The following exercises will give you blistering knockout power that will make Manny Pacquiao proud of you. But before that, how do you generate punching power anyway? The power of your punch travels from your feet to your hips , to your shoulder, then out your knuckles. Of course, you would want to transfer as much force to your target’s face rather than wasting it away.The key to transferring explosive knockout power is turning on total body stiffness at that precise moment where you land the strike. Stuart McGill, Professor of Spine Biomechanics, dubbed this super stiffness.

When a muscle contracts, it creates both force and stiffness. Force creates joint torque to support postures and create movement – but sometimes the force will enhance joint stability and sometimes it will compromise stability. It depends on the magnitude of the force and its relative magnitude relative to all other muscle forces acting at the joint…When all muscles at a joint stiffen together a “super stiffness” phenomenon generally occurs…. Read Full Article

Therefore, to gain knockout power you have to able to quickly turn on and off the muscles used in punching like a light switch. Fighters like Chuck Liddell , Rampage and other knockout artists have mastered the art of activating their glutes, abdominals, and lats to transfer that charged power to their opponent’s face and give fans one classic knockout.

And now, you can gain it too with the following exercises:

Exercise 1: Glute Bridge

Lie on your back with your knees bent. With assistance from your heels, push your hips upward. Try to hold the position for three seconds, and then go back to the original position. Repeat for 15 repetitions.

For the hardcore person in you, you could make this exercise a bit harder by bending one knee at an angle of 90 degrees while pushing your hip up with your free heel. Then once again, holding the position for at least 2 seconds before lowering. Repeat it 15 times.

Exercise 2: Hand Walkout

Place your hands and knees to the floor, then with your arm straight extend your hands as far out as possible before walking your hand back to the starting position. Make sure that your back is straight and your abs are contracted all the while without letting your stomach touch the ground.

Perform 10 repetitions.

Exercise 3: Power Clean and Press

For starters, grab a pair of dumbells and start a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart while holding the dumbells straight down at an arms length, palms facing your thighs. Next, make the dumbells parallel to your knees by bending a little bit and pull the dumbells up to your shoulders as you dip your body down to catch them. Lastly, push up to a standing position then push the weights overhead in an explosive manner.

If you want it to be a bit harder, use a barbell with a heavier weight and start in a crouching position instead of standing, similar to how Olympic weight lifters are doing.
Remember to always keep your back straight while performing this exercise to prevent injuries

And there you have it, a simple three step mma workout to get you in battle shape. Do you wanna check just how powerful your punches have become? I found this silly iPhone app that can apparently test your punching power just by holding your iphone while you do that punching motion. Check it Out