How to Use a Punching Bag Properly

Preparation

• 1

  Make sure both of your hands and wrists are wrapped securely to lessen the impact they will sustain when they hit the bag. This will also help prevent sprains and jammed knuckles. Ensure that the gloves are laced up securely and all straps (if applicable) are fastened.

• 2

  Fasten the bag to its stand securely. This is usually by means of a hook built onto the bag that locks onto an eye on the apparatus. Make sure all hooks and connectors are secure. This is important regardless of whether you're using a speed bag or a heavy bag.

• 3

  Weigh down the bag (if necessary) to keep it in place and prevent injury to the wrists and hands. Many punching bag stands come with small poles on the base of the stand that will support weight plates. The amount of weight used to keep the stand in place should be proportional to the weight of the bag; a 100-pound bag should have about 100 pounds of weight to keep the stand in place.

Moving With the Bag

• 4

  Learn to move around and with a heavy bag before hitting it. Regardless of the training goal (boxing training, fitness, learning to deliver a punch), it is at best marginally effective when it and the boxer are stationary.
  To move most efficiently, stay on your toes while moving left and right around the bag by pushing off the foot opposite the desired direction of movement. Push the bag into motion, then move with it to get a more realistic and challenging approach to hitting it.

• 5

  Focus on maintaining an athletic stance when using the speed bag. The speed bag is more about rhythm and timing on short punches than actual fitness, though there is a benefit to upper-body endurance. Movement around it is less important than the strikes on the bag. For the speed bag, stay slightly bent at the knees.

• 6

  Use the moving heavy bag to learn defense via the weave, a twisting of the upper body away from danger. Staying on the toes, put the bag in motion by pushing it forward to emulate a moving target that will swing back toward the boxer. Ducking left or right will help defensively; Bodybuilding.com also cites general movement with the bag as a strong cardiovascular exercise.

Working the Bag

• 7

  Don't just stand right in front of the heavy bag and simply throw a punch from the shoulder at it. Technique is important, and it begins with posturing. A right-handed boxer will stand with the left foot forward, weight slightly on the back foot. This will allow the left hand to be the jab hand, while the stronger hand will throw harder punches like the uppercut and the hook.

• 8

  Use the speed bag specifically for jab practice. Extend through the bag, alternating the lead foot, to try a jab with the other hand.The ideal punch, either on a bag or in a match, will result in the arm fully extended through the punch when it lands on its target. For a jab on the heavy bag, the front arm should extend quickly forward then retract back to a blocking position by the face. Typically, the jab is meant to be a punch to the face, so a jab to the heavy bag should be higher on the bag--eye level is ideal).

• 9

  Use the heavy bag to practice so-called "power punches." The heavy bag was originally designed to help boxers gain more strength on hooks and uppercuts. Proper execution of those punches is another benefit. On both of these types of punches, the body should rotate at the waist, the same way as if you were swinging a bat or a golf club toward the bag. The front should leads the punch, and the back hand trails through. As with the jab, the punch should finish with the arm fully extended for maximum power.