Got a heavy bag? Now what? Read our article to get the answer.
Bought a heavy bag to make you fit and active. But wait! The workout with a heavy bag is making you exhausted instead of keeping you enthusiastic. If that’s the case, you are not doing it right. You need to understand the real striking techniques and strategies that help you with your fitness goals and the skill to generate to build the thinking of how to train on a heavy bag.
To make your training a lot easier, we jot down a few tips you should keep in mind and a few mistakes you should avoid as a beginner trainee.
3 Things You Need for Heavy Bag Training:
To get trained with a heavy bag, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on equipment. But you do need high-performance and decent quality equipment. Let’s have a quick look at the mandatory things you need to have for your heavy bag training.
1: An excellent quality heavy bag
We all know that a sturdy heavy bag is going to be the first item you need to have. To make your training effective, you need to make sure that the heavy punching bag can withstand a lot of torture and punishment.
2: Specialized padded gloves or hand wraps
Wearing padded gloves will keep you from any serious injury while heavy bag training. Good quality gloves also help with the technique faster with a good pace. If you’re not comfortable with gloves, you can use thick threaded hand wraps to protect your hand’s ligament and tissues.
You can use both gloves and hand wrap at the same time for an extra layer of protection if your punching bag workout is rigorous and can cause injury.
3: Wide space to move around
An effective workout needs ample space to move around comfortably. A congested place won’t allow you to move freely and you can’t build your punching technique. Always install your bag at a place where you can move around in a circle.

Tips about how to train on a heavy bag:
Punching the heavy bag randomly can be a cinch but punching the heavy bag with a real strategy is something you need to get trained for and not everyone’s cup of tea.
Now let’s dive in and be ready to get some tips that’ll help you with a punching bag workout.
1: Use your entire body
One of the most valuable tips you’ll get is this one. Don’t ever hesitate to move your body freely during the training. Body movement will allow you to attack more powerfully and more explosively. Don’t just move your arms, work on entire body movement when you’re not throwing punches.
2: Focus on balance
When you move your body continuously, you may lose your balance sometimes. An effective workout with heavy bag needs your focus on your balance. For that, you need to stay firm to the ground when hitting the bag.
3: Breathe smoothly and continuously
Breathing will help you to stay calm and relaxed during the workout. Try to inhale and exhale continuously so you don’t get exhausted after 3 minutes of workout only. Breathing rhythmically allows you to conserve your energy to put in your game.
4: Work the entire bag
Don’t throw punches only at one spot. The whole bag is yours’ so utilize it all. Practice your best techniques from high to low on the bag. The whole bag is yours so use it in the best way possible.
5: Know your distance
You should have a clear idea about how far you’re gonna stand from the bag. You shouldn’t stand too close or too far from the bag. Keep a certain distance to the bag so that your punches land according to your arm’s length. Distance also depends on what type of workout you’re doing.
6: Snap your punches
Snapping your punches is the technique that’ll increase your speed and power. Don’t wait for your punch or hit to get absorbed into the bag. Take your arm back the moment you strike the bag. Workout with punching bag will be a lot easier and quicker to learn.
4 Mistakes You Should Avoid as a Beginner of Heavy Bag Training
Most beginners make the following mistakes while training. These mistakes won’t let them gain anything from the training. When you’re a beginner in heavy bag training, you should avoid these blunders to ace the heavy bag training.
1: Don’t let the bag swing
You just strike a punch to the heavy bag and now your bag is swinging like a pendulum. You’ll lose control over the bag. You don’t want that. This mistake won’t ever make you a pro in punching the heavy bag. Don’t wait for the bag to come after a swing, just hit it before swinging.
“Put the bag where you want to put it“
2: Don’t hold your breath
Most beginners get so focused on the bag and the body that they forget to breathe. Holding your breath makes you exhausted and tired way earlier than usual. You should keep breathing from the first punch to the last one during a workout with punching bag.
“Inhale before the punch and exhale after the punch”
3: Avoid pushing your punch
When you push your punch, you’ll drag the bag this way and let the bag swing, and you’ll lose control. To avoid this situation, you should get your hand back as soon as you hit the heavy bag. Don’t settle your hand on the bag for more than 1-2 seconds.
“Take your hand back after a strong strike”
4: Don’t get out of the range
Most of the time beginners stand distant from the heavy bag. They get scared that the bag will swing and come directly at their face. If you avoid all other mistakes then you shouldn’t worry about this one. Keep a certain distance from the bag, neither too far nor too close.
“Always keep things under control”
FINAL THOUGHTS:
To ace the heavy bag hitting technique, you need to keep little tips in your mind. Training on a heavy bag is more difficult than training on a free-standing bag, so you need to make yourself comfortable with the bag first and then strike it with confidence.
We tried our best to help you with punching the heavy bag. Now that you came all the way, we are hoping you may improve your punching game with our tips.
Now you know what your next step should be after purchasing a heavy bag for yourself.
Chris Bent
Chris Bent is a professional MMA Trainer who has expertise in both Martial Arts and Karate and he loves to teach Men, Women and Kids.