How to Protect Knuckles when Boxing: Important Safety Measures

In the world of boxing, keeping your hands free from injuries is just as important as breathing. Learn how to protect Knuckles when Boxing with these important safety measures.

Since boxers strike heavily, usually with the first two knuckles, they follow certain precautions to avoid a bruised knuckle.

A so-called boxer’s knuckle is an injury to the bones around the knuckles of a finger. Generally, the skin, extensor tendon, hamstring, joint cartilage, and the structure of the metacarpal head may be damaged.

Needless to say, throwing straight punches with horizontal fists doesn’t come as hasty as they look. And so, I will be taking you into a new drift of a boxer’s must-do hand care!

Keep reading to find out more about how to protect knuckles when boxing.

Protect Knuckles when Boxing

How to Protect Knuckles When Boxing

The Punching Stance

First of all, why don’t you try fixing your punching stance? This may come off as no-big-deal stuff for you but surprise, your punching form is actually crucial in avoiding injuries.

Whether it’s your standing form or footing, it should be ideally executed with a not-so-uneven stance. If not, you will lose all your force which may lead to an injury.

It’s important to remember to allow your first two knuckles to absorb the impact while boxing, rather than relying solely on your wrist. Additionally, proper footwork and maintaining proper alignment of your center of gravity are crucial for injury prevention and effective technique.

The Boxing Gloves

Boxing Gloves

Of course, when it comes to hand protection, high-quality boxing gloves will always come in handy. As you know, gloves will lessen the impact, unwanted movement, and friction that may cause an injury.

Before buying your gloves, you should know that there are different types of gloves used for different purposes. This can be anything such as sparring gloves, combat gloves, training gloves, etc.

Furthermore, you need to make sure that your gloves fit your hands perfectly without being too loose or too tight.

If you are a beginner and don’t know what gloves to buy, you can start with beginner-friendly 14oz or 15oz gloves.

The Hand Bandage

If you’d ask me, “Do we wear gloves directly?” The answer will be NO.

A protective hand bandage with wraps should be worn before the boxing gloves. Basically, it is a thin layer of clothing that prevents your knuckles from getting in contact with the punching bag.

There are two options for you when it comes to hand wraps. One is the traditional hand wraps that come along with a long elastic band.

They are cheaper but aren’t as time-efficient when putting them on. Second, the quick wraps are much easier to put on with an extra padding feature.

Hand Bandage

Open Hand Punches

Don’t let your hand get loose when throwing a punch. Open-hand punches can result in injuries as the force may be directed to your knuckles or wrists.

This may lead to severe stress on your hands such as knuckle injuries, swollen knuckles, and wrist injuries. Surely, you don’t want that to happen, right?

So next time, make sure that you keep your fist closed before throwing a massive punch or else your knuckles will curse you for it.

Get The Right Punching Bag for You

A punching bag isn’t exactly perceived as something related to hand care. But let me tell you this, it is! Using a high-quality punching bag can prevent injuries and protect knuckles when boxing once and for all.

And so, it’s important to invest in a punching bag with a few things to consider. If you are a beginner, you might consider going for a softer bag covered with leather or vinyl.

If you are an advanced boxer, harder and heavier bags can be more suitable for you.

Let your Body Rest

I know that you only want the best for your boxing career. But don’t forget to take some rest and give your body the time to breathe in and out. After all, you’re a human too!

Keep your body at its optimal condition by taking a break when certain human body boundaries are reached. With that said, if your hands are bruised, give them time to heal before training again.

protect your knuckles in boxing

Final Words

Boxing can be a rigorous and health-risky activity. And to some people, it’s just a bunch of people punching each other under the pretense of sport.

But trust me, with the proper training gear and suitable training, boxing doesn’t have to be as dangerous as other people claim it to be.

After all, boxing is a sport. And just like any other sport, it comes with a lot of training guidelines and techniques.

I hope the above article helps you to protect knuckles when boxing and helps you to stay safe in the ring.