What do knuckle push ups do!?!?!?

Question

What do knuckle push ups do!?!?!?

Answer 1

Work the muscles further up your arms and toughen your knuckles.

Answer 2

Help wrist stabilisers and increase range of motion, does little for bone density  but cna help small msucles in hand keep fragile bones in place, I suppose. Other very usefull additions are wrist leverage drills with an axe or something with a weigth at one end. Twist it in your hand at a 90 degree angle or move wrist up and down in a hammering motion.  You can also hold arm staright and put in your hand backwards and lift that way. Also wrist rollers are excellent. Fingertip pushups are also a valuable addition to your wrist and forearm training. But for true wrist and hand toughness when it comes to punching makiwari is king.

Answer 3

knuckle push ups increase bone density by only slightly, strengthens the triceps and tests the persons will to fight meaning if he has the guts to fight at the cost of getting in trouble.

Answer 4

In addition to the usual chest/shoulder/arm strengthening benefit of the normal push up, knuckle push ups are supposed to also:

-- toughen the knuckles (if done on a hard surface)

-- strengthen the ligaments/tendons in the hands and knuckles, increasing the fist's stability when punching

-- train the fist/wrist/arms to have proper alignment with each repetition, mimicking the alignment of a properly thrown punch

There's some debate about whether knuckle push ups increase bone density in the fists, but I suspect more impact would be needed for this to occur.

Answer 5

agree with jc

Answer 6

Knuckle push-ups have long been a staple for karate training of all styles.  These push-up started out being done on only the index and middle knuckles of each hand as the push ups were performed, but over the years this technique has gotten lost into a modern translation that allows knuckle push ups to be done using all the knuckles of the hand.

The proper way of doing actual knuckle push ups in a traditional sense though is where the push ups are accomplished using only the index and middle knuckles of both hands.

Answer 7

William P and muzosa hit the nail on the head.  It strengthens back and arm muscles for stronger punches, strengthens the wrists so you can deliver more power and toughens the knuckles so that you can hit harder without damaging yourself.

I also perform my knuckle pushups on the first two knuckles.  ;o)