Benefits From Hitting a Punching Bag or Sand Bag

 Here are 5 reasons why the heavy bag should be incorporated into your regimen.

1. Cardio

A good solid heavy bag workout is a great way to  get your blood pumping and your lungs burning.  The high intensity of the exercise is great for increased anaerobic endurance and metabolism.  Pushing yourself to sustain longer periods of footwork and punch combos with fewer breaks will increase your overall cardiovascular endurance as well.  Also, the longer you can go, the more calories you will burn.

2. Strength

The punching motions used while hitting the bag, utilizes muscles that aren’t normally worked in an average weight training session.  Once you start to incorporate a bag workout into your routine, you will begin to see increased power and strength in your shoulders, back, arms, etc.  The intense movements of the punches tax your muscles more than the slow, gradual movements performed during resistance training.

The heavy bag will also strengthen the muscles of the core.  Punching and Kicking require rotation of the trunk muscles such as the abs and obliques, and so does the defensive techniques like bobbing and weaving.  After a good hard bag workout, you should feel the burn in your midsection – which will eventually lead to fat loss and toned abs.

3. Confidence

Not only will you feel better about yourself once you start to lose weight, you will also gain confidence in yourself from hitting the bag.  Since the punching and kicking motions are directly related to fighting, you will have increased confidence in your ability to defend yourself.

4. Coordination

Since footwork is an essential component of the heavy bag workout, over time your coordination skills will improve.  Not only will your feet become more coordinated, your hand-eye coordination will improve tremendously as you continue to punch the bag.

5. Reduce Stress

Probably one of the best results you’ll receive from the heavy bag workout is the stress relief.  I’m sure you could imagine how punching and kicking an object would do just that.  Take out your anger! Just imagine that the bag is someone or something you really want to punch – be creative .  When you look at it this way, the bag becomes a very inexpensive therapist.  It is also way cheaper than paying the fines and legal fees you would receive if you actually punched the person.