subject: Purpose Of Using Heavy Bags In Boxing [print this page] A boxer's job is to knockout their opponentA boxer's job is to knockout their opponent. It's a tough job. Hitting a trained opponent that is moving to evade your punches is hard enough, but when they are also trying to hit you it can become almost impossible. So boxers train to make every punch count. When they hit, they have to know how to hit hard and they have to be in good enough condition to keep hitting hard, round after round.
To achieve this goal and do their job, boxers use heavy bags. A heavy bag is a long, cylindrical shaped bag, densely filled with foam and hung from the ceiling. It can weigh anywhere from 40 to 200 pounds. The lighter bags move when hit, so the boxers have to chase them around and use their footwork. The heavier bags hardly move at all, unless the boxer has developed tremendous punching power.
To make a bag move takes two things, proper technique and proper conditioning. Proper technique will let the boxer hit with all the power their body can generate. A 140 pound fighter with proper technique can move a punching bag much better than a poorly trained man twice his size, even if that bigger man is very strong. Proper conditioning lets the fighter execute their technique over and over again with tiring enough to make them use poor technique.
Boxers hit the bag in rounds of two or three minutes, the exact same way they'd fight in the ring. They use gloves to protect their hands. In a typical heavy bag workout a boxer will move around, throwing combinations as hard and fast as they can. They'll simulate punching to the head and the body by punching high or low on the bag. The bag will swing back and forth and the boxer will move out of the way when it swings toward them, the same way they'd move away from an opponent.
The purpose of using a heavy bag in boxing are the excellent benefits that result. Consistent work on the heavy bag will give a boxer a toned upper body from all the punching. If they stay on their toes and move they will also develop phenomenal stamina in their thighs and calves. Finally, because of the aerobic and anaerobic demands that non-stop punching places on the body, a boxer will leave their heavy bag workouts with excellent cardiovascular conditioning.
