Exercises To Strengthen Jaw Muscles For Boxers

Boxing is one of the favorite sports across the globe. Boxers need to focus on their strength and maintain great health to be fit for the sport. As a boxer, you must be spending enough time exercising your main upper body muscles and preparing for the sport. Regular exercises for the shoulders, chest, and arms are a routine. But exercises to strengthen jaw muscles must also be included in your exercise regimen.

Boxing requires high aerobic as well as anaerobic capacity with good grip strength. The exercise regimen must include cardiovascular conditioning programs to improve the ability to punch through the rounds of boxing. Resistance training exercises have proven to improve strength, speed, power, and endurance.¹

Strategies to formulate defense mechanisms and to assist in the prevention and management of injuries are also essential. The potential and risk of injury are high during a boxing contest due to high impact forces at varying angles and speeds.¹ Hence, reducing the risk of injury to the head and neck is crucial and strengthening the jaw muscles in addition to the neck plays an important role. Also, for injury prevention, isometric exercises of the shoulders, trunk, and abdomen are advised.

It is believed that boxers are known for their presentation of the jaw. Boxers having a great chin are considered tough and difficult to beat. Having a great chin means having a strong chin as the chin is one of the most important areas that knock them down.

Various factors contribute to a strong chin and boxers must focus on improving these areas. These include having a great defense using upper body muscles for which you need to strengthen the neck muscles and the jaw muscles. These are mainly isometric exercises that help strength building and do not need any equipment and can be conveniently done.

Here are some of the best exercises to strengthen the jaw muscles for boxers.

1. Sit straight with your mouth closed. Place your thumb under the jaw. Try to open your mouth by moving the jaw while the thumb applies resistance and prevents the opening of the mouth. Release and then repeat 10 times.
2. Sit straight with your mouth closed. Place two fingers in the front of the lower jaw. Try to push the jaw forwards against the resistance of the fingers that are trying to push the jaw inwards. Release and then repeat 10 times.
3. In the same position place your thumb on the left side of your jaw. Try to move your jaw to the left side against the resistance of the thumb, without turning your neck. Relax and then repeat 10 times. Repeat the same process on the right side.

Some more exercises to strengthen jaw muscles for boxers include resistance training of the jaw.

• Keep your mouth slightly open. Place your palm below the chin and try to push the chin upwards while the jaw tries to push it down. Let the jaw muscles try to prevent the movement. Then release and repeat 5 times.
• Keep your mouth slightly open. Place your finger on the teeth of the lower jaw. Try to press down while the jaw muscles try to bring the jaw up to a slightly closed state. Performing neck strengthening exercises with resistance using hands are also useful exercises to strengthen jaw muscles for boxers.
• Sit upright with your back straight. Place your palm on your forehead and try to push your neck forward against the resistance without bending.
• Next, place your palm on the left side and try to turn your neck towards the left against resistance. Repeat the same on the right side.
• Then, place your palm on the left side and try to tilt your neck to the left against resistance. Repeat the same on the right side.

Perform these exercises cautiously and apply gentle pressure while offering resistance and then relax. Do not hold for long and increase repetitions only once you are comfortable with the initial counts.

Some simple jaw exercises are also recommended to improve the range of motion and strengthen the masseter muscle. These are also some of the important exercises to strengthen jaw muscles for boxers. These exercises can help reduce the risk of injury to the jaw and also help in the prevention and management of temporomandibular joint disorders that affect the jaw joint and jaw muscles.

These include:

• Sit straight and allow the shoulders to relax. Let the jaw muscles relax. Being with a clenched jaw does not allow the jaw muscles to relax, hence consciously letting them relax is essential.
• Keep your mouth closed with the upper and lower jaw teeth not touching each other. Make a humming sound in one breath and then relax.
• With your mouth closed and the teeth not touching each other, relax your jaw. Now, move your jaw up and down without opening the mouth, then move the jaw side to side and then relax.
• Open your jaw as wide as possible, hold for 10 to 15 seconds and then relax. Repeat the same process and then stick out your tongue as much as you can and stretch your facial muscles to open the mouth wide. Hold for a few seconds and then relax.

These are some of the effective exercises to strengthen jaw muscles for boxers. These are best performed with the help of a fitness trainer or a physical therapist for specific individual requirements.

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