The Benefits of a Punching Bag Workout

1. Improves Boxing Technique

One of the most apparent benefits of hitting the punching bag is that it improves your boxing technique. Boxing is not just about throwing punches; it’s about executing each movement with proper form and precision. Hitting the bag while practicing good form will improve your punches, body movement, and overall performance.

Unlike shadowboxing-- another popular drill to help with technique-- aqua punching bag workout allows you to experience the force of impact when you punch. This way you can practice as if you are actually in contact with an opponent.

2. Improves Strength & Power

Your heavy bag workout will focus on building as many muscles as possible, which makes it a great exercise for building strength and enhancing power. The muscles in the arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, and core are all engaged during a heavy bag training session, making it an effective full-body workout.

With a heavy bag, you can practice punching the bag with the greatest possible force which, over time, improves your upper body strength and power.

3. Builds Your Endurance

Giving it your all in a heavy bag workout is no easy feat. This extra challenge will push you beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone, which will build your endurance over time. The more you push past your limits, the more you'll be able to endure.

The impacts on your endurance will be noticeable both when you do punching bag workouts as well as when you practice other forms of fitness and daily activities. Whether you're in the ring for some rounds of sparring or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, training with a boxing heavy bag will help you keep going.

4. Improves Coordination, Balance & Stability

Generally, during heavy bag workouts, you’re not just standing still and punching the bag. You're moving around the bag and incorporating footwork into the workout. Circling the bag and throwing punching combinations will improve your balance and coordination.

Staying on your toes and transferring your weight from one foot to the other while moving around is a great way to build balance and stability. Also, it’s not just your body that is working. While throwing off punches, the bag comes back suddenly and unexpectedly. For this reason, you have to remain alert and attentive. This improves sensory-motor coordination and your reaction time.

5. Reduces Stress

Punching bag workouts can improve your mood, decrease anger, and relieve stress. It is both a form of physiological and mental stress relief. Physically, exercise promotes the production of neurohormones like norepinephrine, which is associated with heightened cognitive function and improved mood. Mentally, hitting the heavy bag acts as a symbolic release of stress when you imagine the bag as a representative of your burdens.

The effect of stress on your health is well documented. During times of stress, high amounts of the hormone cortisol are released in the body. Cortisol increases appetite and drives those dreaded cravings. It affects your sleep, cognition, and energy levels. Further, stress increases visceral fat, which is linked to metabolic disturbances such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In today’s world full of high-stress responsibilities, it’s imperative that we have healthy methods of relieving our worries.