The Best Punching Bag

A punching bag is a cylindrical piece of equipment that is used to help boxers and athletes improve their punching power and technique. 

Punching bags come in different weights and sizes, but all of them are designed to take a pounding. They can be made from a variety of materials, including canvas, vinyl, leather, plastic, or synthetic materials.

There are many different types of punching bags available on the market, each of which is best suited to a particular training style.

Some types of punching bags are designed to be hung from the ceiling using rope while others require chains or weights on their base for stabilization purposes. 

Punching bags can also come in the form of human mannequins, some of which are equipped with face guards and small punching gloves over their hands.

Punching Bags

A punching bag is a cylindrical piece of equipment that is used to help boxers and athletes improve their punching power and technique. 

Punching bags come in different weights and sizes, but all of them are designed to take a pounding. They can be made from a variety of materials, including canvas, vinyl, leather, plastic, or synthetic materials.

There are many different types of punching bags available on the market, each of which is best suited to a particular training style.

Some types of punching bags are designed to be hung from the ceiling using rope while others require chains or weights on their base for stabilization purposes. 

Punching bags can also come in the form of human mannequins, some of which are equipped with face guards and small punching gloves over their hands.

Benefits of Punching Bags

There are a number of different punching bag workouts you can do to improve your upper and lower body power, agility, and endurance. These include the following:

Shadow Boxing

This is a workout done without a partner and usually involves you imagining an opponent in front of you and performing the punches and kicks appropriate for fighting that imaginary opponent. Shadow boxing improves coordination, timing, and fastness.

Heavy Bag Workouts

Working with a heavy bag is a great way to improve your punching power. You can do a variety of exercises with boxing equipment, such as throwing combinations of punches and kicks, working on your footwork, or practicing defensive moves.

Sprinting

Sprinting is a great workout for your legs and it also improves cardiovascular endurance. You can run sprints either on a track or on a treadmill, depending on the type of equipment you have access to.

Jump Rope

Skipping with a weighted jump rope is a great workout for your upper body because it uses your arms as well as your legs. It will improve both strength and speed, and it will also help with your coordination and agility.

When you do a punching bag workout, be sure to stretch out your muscles first and then do a couple of light warm-up sets before starting the heavy bag. 

Also, remember that good form is always more important than how hard you hit. To get the most benefits from your punching bag workouts, be sure to vary your routine often.

Punching bags are a great way to improve your punching power and technique. There are a number of different workouts you can do with a punching bag, and by varying your routine often, you can get the most benefit from using one. 

Features of Best Punching Bags

Types of Punching Bags

Based on the sport you’re involved in and the training objectives you have there are several different punching bag styles to consider. 

A heavyweight bag that is great for improving overall technique, will not be the right punching bag if your goal is to improve your rapidity and reaction time.

Similarly, a bag good for Muay Thai will not be the right bag for someone looking to train for sparring.

Hanging Bag

A hanging bag is hung with a chain from the ceiling, by connecting it to a wall mount or using a heavyweight bag stand. The chain used to hang the bag must be strong enough to hold the bag for a long time. 

To hang the bag, you’ll need to drill into the ceiling, if you don’t have a stand. Just a thought to bear in mind, think carefully about where you want to place the hanging punch bag. 

Once you’ve drilled through the ceiling it’s not easy to keep moving the location of the bag around. 

Freestanding Bag

Standing bags have a base upon which the bag sits on. It involves no drilling in the ceiling and no mount or stand is required. In terms of set-up, standing punching bags are easy to set up. 

Due to the free-standing nature of the bag, should you wish to move the location of the bag to train, you can do so relatively easily. 

Water or sand is used as a filling for standing bags, to provide stability. An average standing bag post filling weighs around 240+ pounds.

Muay Thai Bag (Kickboxing)

Muay Thai bags at first glance may look like a standard heavyweight bag, but they are not the same as a heavyweight bag. 

In appearance, a Muay Thai bag is longer and thinner and is designed primarily for kicking. It’s important you don’t get a bag that is heavier than 130 pounds, as these hurt to hit.

Muay Thai bags need to be hung from the ceiling or mounted on a stand for you to train with them. 

Heavy Bag

Many people will opt for the average heavyweight bag. This type of bag is suspended from the ceiling and is built to withstand high impact. This is the classic punching bag we’re all familiar with from Hollywood movies.

Heavy bags are good if you are looking to improve your general punching, kicking, power shots which ultimately help to improve technique, stamina, and power.

Selecting the right size of the heavyweight bag will ensure you’re offered sufficient resistance to train. Take your personal bodyweight and divide this into two. This helps you derive the weight your heavy bag should be. 

There are a few different types of heavy bags to consider:

• Round Heavy Bag - Teardrop bags or spherical heavy bags can be ideal to focus on certain body punches and achieve targeted kicks and punches.
• Angle Heavy Bag - Comprising a top-heavy design with a slimmer trunk and broader on top. This type of punch bag is ideal if you are seeking to throw hooks, uppercuts, and body shots. 

Speed Bag

This type of bag is an ideal option if you are looking to improve your punching quickness, strength, timing, and helps to improve endurance. 

From a size perspective, quickness bags are much smaller than a traditional heavyweight bag. They are filled with air and are suspended from a wall or ceiling via a platform. 

Double End Bag

A double-end bag is great to improve your timing and reflexes. A great tool to teach you how to counterpunch, hone your reflexes, enhancing your rapidity and hand-eye coordination. 

A double end bag will help you to develop rhythm and work on your overall movement. Typically they are mounted from a ceiling or wall. 

Uppercut Bag

Practicing and perfecting the uppercut is no easy feat. An uppercut bag is uniquely designed to enable the correct technique and power to execute a powerful punch.

Uppercut bags can also be used for jabs, crosses, and hooks along with a variety of other punches.

Uppercut bags can be suspended from a wall or ceiling. This punching bag is suitable for people who are fighting athletes. 

Wall Mounted Bag

Wall-mounted bags are great if you have limited room, as they don’t require room to swing. This style of punching bag is ideal if you have high or vaulted ceilings.

A good option if you are looking to engage in a wide range of training, especially straight punches, and looking to improve your fitness and enhance your technique. 

Human Opponent / Grappling Dummy

This type of bag looks most like a human opponent, hence the name. They are generally freestanding bags and are not mounted to a ceiling or wall. 

The grappling dummy bag is suitable if you want to practice all types of punch accuracy, as it allows you to select specific spots on the anatomy of the dummy to target and hit. Moves are commonly used in judo, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu. 

It’s also great if you have limited space at home.

Type of Drills/Sports Training

Which punching bag you shop for depends on the kind of sport you are training for and the kind of training drills you need to practice. 

What is your training goal? Cardio? Building strength? Endurance? Velocity? 

It is important to always seek professional advice and guidance for your training. 

Heavy Bag Drills

Heavyweight bag drills are a must for anyone wanting to improve on precision, endurance, fastness, and cardio. Great for people doing martial arts training and sparring. 

Punching Bag Drills

Anyone wanting to improve and increase fastness, power, endurance, and precision may want to have one or more of the below five punching bag drills in their training repertoire. 

• Kicking Drill - Kicking from your right leg, then switching to your left. Continuing to alternate between the two.
• Precision Drill - An ideal training for anyone practicing mixed martial arts and anyone seeking to improve targeted marks. 
• Quick Punch Drill - A basic drill, great for various contact sports, including sparring and mixed martial arts. 
• Pyramid Drill - Fantastic to build endurance for fighting and training and is an effective training technique for people practicing mixed martial arts. 
• Triple Skill Drill - Involves three basic combinations that morph into strikes and fighting techniques. Ideal for beginner-level mixed martial arts trainees.

Size & Weight

When you shop for a punching bag ensure that it matches your size and power. The recommended weight of a punching bag should be half of your weight. This provides the right amount of resistance.

Firmness

If you are interested solely in fitness then a softer bag is a good option. If however, your goal is to improve your power then search for a firmer bag that provides you with the right level of resistance and responsiveness.

Filling Material

You should think about the material the bag is filled with. This affects the firmness, weight, and comfort of the bag along with how much it costs. 

How durable are punching bags? If the bag tears or is damaged over time, can you repair it and how easy is it to repair/amend the filling? 

There are 4 main fillers for punching bags:

• Water - Bags with water are comfortable for the joints, reliable, and safer to punch. Water bags usually allow for easy filling. 
• Air - Most often used in speed bags, double-end bags, and quick reflex bags. Air is a cheap and convenient filler. The downside is they start deflating gradually over time and require refilling every week. 
• Sand - A sand filling is used for heavy punching bags. Sand is easy to fill and there’s no danger of leaks. Sand is a great option if you don’t want the bag to swing and the filling is strong. 
• Textile - Many punching bags are filled with bits of textiles. Textile fillings are ideal to reduce muscle strain and are easy on the joints. 

In standard and Muay Thai style heavyweight bags, a mixture of sand and textile filling is used.

Material

• Canvas - Canvas is a cheap material, so if you are on a modest budget you might opt for a cheaper bag with canvas.
• Plastic - Plastic is only used to make specific punching bags, such as punching bags with water filling. Not a great material for a heavyweight bag.
• Synthetic Leather - Less expensive than genuine leather, but it looks and feels like leather without the expense. This is what you should opt for if you are striving for good quality but don’t want to pay an arm and a leg. 
• Leather - Leather is the most expensive material, but if your budget allows you to shell out for it you are getting the best material that a punching bag is made of.

Price

There are many cheap and cheerful punching bags around the $50 mark ranging from the high-end quality models that can cost anywhere up to $500. 

It’s worth having a mid-range budget that allows you to buy high enough quality that is durable and meets your training needs. 

Warranty

Many brands of punching bags are covered by a warranty ranging from 1 to 3 years. Read the warranty descriptions before you place your order.