What exactly is the science behind Knuckle Push ups?

Question

Do they really make your knuckles stronger, do they give you the nick name "Home Made Brass Knuckles"? Ok, What I really want to ask is, Why does it make your knuckles harder? How exactly? Just putting pressure on bones make them stronger or what? I was just wondering.. the body is a very mysterious thing..

Answer 1

Doing knuckle push ups is like kicking a tree, its not so much about making your knuckles hard, its about numbing the nervs in your knuckles, its like boxers they can push the nervs to either side of the nuckle, anyways Im pretty sure about that, and thats why I do it, so I think thats what the reason is for knuckle pushups.

Answer 2

Tricep Knuckle pushups are a big plus for my Wing Chun class because it benefits our punches power, especially when you go up explosively, that fast twitch muscle is always good to have.

Answer 3

By slightly twisting your fists when performing knuckle push ups you roughen (and sometimes break!) the skin on your knuckles, thus developping skin calluses in the long run that protect the fine bones of your fist when you punch bare handed.

If you perform knuckle push ups with your elbows close to the body (often called karate push ups), you also mimick better the motion of the jab and straight punch, thus developping punching power.

Answer 4

If you do them wrong you can easily break your hands and wrists.  This pain is noted before the break so you correct it.  As a result of doing a lot of these, you build the muscle memory to perfectly align your entire arm.  You can apply more force without doing damage to yourself.

Basic human anatomy, yoga, meditation forms, martial arts, rifle marksmanship, equestrians and all other types of athletes rely on their muscle memory to place them in a position where they can endure immense physical stress without damaging themselves.   The basic balance of the human body.

Answer 5

Physics!

(Force, resistance, weight, lift, etc.)

Answer 6

Knuckle push ups are mainly just used to strengthen your wrists, but they are also more of a challenge than normal push ups. Umm, they don't make your knuckles stronger, and I don't know where you heard the home made brass knuckled thing. Maybe im wrong, but I have been using knuckle push ups for awhile now, and the only thing that I notice differently is my wrist strength.