Good luck with your training!
Respectfully,
Duncan Richardson
