Which heavy bag is best for a boxer?

Starting off with boxing is not too heavy on the pocket. At least as a newbie, you just need a passion for this sport. Initially, all that you need to be a boxer is your Gloves, Hand Wraps, Head Gear, Mouth Guard, and a heavy bag. The heavy bag is the most important of all. Practicing with a heavy bag helps you increase the power in your punch, maintain stability and coordination as well as it improves your self-defense skills. If you aim to practice at your home or you just want to be physically fit, you will surely need a heavy bag of your own. However, if you join a gym to practice you may not need it necessarily except for releasing your stress at home. There is a wide variety of heavy bags available and you must wonder which one will suit you the best. Here, we have compiled some detailed information on different heavy bags to help you choose your most important equipment.

Heavy bags range in weight from 70 pounds to 150 pounds and may vary in the material with which it is filled. Normally, thinking about the heavy bags what comes to the mind is a long cylindrical bag hanging from the ceiling as shown in the movies, however, in reality, there are heavy bags with following shapes, sizes and materials that you should know about because the more the information the better your decision will be.

Free Standing Heavy Bags

Free-standing punching bags are not that typical bags falling from the ceiling rather these are mounted on some heavy base. These are made of plastic composite with a strong and hard base which can be filled with any material of choice. These bags have a spring-loaded design which makes it return to the fighter whenever hit. These are a bit shorter than the hanging ones and are easier to kick though harder to uppercut. It is used most commonly to practice low kicks. It proves to be a good option as it is very easy to move them to any place wherever you wish to practice your techniques. Freestanding heavy bags are best for you if you aim to tone your muscles.

Double End Bags

If you want to work on your reflex and improve how you strike back, you need a double end bag. It is immobile as it is fixed in one position from ceiling to floor or between two supports of a stand. However, it is designed with a freer range of motion so they strike back providing you the perfect opportunity to practice responding to your opponents in the ring and sharpen your reflexes via improving your timing, rhythm, and speed. Double-end bags can be found in a range of sizes according to the need of a fighter.

Speed Bags

As the name indicates speed bags move fast and bounce back to improve the timing and strength of your reflexes, endurance as well as hand-eye coordination. For a speedy snap, they are designed to be small and light. Mostly the bags are filled with air and hanged from ceiling or wall with some support. Punching a speed bag is a complete body exercise as it involves the movements of your arms, back, core and legs. It is a common gadget for practicing traditional boxing and even if you are not into boxing, punching a speed bag provides you with aerobic exercise opportunity and keeps your body in shape.

Body Heavy Bags

Another type of bag is the Body Heavy Bags which stand straight on the ground like the free-standing heavy bags but these are designed in the shape of a standing human with arms, torso, and face. So that you may practice toe to toe with this bag. It helps you to practice your punches, kicks, take downs, submissions, strikes and other techniques with something like the shape of a human. This bag is vital for those who aim to go for MMA, wrestling or grappling type of sports.

Uppercut bags

Uppercut bags are used especially by professional athletes for focused uppercut practice as well as straight punches. These bags are also hanged with ceiling or maybe with wall depending upon the size and shape of the bag.

Surface Material for Punching Bags

Punching bags come with a variety of materials. The standard is leather due to its durability and comfort ability but it tends to be costly. So other materials available for punching bags are synthetic such as synthetic leather, vinyl, and nylon. Though these man-made materials are not comparable to the leather they have some advantages such as nylon and vinyl are good for humid places because they are resistant to molds. Some punching bags are made up of canvas which is affordable as compared with leather.

Filling Material for Punching Bags

The bags can be filled with material of one’s own choice such as with sand, water, air, and textile.

Choosing and shopping for a punching bag is a hectic job. It is important for you to know which punching bag will suit you the best. After all this information you must be able to know and decide which bag would be perfect for you according to your goals, facilities, your size, weight, and your needs. There are some factors which we have already mentioned above. Apart from these factors, weight is the most vital component which cannot be forgotten. There are different weight ranges available for adults as well as for youngsters. The heavy bags for adults have strong filling material and the punching bag for adults is ab bit softer.

Considering all these factors when you reach up to the level where you must need to know what weight and length of the bags you should choose for practice. The method to estimate the weight for your practice is that you should divide your weight by 2 and the resulting value will be the weight of your punching box that you should choose. Such as if you weigh a 100 pounds you need a bag of approximately 50 pounds, size and height are entirely dependent on the size and height of the athlete.