Boxing has many benefits: It’s great cardio, won’t crush your credit card (you can set yourself up at home for around $300), and it lets you hammer on a fixed object with your lingering Spartan rage, which is really nice when you’re thinking about your many, many enemies.
But you can’t just run out and start hitting things. (I mean, you can, but it will damage your hands, and you’ll need those to wrap Christmas presents.) And presumably you’re not trying to concuss anyone. So you need a punching bag.
“Beating up that bag will get you a hell of a workout,” says the man in Manny Pacquiao’s corner, legendary trainer Freddie Roach. “I still make all my fighters use them. Mitts may look a little flashier, but the heavy bag is great for raw strength and power.” Read on for his tips on how to get started.
Find a bag with the right weight. Unless you have a fight scheduledin three months, which you don't, don't go equating heavy bags withYour Masculinity. Available at your neighborhood big-box sportinggoods store, heavier bags offer more resistance—they fight back—butyou're here for cardio, too. Shoot for 80 lbs. Anything less and yourbag's gonna start swinging freely, and yes we laughed while writingthat too.
"I weigh about 145 lbs., and an 80-pound. bag gives me enoughresistance and movement to stay with it," Roach says. And while youmight as well stick with the brands you know—Century, Everlast,Title— Roach says, he's never really had a problem with any heavybag. They'll all fall apart after a while, but that tends to happenwith objects you pummel with your fists.
Get a stand. Please resist the urge to save a couple hundred and hangthe bag from a beam. Unless you live in a repurposed warehouseapartment or former meat factory, hanging 80 pounds of stuffing fromyour house and then whaling on it could do bad things to the upstairsflooring situation. Avoid water stands too; they’re not as reliableas proper heavy bag stands. A good stand will set you back about$100. To this day Roach works on one in his Vegas garage.
Protect your hands. Real leather gloves are worth the investment, says Billy Vaughan, co-owner and trainer at Title Boxing Club in Indianapolis and a guy who fought professionally in MMA for 10 years. They’ll run you about $99 but last for two or three years. (Cheaper models, he says, might disintegrate in weeks if you’re a heavy hitter.) Hand wraps are also crucial (and like $5). “As long as you’re consistent with the wraps and spread them out over the knuckles to the first finger, it’s gonna work for you,” says Roach, who adds that everyone will find his own way to do it
Pick up a speed bag, because why not. About $60, it’ll help with the hand-eye coordination, and you’re already there buying boxing stuff.
Get to work. “When you’re doing bag work you’re constantly punching,” Vaughan says. Punch nonstop for two-and-a-half minutes, and for the last 30 seconds basically lose your shit on the bag. (“Learn some combinations,” Roach says. “A jab-hook-right hand is a very good combo.”) Take a minute off, then return for the next round. Start that process for four rounds, then increase to 8, then 12. “No one really has a fight coming up,” Vaughan says, “The idea is to get in shape, cut the B.S., and hit the bag.”
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