Heavy Bag
Punching a heavy hanging bag in timed rounds of short combinations, turning your hips into each punch, as conditioning work.
- Primary muscles
- Front delts, Obliques
- Secondary
- Triceps, Abs, Calves, Middle chest
- Logged as
- Session: time, plus what the machine shows, such as distance and calories
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Bag work is conditioning with a skill to it: the hard part isn't hitting hard, it's keeping good form round after round as your shoulders tire. Wrap your hands and wear bag gloves, since knuckles and wrists take a beating fast without them. Three-minute rounds with a minute of rest are the classic format, and keeping your hands up and feet moving between combinations is what turns it into a workout rather than standing and swinging.
How to do it
Wrap your hands and put on bag gloves, then stand at an angle to the bag, about an arm's length away, with your lead foot forward and your guard up.
Throw straight punches and hooks in short combinations, turning your hips into every punch and pivoting your rear foot on the rear straight.
Bring your hands back to your face after each punch and keep moving around the bag between combinations.
Work in rounds; three minutes on and one off is the classic, and the app runs the round timer. Enter the rounds at the end.
Common mistakes
Punching with the arms only
Power comes from turning your hips and pivoting your rear foot. Arm-only punches tire your shoulders and land weak.
Standing too close
Crowding the bag jams your punches. Stay about an arm's length away and step in for each combination.
Dropping your guard
Bring your hands back to your face after every punch. Lazy hands become a habit that's hard to break.
Skipping wraps and gloves
Wraps and gloves protect your knuckles and wrists. Hitting a heavy bag without them is a quick way to get hurt.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
