# A few questions.



## Toby (Jun 19, 2006)

Hey people, 

I just have a few questions that have been plauging me for a while now and hope you can help me out here. 

1) When ever I'm practicing punching techniquies on the heavy bag (with my left hand) the top knuckle on my middle finger always seems to get sore if I try and punch too hard or too fast. (and it's usually sore the day after as well) I don't really know why it should be, as I can punch fine using the same knuckle, but on my right hand. Maybe cause' I have a lot less power in my left side, I'm not sure. 

2) When doing any type of dumbell exercise, should you only use a certain amount of weight (I'm using 11lbs in each hand at the moment) or should you try and increase your weight in steady intervals, like you would using a barbell when doing bench press? 

3) Latelty, I've been having trouble sleeping. No matter what time I go to bed, whether it be 9 or 10, 11 or 12 (I usually wake up between 7:30 and 8, assuming I've had a good nights sleep). The earlier I go to bed and try and get some sleep (I struggle), the more I wake up during the night as well. 

I hope that's clear enough so someone can shed some light on these issues. Any input is welcome. 

Sorry about the long post. 

Toby.


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## fnorfurfoot (Jun 19, 2006)

1)  Are you wearing gloves when you go at the heavy bag?  If you tend to favor your right side because it's stronger, you might not be using proper body mechanics when you hit with your left hand.  Just a thought.  

2)  Are you talking about holding dumbbells while performing techniques?  I would be careful about going up in weight.  The heavier the weight, the slower your arms will move.  That will train your muscles to get stronger, but slower as well.  Not something you want when your punching.

3)  Can't really help you with the sleep issue.  I tend to stay up late and I only go to bed when I feel like I'm falling asleep on my feet.  It's something I do almost every night.  I end up going to bed between midnight and 1:00a.m.  The benifit of doing this is I'm out the second my head hits the pillow.  The problem is that there are days when I have to get up at 6:30 a.m. and I'm exhasted by morning.  I usually wake up more as the day goes on and end up staying up late again the next night to do it all over again.


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## Toby (Jun 19, 2006)

fnorfurfoot said:
			
		

> 1)  Are you wearing gloves when you go at the heavy bag?  If you tend to favor your right side because it's stronger, you might not be using proper body mechanics when you hit with your left hand.  Just a thought.
> 
> 2)  Are you talking about holding dumbbells while performing techniques?  I would be careful about going up in weight.  The heavier the weight, the slower your arms will move.  That will train your muscles to get stronger, but slower as well.  Not something you want when your punching.
> 
> 3)  Can't really help you with the sleep issue.  I tend to stay up late and I only go to bed when I feel like I'm falling asleep on my feet.  It's something I do almost every night.  I end up going to bed between midnight and 1:00a.m.  The benifit of doing this is I'm out the second my head hits the pillow.  The problem is that there are days when I have to get up at 6:30 a.m. and I'm exhasted by morning.  I usually wake up more as the day goes on and end up staying up late again the next night to do it all over again.



Thanks for the advice.

1) No, I don't wear gloves, used to when I first started, but I got used to not wearing them and haven't snice. Your explination sounds about right. Although, I can't exactly help that. My right side is a lot faster, more balanced, and stronger. Just the way things are.

2) No, not techniques, I mean actual exercises. (as in curls, flies, rows, etc) Sorry, I should of been clearer on that.

3) i'll see how it goes.

Again,

Thanks for the reply.

Toby.


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## pstarr (Jun 19, 2006)

Yes, your body mechanics may be wrong on your left side.  Try punching slow and easy to see if there's bugs in your left thrust.

As for the weights - 11 lbs. is an awful lot of weight to use if you're holding them while punching.  I'd decrease the weight down to 5 lbs. or so.
     For flies, curls, rows and such, you can use heavier weights but you need to determine how much you need.  Whatever you can lift for 10 reps (feeling some real stress on the last rep) is good-

As for sleep - I can't be of much help in that department.


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## MJS (Jun 19, 2006)

Toby said:
			
		

> Hey people,
> 
> I just have a few questions that have been plauging me for a while now and hope you can help me out here.
> 
> 1) When ever I'm practicing punching techniquies on the heavy bag (with my left hand) the top knuckle on my middle finger always seems to get sore if I try and punch too hard or too fast. (and it's usually sore the day after as well) I don't really know why it should be, as I can punch fine using the same knuckle, but on my right hand. Maybe cause' I have a lot less power in my left side, I'm not sure.


 
You may want to invest in a good pair of bag gloves and/or some handwraps.  As for not having as much power in your left...this is something thats not uncommon, as many people have one side thats better than the other.  Work your left a bit more and make sure you're using proper punching form.



> 2) When doing any type of dumbell exercise, should you only use a certain amount of weight (I'm using 11lbs in each hand at the moment) or should you try and increase your weight in steady intervals, like you would using a barbell when doing bench press?


 
Depends on what you're goal is.  You could use a lighter weight for more reps or a heavier weight for fewer reps.  There are alot of methods you could use.



> 3) Latelty, I've been having trouble sleeping. No matter what time I go to bed, whether it be 9 or 10, 11 or 12 (I usually wake up between 7:30 and 8, assuming I've had a good nights sleep). The earlier I go to bed and try and get some sleep (I struggle), the more I wake up during the night as well.


 
Can't offer too much advise in that area.  However, if this is an on-going problem you may want to talk about this with a doctor.

Mike


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## dubljay (Jun 19, 2006)

It sounds to me that technique is the problem.  To correct this, slow down, not just when working your left side, but your right side as well.  Speed is the enemy of technique.  Study how you move when punching with your right by breaking it down bit by bit, going slow.  Then reconstruct it on the left side.  It is a tedious and time consuming process to correct improper technique.  Same body mechanics will yield same speed and power (more or less).  

Increasing weight in intervals is the best way to build musscle mass.  It sounds to me like you are also interested in ballancing your right and left sides in terms of strength.  When doing curls, bench press, shoulder press, ect, use sperate yet equal weights on each side.  For example, when doing bench press, instead of using a large bar and lifting with both hands at the same time, use two dumbells.  This ensures that one hand is not doing more work than the other.  Often times the dominate and stronger limb will do the brunt of the work.  By isolating each arm you force them to push equal weight.



This is coming from an insomniac and based entirely on my own experiences and may not work at all for you... but here it goes.

Now for your sleep issue.  The key for getting sleep is routine.  Force yourself to go to bed at the same time every night, and get up at the same time every morning.  Yes I know that it sucks to get up on days that you can sleep in.  By doing this your body gets set in the routine, making it easier to go to sleep.  Now when I say go to bed it doesnt mean you have to go right to sleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, and for the first little bit you may end up lying awake for hours, but bear with it.  Clear your mind as much as possible.  Don't think about what you have to do tomorrow, or what you did that day.  Find some way of relaxing your mind so you dont focus on things that may stress you out.  It may also help to have a bit of routine before you get ready for bed.  This can include things such as not eating so many hours before you go to bed, reading a book or watching a tv show.  Try not to watch tv while you are trying to sleep, as the plot of a tv show, or the humor of an infomercial can keep your mind engaged.  


Just my two cents, hope it helps.


-Josh


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## Toby (Jun 19, 2006)

pstarr said:
			
		

> Yes, your body mechanics may be wrong on your left side. Try punching slow and easy to see if there's bugs in your left thrust.
> 
> As for the weights - 11 lbs. is an awful lot of weight to use if you're holding them while punching. I'd decrease the weight down to 5 lbs. or so.
> For flies, curls, rows and such, you can use heavier weights but you need to determine how much you need. Whatever you can lift for 10 reps (feeling some real stress on the last rep) is good-
> ...



1) Yeah, I think my body mechanics on my left side are wrong, have a condition, but can't remember the name for it... I guess they'll get better as I practice more. The only thing that was really annoying me was my sore knuckle.

2) Thanks for the clariffication... I just wasn't 100% sure about this to start with.

3) No worries, I'll just probably stick to a set bed-time and see how my body adjusts. I usually listen to some music when I go to bed to ease my mind of worries/stress.

Thanks, 

Toby.

PS: Thank you also to Mike and Josh for your advice.


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## trueaspirer (Jun 20, 2006)

1) I have the same problem. Don't know what's with that. Sorry, can't help you there.

2) I think you should try increasing in as small intervals as you can. Guage daily what you think you are up to, don't feel like you have to stay on a set incease pattern. Go with what you think is best for you. Your body knows you better than somebody who came up with a weights plan.

3) Wow, I'm not sure what to say here. I know a lot of people with this kind of problem, but there doesn't seem to be any ready cure. Are there a lot of tensions in your life. These kind of things would tend to make falling and staying asleep harder. Try clearing your mind each night before you go to sleep. Also try to make a set time that you'll go to bed every day. The body gets used to a set schedule like that and you might find that it helps you get to sleep better snd faster.

Best of luck!


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## Karateguy4000 (Jun 20, 2006)

Toby said:
			
		

> Hey people,
> 
> I just have a few questions that have been plauging me for a while now and hope you can help me out here.
> 
> ...


Well I mite can help you on your sleep. Are you going to bed at a new time every night? If you are you body is trying to get use to the time your going to bed. Try to go to bed at the same time every  night. if you can not go to sleep get up go out of your bed room and set down tell you get sleepley see some tv. if you are thanking about things that happn that day, just say to your slfe what has happn is done. or if you are worrying about thing that mit happn just thank about it this way, Whatever is going to happn , cannot be stopped by worry and if it doesn't happn there is nothing to worry about.


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## Karateguy4000 (Jun 20, 2006)

Karateguy4000 said:
			
		

> Well I mite can help you on your sleep. Are you going to bed at a new time every night? If you are you body is trying to get use to the time your going to bed. Try to go to bed at the same time every night. if you can not go to sleep get up go out of your bed room and set down tell you get sleepley see some tv. if you are thanking about things that happn that day, just say to your slfe what has happn is done. or if you are worrying about thing that mit happn just thank about it this way, Whatever is going to happn , cannot be stopped by worry and if it doesn't happn there is nothing to worry about.
> 
> 
> Dwayne


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