Hello again fellow Warriors! Today I’m going to touch base on punching bags, the heavy bags you punch repeatedly to practice boxing.
Before I really started diving into boxing, I knew what punching bags were for. But I was curious to know more about what they were for. So I took the time to
Using a punching bag is one of the best workouts you can get for boxing. But if you’re going to use one for your training, you have to use it right. Otherwise, you could risk getting injured.
I will tell you what I know and what I learned from my trainers at Title Boxing.
Before You Start
Before you start punching away on a punching bag, you will need:
- Boxing gloves (bag gloves or training gloves are recommended)
- Hand wraps
I wrote a post on how you can wrap your hands for boxing, you can find it here: How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing
In my post regarding how boxing glove sizes work, there is a section that talks about the different kinds of boxing gloves you can use for different kinds of training. You can find that post here: What Size Boxing Gloves do you Need?
Today we’re going to learn how to use a punching bag properly. We’re going to cover the following:
- Hand Protection
- Boxing Technique
- Boxing Drills
- Other Things to Consider
Hand Protection
The first thing you need is to protect your hands. You’re going to be punching on something that is very, very heavy. Hitting it with that much force is going to be hard on your hands, especially if they’re unprotected. I heard of a guy who was punching on a bag with no protection whatsoever for a whole hour, and his hands turned purple and swollen at the end of his training.
First you need to wrap your hands with hand wraps. If you’re new to wrapping your hands for boxing, check out my hand wrapping tutorial.
Once your hands are wrapped, you’ll need your boxing gloves for additional protection. (It wouldn’t be boxing without them!)
Boxing Technique
Technique is everything when you’re throwing punches, especially on the bag. One technique I learned from my trainers at Title Boxing as well as doing Tae Bo is to not completely extend or lock your arm as you punch. Doing so might injure yourself.
You’re going to feel a feeling of knockback when your glove makes contact with the bag as you punch. The bags are really heavy, whether they’re hanging on a chain or if they have a base filled with sand. So you have to be able to stop your arm from extending too far outward so you don’t hurt anything in your arm.
Another technique I learned from my trainer is, when you’re doing a hook, you want to stop your arm to where your knuckles line up with your nose. When you’re doing an uppercut, same thing. Stop your arm where your knuckles are at about nose level. When you’re throwing punches with your rear hand, remember to turn your hips to where they are facing your target. To learn more about how to execute the different punches properly, check out my post on the different punches of boxing, here: What are the Different Punches in Boxing?
Drills and Workouts to Try on the Bag
Verywellfit has a workout you can try on the bag that only lasts for 20 minutes. The routine has exercises that are similar to the ones that I did at Title Boxing. According to the Verywellfit workout: A 20-Minute Punching Bag Workout to Add to Your Routine, you would start with a warm-up of jogging in place, jumping jacks, air squats, shadowboxing, and then a high plank to a downward dog. At Title Boxing, we warm up with some similar exercises. We do jumping jacks with light dumbbells and resistance bands around our legs. We also do high knees, squats, planks, and many other exercises. Verywellfit recommends doing these exercises for about 5 to 10 minutes.
The main workout consists of basic punch combos like jab-cross-squat, cross on your dominant side, cross on your weak side, kicks (if you’re considering doing kickboxing), hooks on both your dominant side and your weak side, followed by a combo of burpees, push-ups, straight punches, and hooks. At Title Boxing, we do something similar, by doing different punch combos followed by fast-paced muscle building exercises like push-ups. It will really get your arms burning.
Things to Consider
The Fight Camp blog talks about some things to consider while training with a punching bag, here: How To Use a Boxing Bag: A Beginner’s Guide They say that working out on a punching bag is a full-body workout from head to toe, and is cardio of extreme intensity. When I would be training on the bag at Title Boxing, I would be sweating so much, it would feel as if I had just taken a shower!
According to Fight Camp, punching a heavy bag with no gloves or hand wraps is something you should wait until your boxing skills are more advanced. But personally, I would recommend you wear your boxing gloves (with hand wraps underneath) at all times. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
Fight Camp recommends that when you’re punching on the bag, you don’t want to exert every ounce of power you have into your punches. I would agree, since my trainers have taught me that Boxing is not so much about power and KO’ing your opponent, it is more about speed and self-defense. On top of that, going full-tilt into the bag could lead to injury if you’re not careful. You don’t want to be like the guy who got purple hands from not wearing any protection that I mentioned earlier.
Other Things to Consider
The Expert Boxing blog talks about some other things you should keep in the back of your mind while training on a punching bag. Some of their tips were also taught to me by my trainers at Title Boxing. 10 Heavy Bag Training Tips
According to Expert Boxing, their tips include basic skills that every boxer should know while training.
- PAY ATTENTION
- KEEP YOUR BALANCE
- PUNCH, DON’T RUSH
- GROUND YOUR FEET WHEN YOU PUNCH
- MOVE YOUR FEET WHEN YOU’RE NOT PUNCHING
- DON’T WAIT
- LESS POWER, MORE BREATHING
- THROW NO MORE THAN 6 PUNCHES AT A TIME
- BE ACTIVE WHEN YOU REST
- KEEP YOUR HANDS UP
I learned a number of these tips from my experience at Title Boxing. And yes, they are as effective as the trainers say they are. I asked my trainer about how to control my breathing when I punch, and he said that when you’re not punching is when you inhale, and then you exhale as you punch. I agree with throwing no more than 6 punches at a time, because if all you’re doing is punching, you might tire yourself out. Change it up from time to time! Add some evasive maneuvers like weaving, dodging and ducking.
You definitely want to keep your balance. Engaging your core and tightening your stomach will help with that. It will help you engage all the other muscles in your body so that you don’t stumble and leave yourself vulnerable.
Closing Words
Now you learned some helpful tips on what you can do when you’re training on a punching bag, that will help you stay safe, and also have fun with it! Safety and enjoyment of the experience are of the utmost importance in boxing training. If you have any further tips on how to use a punching bag, drop them in the comments below! Let’s build a community together!