If you want to build power or stamina, the heavy bag is just the thing for you. The heavy bag is basically just a regular punching bag but has a weight of 50 lbs or over, usually in the 150lbs range. I will break down this post into two parts, one for power and one for stamina. Before reading on, you might be interested in reading our How to Hang a Heavy Bag guide.
Power
If you want to build a stronger punch or kick, the mindset that you should use is to imagine each punch or kick will go right through the bag. As you will notice when you try this, it will put a lot of strain on your arms and hips. Remember to always place your lead foot forward, and move into each punch with your hips, this is where the power comes from. If you are inexperienced, you should use gloves with heavy padding for this until you get used to it. The heavy bag was developed to allow boxers (or any other martial artist) to utilize as many muscles as possible when punching (or kicking), make sure you use this to your advantage!
For punches, I usually do these for my Heavy Bag Workout with a small pause between each one:
- (left)Jab-(left)Jab-(right)Hook
- (left)Hook-(right)Hook
- (left)Hook-(right)Hook-(left)Elbow
For kicks, I usually do five roundhouse kicks with each leg, for about 3 sets each. That's a total of 30 kicks. You can also do this with knees or other types of kicks.
Try these out and see how they work for you, just remember to dig deep with each punch and kick!
Stamina
Stamina is very important, which is why I have developed this workout that will help you a lot (like it did for me). Basically, what you want to do is 30 seconds of executing a combination, 10 seconds of alternating jabs while jogging on the spot, etc. I broke it down for you in picture format so it is easier to understand:
Do this Heavy Bag Workout and I can assure you that you will be gasping for air at the end.
Hope you found this article useful. If you want to get a heavy bag yourself, you can check out the one below:
