Punching Bag Review

If you think that punching bags are all the same and there’s not much to know about them, then you definitely need to read on. From where they originated to why they’re used today, here is an overview that is bound to teach you something you didn’t know.

Origin

The punching bag originated so long ago that we don’t actually know when it was first used. As far back as written history can take us, we have records of bags filled with grain or sand being used for martial arts practice in Asia and swordplay and military training in old Europe.

Filling Materials

What you find inside the bag depends a lot on the size, shape, and structure of the bag, as well as what it will be used for. Small, lightweight bags can be filled with air. Medium sized bags could contain air or something moderate, like rags, or something even heavier, like grains or sand. Large bags almost assuredly are filled with sand, grains, or rags, and may have an inner ‘bladder’ to fill with water, which adds weight without requiring as much purchased fill.

Bag Styles

There are many different punching bag styles in use today, but here is an overview of the basics. Heavy bags are the large, torso sized (or bigger) bags that either hang from the ceiling or are affixed to a floor mounted pedestal. Uppercut bags are medium sized bags, generally floor mounted, with a bulge at the top, creating a ledge comparable in angle to an opponents jaw. Speed bags are small, about the size of a melon, and are filled with air and mounted on a spring to allow very rapid, light punches.

Purpose/Use

There are more reasons to use a punching bag than just to learn how to fight. This is, of course, one major use though, as they help boxers work on technique. Another major reason is that boxing a bag with light hits for a period of time is a great aerobic activity (and a nice change of pace for regular exercisers tired of machines). Others use them to build muscle strength and tone. And still others (probably a minority, but still important!) use them to relieve stress in a healthy outlet.

The punching bag has a long history. Now we associate these bags with expensive gym equipment used by well-muscled fighters and boxers, people working to push themselves to the next level aerobically, or perhaps as a source of stress relief and anger management. Modern bags are used by people in all different sports and martial arts, including everything from boxing and kickboxing to karate, MMA, and Muay.

But the origin of the punching bag, as far as we know, outdates the majority of sports that use them now. Ancient martial arts may have used bags for practice, and there is evidence of bag use in many areas of Asia, where martial arts originated.

We also know that in old Europe, bags were used not to be punched, but to be struck with swords. This was in part for military training (for soldiers learning to wield weighty swords for battle) and in part for swordplay (for noblemen training in the fine arts of sword play, in which they competed for honor and bragging rights, and occasionally in a duel to the death).

Despite being able to trace the punching bag back this far, we do not know how far back it goes. This is because these bags go back just as far as does written history; in all likeliness, they were being used well before anything was written down. We just don’t have the documentation to know exactly where and how they were used.

In many ways, the modern bags now used in athletic centers and training facilities do not resemble the bags of the ancient past. For example, many are made of vinyl and other synthetic materials because these are far more resistant to mildew than is cloth. Contemporary practice bags also come in a huge range of shapes and styles, from small speed bags and swerve balls to larger “uppercut” bags.

But one thing that the modern and historic bags have in common is filling. Early bags were filled with grain and sand to give weight to the bag, and these are both used today, along with cloth, water, and air. So while some innovations have been added (like the vinyl), the essential structure and purpose of the punching bag has remained the same for hundreds of years.

The short answer to the question “What is on the inside of a punching bag?” is not the one you are probably seeking: “It depends.” Because people use bags for so many different reasons, and there are so many different sizes, shapes, and mounting styles for bags, the substance they are filled with tends to vary. Here are some of the major fillers for punching bags, and what type of bag you are likely to find them inside of. (These are by no means rules; there will always be variations, but these are good guidelines in general.)

• Sand. Sand is a very common substance to fill a bag with because it is heavy and dense, cheap to buy, and it ‘gives’ pretty well when the bag is struck. You wouldn’t want to fill a bag with rocks because they don’t have the capacity to adjust the way grains of sand do. Sand can be found in almost all sizes of bags.
• Grains. Grains are used similarly to sand but are a little lighter weight. There are actually bags called “maize bags” because they are filled with maize (corn).
• Rags. Rags can be even cheaper than sand and are used to fill large and medium sized bags. Rags pack pretty densely and give a bag nice weight, yet they still have some give. And they definitely can absorb the energy of a strike, which is a very important quality for the bag to have so the boxer doesn’t injure his or her hand.
• Water. You wouldn’t fill a bag with water instead of sand, but some bags are made with a special inner portion, called a bladder, which is well-sealed and designed to be filled with water or air. Water adds weight essentially for free, so it’s a clear choice for a bag that needs a lot of weight.
• Air. As mentioned above, some bags have a bladder for air down the center. yet others are intended to be filled with air alone (such as the speed bag, which must stay light). Air, like water, is free, making it a good choices when you don’t need weight.

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.