Boxing Bag Exercises

The heavy bag is a primary tool for boxers to improve their strength and conditioning. Drills on the bag are the best way for beginners to develop and for experienced boxers to perfect new combinations. Exercises on the bag improve strength, coordination, cardiorespiratory fitness and technique.

  1. Aerobic Exercise

    • A quick way to lose a fight is to become fatigued before your opponent does. Working on on the heavy bag will improve your aerobic fitness level. Try two- minute rounds of throwing straight punches, jabs, hooks, and upper cuts while circling the bag. Keep the punches light to moderate intensity. Keep moving. Keep your hands up and your feet moving when you're not throwing punches. Work up to three-minute rounds.

    Strength and Power

    • The heavy bag weighs 40 to 100 pounds. Hitting it repeatedly will tone the muscles in your chest, shoulders, arms and back. Twisting to do proper hooks and upper cuts will also tone your abdominal and oblique muscles. Spend time hitting the bag as hard as you can, mixing in some jabs, but mostly going for knock-out shots. Throw in some squats between shots to work your legs.

    Coordination and Technique

    • Slower punches and combinations will allow you to work on your coordination and hitting technique. Try wrapping your hands, but leave the gloves off and punch slowly. If you are using correct technique, only the knuckles of your index and middle finger should show signs of impact. Taping them will keep them from bleeding but they will show redness when your hands are unwrapped. This will let you know if you are using correct technique. Also, use a mirror and watch your elbows. Elbows should stay in tight to the body. They can lift up briefly during a punch but should return directly to the on-guard position in front of your face and chest.
      The heavy bag is also a good tool to practice combinations. Try different combinations. A simple one-two exercise, which is a jab followed by a right cross, is a good beginning exercise. From there mix it up. Try one-one-two: two jabs and a right cross. Move on to one-one-two-three: Jab, jab, right cross, left upper cut. Keep playing until you have mastered combinations of jabs, punches, upper cuts and hooks. You can assign them any number you want, it's just quicker to follow along with numbers. You can even throw in some defensive techniques such as rolls and catches and assign them numbers (see Resources).

    All-in-One

    • The 30-30-30 is a traditional bag exercise that works your cardio system, power and technique. Start with 30 seconds of moderate jabs and punches. Use correct technique or you'll hurt your wrists. Move around the bag. After 30 seconds, start throwing punches as quickly as you can and circle the bag while jogging in place. Keep your knees up as you jog. This will really tax your cardiorespiratory system. The last 30 seconds should be hard hits. Throw all the strength you've got at the bag. You can move around a little but try to focus on staying in a good stance and imagining knocking your opponent out. Repeat the 30-30-30 once for a total of a three-minute round.