Heavy Bag Training For Fitness: Equipment

As you probably know, I'm a big proponent of hitting things...aka "wapping"...as a form of training for both strength and endurance (and winning arguments). While most of the references to wapping here have been using various pads like coaching mitts, Muay Thai pads, or kicking shields, those require a willing and able partner which is not always easy to find. But there are alternatives, the most practical being a heavy bag (sometimes called a "punching bag" but that's just wrong).

There are lots of options with heavy bags--in selecting (or making) one, setting it up, and using it. In this post, we'll take a look at getting ready for bag wapping. A near-future post will discuss some ways to use it in your workout.

Bag Selection

There are a number of considerations when selecting a bag.

Size

Heavy bags come in many different sizes, both diameters and lengths. A longer bag is especially useful for practicing low kicks. While this may not be important to you, longer bags are usually easier to tie down than shorter ones. More on that later.

If you're going to be using the bag for any kicking or kneeing, you'll want something long enough that it hangs down at least to your knees. When hanging the bag, the top should be at least as high as the top of your head to make sure you have stuffing to hit at head height (it settles) and to minimize swinging of the bag.

Bag diameters are usually 12-18" and are not a big concern for most uses.

Covering

The traditional heavy bag is made of some form of canvas, which is very durable but tough on the hands. Many modern bags are made of a synthetic material like vinyl. They're cheaper, but can rip more easily, especially when kicked with shoes. Some bags are made of leather, which is great but these are very expensive. Also, cows don't like them.

Stuffing

What's inside the bag can be more important than what's outside. The stuffing affects the weight and consistency of the bag. Some examples of stuffing include:

• Grain
• Sand
• Polyester blends
• Rags
• Sawdust
• Water

The stuffing really affects the firmness of the bag; hitting a sand-filled bag can be like hitting a brick while one stuffed with rags will be much softer. Hard bags are great for conditioning the shins for kicks but that's not something most people do (even though it's fun). They also provide nice feedback--when you hit it, you know it! However, they're harder on the hands, especially if you don't use gloves. They also can rattle your brain a little if you hit hard. But I've seen nothing about it causing any damage. (Or maybe I have but I forgot because of all the hitting I've done.)

Softer bags are easier on the hands but absorb impact so it might not feel like you're hitting anything, which kind of ruins the fun. But they can still provide a great workout. If at all possible, try out a bag first to see how its consistency feels to you.

Below is the first bag I ever owned. (Bought at age 18, I think.) It has a great consistency for punching but is too light for me now (60-70 pounds) and those strips of canvas coming down the vinyl can tear up the knuckles when you catch an edge. Definitely got my money's worth out of it, and it took a lot of kicks in the early days, too.

Weight

The size and stuffing together determine the weight of the bag. Bags come in a wide variety of weights from as little as 30 pounds to 300 pounds or more. You don't want a bag that's so light that it keeps swinging around, nor so heavy that you can barely move it. A common rule-of-thumb is to use a bag that's about half your body weight. That's probably about right for guys; for women, a third of body weight is a better guess. In both cases, fitness level and hitting power will affect the optimal choice. Also, if you plan to kick the bag, you'll need something a little heavier since kicks are harder than punches (at least, they should be).

Buy or Build?

It's certainly possible to make your own heavy bag. There are plenty of do-it-yourself (DIY) examples on the internet but I won't link to any since I've never tried them. And it seems like a lot of trouble for a bag of questionable quality while not saving a lot of money. I've seen 100-pound bags online for $50...with free delivery!

As mentioned earlier, you should try to test a bag out first, which you can't do online, of course. Support your local vendors!

Hanging the Heavy Bag

Hanging a heavy bag can present some interesting problems. There's the obvious: getting something weighing 50-100 pounds hanging reliably. But it gets worse: when you hit it, the bag can "jump" which creates more downward stress on the mounting. And it swings, which creates lateral stress. If you hang it in a wood-framed house or garage, hitting it can shake the building. (Upstairs neighbors--or relatives--tend to not like that so much.) If you're in a low-ceiling area, it's tough to get it as high as we'd like.

Mounting

There are a number of different ways to hang the bag, depending on your setting.

At StrongFast, the bags are attached using an eye hook through a steel beam. This requires a heavy duty eye hook, and they periodically (every couple of years or so) break anyway due to the lateral stress, but it's working for us. This is probably not an option for most locations.

You can buy special mounts for wood beams.  I've had a bag hanging in a couple different garages just by looping a strap over a beam...make sure the beam is strong enough to take the load. (A sturdy tree limb will also work for outdoor training.) You can also get stands specially designed for heavy bags but you'll need to weigh them down substantially to keep them stable.

At home, I've attached mine using an improvised mount between two basement beams. I'm not showing it because I don't want anyone else to try it and have problems (although it's worked fine for me), but keep in mind there are DIY options for handy folks. (And even not-so-handy folks like me.)

Shock Absorbers

As mentioned above, hitting a bag attached to a wood-framed building can shake the whole structure, but you can reduce the problem by using something to absorb the shock between the bag and the mount. In the garages, I used heavy rubber straps like these:

These work well with some restrictions. With heavier bags, you'll need multiple straps. The straps cause the bag to hang lower, so they don't work well if the ceiling is low already. (You can tie knots in the straps to make them shorter, but that only helps a little.)

I tried buying springs from the local hardware store but even the supposedly heavy-duty ones were no match for a 100-pound bag. (Not even three springs together.) But I discovered that there are springs sold specifically for heavy bags. This is what I use now and it works well. However, when the bag is not in use (which is most of the time, naturally), I keep it propped up so the spring doesn't get stretched out.

Tie-downs

Many bags today come with a tie-down loop on the bottom of the bag that can help prevent swinging. You'll need something quite heavy to attach it to. I use two 45-pound dumbbells and a heavy rubber strap. It's not ideal (something heavier would be better), but easy to set up and take down and gives another use for the dumbbells that are there anyway.

What to Wear

As you might expect, wailing on a heavy bag can be a little hard on the hands. The bag material and density matter here as a coarse material like canvas can tear up the knuckles and a firm stuffing like sand is not very forgiving. But any material or density can skin knuckles on a near-miss, when the knuckles barely scrape the bag as the fist flies by rather than hitting the bag. (It happens.) So for most people, hand protection is an important consideration.

Gloves are pretty much a necessity if you have long fingernails as they prevent you from making a good, tight fist. This can lead to hand or wrist injuries.

The obvious first choice is gloves. On one hand (get it?), there are gloves that are little more than shells with no padding that mostly just protect the skin, and on the other giant size boxing gloves that are almost like pillows for your hands. And there are plenty of options in between.

These are bag gloves that are just shells with no padding. They came with small weights in the palms but I took them out because they make it harder to close the hand.

These are fingerless gloves with wrist wraps. Having open fingers is useful if you're doing more than just boxing; for example, grabbing hold for knees. The wrist wraps can help support weak wrists.

These are padded bag gloves:

These are standard boxing gloves:

Another option is to use wrist wraps under gloves. You wouldn't use them with the shells or the gloves that come with wrist wraps, but they can be worn under other gloves. Boxers, UFC fighters, and Muay Thai fighters all wear them to protect their hands. However, they're a pain to put on by yourself and are not necessary for the recreational hitter who is not hitting bags thousands of times a day, or regularly hitting skulls in actual fights. (Some people will hit with just hand wraps and no gloves. I have no comment on this.)

If you'll be kicking the bag as well, consider your footwear. Hard-edged sneakers can wear down a bag. You could forego shoes and just wear foot wraps (padded or unpadded). A compromise is to get a pair of wrestling or martial arts shoes that are lightweight and flexible for easier kicking and without the edges found on some sneakers (or "trainers" or "running shoes" in some less civilized countries).

Wrapping It Up

So with all those options, what do I use? I've always been a no-gloves guy, largely because my background is in martial arts for self-defense (or -offense) purposes. As Sensei Hutch likes to say, "How you practice is how you fight" and unless you're wearing gloves around all the time, you'll be fighting without them. When you wear gloves--even light ones--you can't make a proper fist and that can cause problems (like broken hands) when you have to fight without them.

I don't recommend this for most people. It's hard on the hands, although with practice it gets better including tougher skin making bloody scrapes less likely. You could save your no-gloves work for coaching mitts which are much more hand-friendly.

The bag I use at home is a 100-pound canvas heavy bag with a tie-down. Since it's in my basement, it hangs lower than it should so my "head" punches suggest a fight with someone considerably shorter than me. It also swings quite a bit from round kicks and there isn't enough room to do the thrusting kicks like front or side kicks as the bag would hit the wall. Maybe someday I'll set up my venerable synthetic bag in the garage and use it just for punching. Maybe.

At StrongFast Fitness, we have a long, heavy bag I like to use for low kicks and a heavy canvas bag for punching and other kicks. (Both bags are shown above--I'm not sure how much they weigh.) It's nice to have options. Come on in and try them out!

I tried a water-filled bag many years ago and didn't like it. At the time, it was marketed as supposedly feeling more like hitting a person...after all, we're mostly water, right? To me, it just felt weird. And on the outside, people are mostly way harder than water.

So try some different bags, get one you like, get it set up for hitting, and get yourself some gloves (and shoes, if needed) that suit your needs. Then what? You'll have to wait for a future post for that one.

Be seeing you.

-gary