Thread: Im after a heavy bag that doesnt really move when i punch it.

What weight should it be ?

Ive seen ones for 100 lbs is that about right or is the shape of the bag ? The larger and wider ones ive used dont seem to move so much.

Thanks in advance.

are you using one at the moment?

To be honest sea gull, I wouldn't advise a bag that moves very little or not at all.

With the impact of your body, spear headed by your fist meeting a solid object, something has to give. Usually it is the bag that gives and your fist remains unscathed.
However if the bag refuses to move, objects inside your hand will shift.

A war is impossible to carry out without weapons, a gardener will have difficulty without his tools, a carpenter is useless without his implements. A boxer isn't much good without his tools either.

Donny right. Don't forget it's also the bags density that matters. It actually feels good to sink your fist in to a bag.

If it's swinging too much you might be pushing your punches rather than snapping them.

I must spread some repuatation around before giving it to missy again!

ooh-er

Actually- I used to use the heaviest punch bag as a plyometric exercise when I was missy no mates in the gym.

Stand in boxing stance close to the bag and explode the bag away like you were punching it, when it swings back allow your arm to retract and spring it away again. ta-da, you don't always need a partner or medicine ball. I'm sure one or two wondered what I was up to but I knew what I was doing Feel free to use that.

Originally Posted by Missy

ooh-er

Actually- I used to use the heaviest punch bag as a plyometric exercise when I was missy no mates in the gym.

Stand in boxing stance close to the bag and explode the bag away like you were punching it, when it swings back allow your arm to retract and spring it away again. ta-da, you don't always need a partner or medicine ball. I'm sure one or two wondered what I was up to but I knew what I was doing Feel free to use that.

How much did the heaviest bag weigh?

I have a 120 lbs. waterbag, but it swings a pretty good bit when I hit it. And I'm too scared to actually think I'm really hitting it hard enough, even though I do my best to snap my punches and not just push.

Originally Posted by seagull

What weight should it be ?

Ive seen ones for 100 lbs is that about right or is the shape of the bag ? The larger and wider ones ive used dont seem to move so much.

Thanks in advance.

The weight of the bag depends on what you want to work on, and what feels good to you. For your punches, a heavier bag won't swing much, a lighter punching bag is going to swing big time, and a 100 pounder is just about right.

They can come in an assortment of shapes and sizes. You can get the long skinny 6' bags like you'd see in a Muay Thai gym; however I haven't used one but I've been told that it reacts strange when hit which takes away from the realism. From my limited experience with the mexican pear-shaped bags, it just feels awkward to work with.

The rationale of using a heavier bag is that it allows you to put more leverage into a punch without it flying across the room when you land a hard power punch. It gives your training a realistic feel to it, because just think about it, most people aren't going to get blasted back a couple of feet when you hit them. On top of that, when the bag swings toward you it has enough dead-weight behind it to smother your punches and to take you off balance.

Sounds good right? Now before you put money down for a new bag you should know what you're buying. The problem with many of the heavier bags that you'll find in a lot of catalogs and even gyms is that it doesn't have that much give. With a bag like that you won't be able to put a lot power in your punches since your hands would be taking more damage.

Perhaps the blame belongs to the manufacturers, whom in an attempt to tip the scales, cram the bag to the point that it's no longer friendly to the touch.

Now if it was me and I wanted a good bag that didn't swing too much I'd take the do-it-yourself approach and get an empty 150-200 lb bag. Then I'd make sure to give it filler that is not too hard, and not too soft, just enough that it would treat my hands good. To make it easier on the rest of my joints I'd have it suspended at a height by which the bottom of the bag would be on level with my hips. The bag would still swing when hit, but be heavy enough to remove too much swing. This way you you can work more on your punching, and boxing techniques without having to stop the bag frow swinging.To work on other things I can still give it a good push to get it swinging. Hitting it while it swings away allows me to become accustomed to a person that moves away from my punches. Hitting it while it is coming towards me teaches me to shorten up my punches.

A hundred pound bag is fine too. How much it swings depends on how it's made and how it's set up. If it's suspended from a high chain/cable it will swing a lot more. This isn't a bad thing if you'd like to put more emphasis on your footwork, or hitting it while it's moving. A lighter bag will move a lot more, which is a disadvantage if you want to work on getting leverage into a punch. On the other hand a light bag can help you develop Marvin-Hagler-like skills when it comes to hitting a target that is moving away from you fast.

Other punching bags will give you a different experience and allow you to work on different things. Above all, stay honest to yourself by keeping an opponent in mind when working on any bag.

Chris raised some good points.

A very heavy bag may help your fitness and power, but it will not help your movement much.

"A very heavy bag may help your fitness and power, but it will not help your movement much."

Not necessarily, it can still help your movement, not just fitness and power. The thing with a heavier heavy bag, is that it will swing when you need it to, via a push and not a punch.

I don't advocate hitting a bag that is practically immovable, but for realism sake it's a good idea to have a bag that can respond in some ways like a real opponent.

Floyd Patterson, in his "how to box" book warned that using heavier punching bags may lead to a lack of footwork. Although this may hold true, it can be prevented by keeping your opponent in mind while working the bag.

I suppose that in a perfect gym you can an "a la carte" choice for bags allowing you to work on many different things.

I find that a bag thats very heavy makes you concentrate on hitting most. I find when it oes swing it's temporary, where as a medium weight bag will provide a certain degree of movement, as an opponent would.

A medium weight bag allows me to envision "steering the opponent."

I want an opponent to move to my right I throw a left hook, he moves right I step to my left, he's entirely to my right.....Things like that you know.

Originally Posted by Missy

ooh-er

Actually- I used to use the heaviest punch bag as a plyometric exercise when I was missy no mates in the gym.

Stand in boxing stance close to the bag and explode the bag away like you were punching it, when it swings back allow your arm to retract and spring it away again. ta-da, you don't always need a partner or medicine ball. I'm sure one or two wondered what I was up to but I knew what I was doing Feel free to use that.

Maybe that's why you were Missy no mates back then. Anyways you wouldn't be the first to do it.

My first chance that I was able to see this was in one of Ringside's boxing videos. They introduced it as a plyometric exercise but they were merely pushing the bag. Fast pushing does not = plyometrics, but it's not the exercise's fault. Like you said "explode the bag away" It should be like a punch, a computer launch of every muscle fiber in your body, with plenty of torque and snap upon delivery. More like a punch and less like a push. Hit it like it stole your best mate, your job, your money, and your favorite music CD.

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

I find that a bag thats very heavy makes you concentrate on hitting most. I find when it oes swing it's temporary, where as a medium weight bag will provide a certain degree of movement, as an opponent would.

A medium weight bag allows me to envision "steering the opponent."

I want an opponent to move to my right I throw a left hook, he moves right I step to my left, he's entirely to my right.....Things like that you know.

Good insight Don, I agree with you. You'd have to give it a push every time you wanted it to swing again, and which I can imagine could lead to some awkward habits in the ring.

The punching bag that I'm using now is not too heavy, and I'm also able to work on the same things that you've mentioned. I feel that with a 70-80 pound bag I get the best of both worlds, I can work on movement and power. If possible it would also be a good idea to work with different sized bags to put emphasis on different things.

Yeah I agree Chris.

There is a fitness gym I go to and they've got a bag for kick boxing up. The thing is about 2 feet in diameter and must be 200lbs+

I use that in my last two weeks of training, just gunning into it an forcing it to swing, this really primes my "aggresive" punching for competition.

I fiond the "pear shaped bag" or tear drop bags, develop a habit of holding the hands a bit wqide and hooking more than is desirable. I just find that from training on it persona;lly, no observation or anything.

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Yeah I agree Chris.

There is a fitness gym I go to and they've got a bag for kick boxing up. The thing is about 2 feet in diameter and must be 200lbs+

I use that in my last two weeks of training, just gunning into it an forcing it to swing, this really primes my "aggresive" punching for competition.

I fiond the "pear shaped bag" or tear drop bags, develop a habit of holding the hands a bit wqide and hooking more than is desirable. I just find that from training on it persona;lly, no observation or anything.

So I guess there is a bag over 120 lbs.