Punching Bag Review

When it comes to the punching bag, there is no single bag style that is the definitive or “main” bag. There are numerous styles being used, with various fillers, shapes, sizes, and any number of other variation. Let’s look at the top 3 most prevalent bag styles, and the different purposes that each style serves for the people who use them in their exercise routine.

1. Heavy Bag

This may be one of the most well known styles of punching bag simply because it has been around for such a long time (as long as history has been written down, and probably longer). A heavy bag is a large, cylindrical bag as big as a person that is either hung from the ceiling on a very strong chain (so it swings), or mounted on a pedestal standing up from the floor (with some give so it also responds to a hit). This is used for people working on muscle strength, and also for punching technique, as it’s as large as a person. It gives good practice on how to deliver a strong blow without hurting your hand.

2. Speed Bag

The speed bag is exactly what it sounds like. It moves fast and is much, much smaller than the heavy bag. Speed bags are hung on very short chains beneath a platform that is set to be at shoulder height. They help a fighter work on reaction time, and are a good way to do repetitive hits (for aerobic exercise, or possibly stress relief) because they are light and will very rarely hurt your hand. (A variation of the speed bag, called the swerve ball, is a small ball chained to both floor and ceiling that swerves on a tight orbit.)

3. Uppercut Bag

This is a punching bag designed almost exclusively for boxers and fighters. Slim at the bottom and bulbous at the top, it creates an upward angle that the fighter can strike as though hitting an opponent with an uppercut.

Fillers

What a punching bag is filled with will vary depending on the type of bag and the purpose it is being used for. Most bags will be filled with sand, grains, and rags, and many more have an inner core that can be filled with water or air, depending on the weight desired.

There are a number of reasons that people choose to occasionally or routinely work with a punching bag. Whether for the physical benefits or the competitive edge, there are several reasons to use punching bags, and even different types of bags to use, depending on what your goals and purposes may be.

1. Overall aerobic fitness

Probably the most generalized and widely appealing reason to use a bag is to improve aerobic fitness. Aerobic exercise is something that involves moderate levels of elevation or intensity that are pursued over a period of time (as opposed to exerting great amounts of energy in short bursts). This helps the body improve how well it circulates and absorbs oxygen throughout the body.
Punching a bag can be used for this if you use a bag that encourages repetitive motion and does not require heavy strikes. A good example would be either a swerve ball or speed bag, which involve small size bags that tend to ‘recover’ or come back at you very quickly. But because they are small they don’t take much force; it is rather the repetitive motion and use of footwork that give the aerobic benefit.

2. Increase muscle tone / physical strength

Because some punching bags give more resistance, working out with them regularly is a good way to build physical strength. Because even smaller sized bags work your muscles (due to repeated motion; this is better for toning than strength), almost all bag styles will have some benefit to muscle tone or strength. For adding bulk to muscle, you’ll want to use the heavy style bag, which requires you to engage more of your arm muscles to deliver a forceful punch that will get the bag to move. (Make sure to have your hands properly wrapped or wear gloves before trying this.)

3. Improve punching technique

Most directly related to the name of the bag, many people incorporate punching bags into their regular exercise routine to improve technique and become better boxers or fighters. From standard boxing to several types of martial arts, there are a number of disciplines that use the bag to work on technique of punching, as well as reflexes of dodging the bag’s return as if it were the opponent’s fist.