Will dumbbells actually reduce speed?

Why is it said that exercising with dumbbells reduce speed and flexibility? Is there any particular type of dumbbell exercise that does not reduce our speed or flexibility? Or is there any special methods in doing exercises so that it doesn't affect speed? Can anyone teach me some dumbbell exercise for the whole body that doesn't affect speed or flexibility but increases strength and muscle definition. BTW i am just 15 years old.

Thanks for the answers.

 

It's an old wives tale put about by people that don't lift weights IIRC.
Someone with more weight knowledge than I will be along soon I'm sure.

 

Short answer - power production is increased by weight training

 

Being that I'm pretty deep into boxing right now I've been generally staying off of the weights. Not because I don't want to weight train or believe it will make me slow but rather building muscle memory and reaction time takes A LOT of repetition, sparring, and work. Hard to fit in another hour during the day when you're already training 2-3 on boxing.

That said, I have recently found a comfort level skill wise in which I feel I can't learn much more without sparring or I won't be able to apply it. So I've been sparring a lot more then working on combos, footwork and all the other things involved with a boxing workout. I have started to lift weights again because of this. Has it made me slower? Initially yes. Why? Because my body isn't used to lifting weights after 6 months of just boxing, and I get stiff and sore which is normal for most people.

It's been about 3 weeks now and my body is able to recover a lot better from the weight lifting session and guess what . . . . I'm not any slower at all. In fact, today I did a workout routine to work my jab because I felt I was losing some of its speed and snap and found that I haven't lost what I thought I had at all. I actually seem to have more control of it and where it lands then before and I'm able to pump out 5-6 jabs in succession with good accuracy and control (sounds easy, but it's different hitting the middle of a small logo on a bag that's moving and twisting around with 5-6 quick jabs in which you retract your hand fully each time).

I think the person who came up with the myth of "lifting weights makes you slow" did about a week of weight training, got sore in a new and different way, found he was slower because he was sore, and then made the proclamation! In my own observation of my own body I have found I haven't lost any speed, feel like I can control my punches a lot more, and have probably increased my hitting power. That's me though, and I'm 99% different then the rest of the human race so some things work better for me then others.
....
.......
...........
Oh wait, no I'm not. What works for me probably has a high % of working for somebody else (like any other program), which is why I posted all that, because it IS a myth and I think that in my own training and experience I'm a testament to that. Aren't I full of myself?

 

I think some of it was some small asian man not wanting his students to get strong and powerful in a way that he didn't control and then them come into his class and rag him around the dojo.

 

i think you are right. even bruce lee used to weight train but it hasn't made him slower,has it? but i think bruce lee used to do it in a different way so that it does not increase his muscle size. why? will increased muscle size make one slower or less flexible?

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc"]No[/ame]

 

Only if you drop one on your foot.

 

Well, to be fair there was an article written about this on why you shouldn't rely on heavy weightlifting (power lifting etc.) for increasing power and speed; http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-training/boxing-workouts/why-lifting-weights-wont-increase-punching-power

 

I really hate that site. Some of the articles are sorta/kinda decent, but ones like this generalize a whole different subject aside from Boxing that the author has minimal knowledge in. There are different forms of "lifting heavy weights," like olympic lifting, which generates explosive power, which transfers into punches because punches are . . . . explosive. I would agree that powerlifting probably isn't your best weightlifting routine (trying to bench/squat/deadlift heavy weight for one lift) but it can still have a benefit depending on your specific goal.

Not to mention the added endurance you can gain with weight training, the toughness it can develop, and plenty of other things that can transfer into refining your boxing ability.

I have a hard time imagining a guy who can hang clean 225 lbs for a set of 10, weighting 185lbs and has been training for a year seriously in Boxing won't feel like a freight train hitting you.

 

Dragon169, don't listen to Bruce lee. This isn't the 1950's, strength and. Onditioning knowledge has moved on. Check out every MMA fighter everywhere. They liftin heavy and hit hard.
If you're new to weight training then you should increase muscle size, that's normal, and the increased muscle size will make you faster if you stretch and train to be faster.

Not to long ago there was a documentary where an elite judoka tried to throw and Olympic weightlifter but had a hard time cos of his power and the weightlifter was able to throw the judo player. The judo player was convinced that given a few month he could make the weightlifter an excellent judoka because of his speed and power

 

I don't see anything wrong with the website, I think he's released some pretty good articles and videos. And he's right, good technique and frequent practice of that technique is the key to a fast, powerful, snapping punch. Weight lifting won't teach you how to punch, nor will it make up for any mistakes.

For the beginner boxer who is looking to improve their punches, weight lifting wouldn't be as beneficial to them as it would for a professional Boxer who is already well established in the basics, and even then weight lifting is a supplement. Most of the professional Boxers I know in person and have trained with, prefer calisthenics and plyometrics because of the overall benefits it provides for a Boxer: Endurance, speed, control, balance and strength. Weightlifting for the Boxer provides the later of the three. The way how I see it is; if you're already doing calisthenics and plyometrics as a part of your training, then there isn't really much of a need for weight lifting.

 

That article is absolute garbage. Please do not try to post that as being credible of anything. It's all uninformed opinion by a "trainer" with no amateur experience and just a few years of training.

 

But hapuka - OPs question was whether lifting would reduce speed. We all know it won't unless you injury yourself

 

If weight lifting reduces speed...why are sprinters among the most heavily stacked athletes?

 

And why are Olympic lifted faster off the blocks than sprinters?

 

If you are lifting correctly it should provide all of those benefits.

 

If your training is properly balanced then weight training should be a great benefit rather than a hindrance.

 

What is the problem in following bruce lee?