For the past week, I have been working out on my punching bag (the water/air Hydro one) for about 40 minutes. I do various sets of kicks and punches for my left and right side. I do this daily, except for Sunday, which I rest on. My question is, could this be harmful for my body in the long run? Should I cut it down to maybe 4 times a week? If I should cut down, what should I do in the other days? Lift weights? Run?
My purpose is to tone my body and be extremely quick, but also powerful. I don’t want to bulk up too much, but maybe I should. I’m only 5’4" 120lbs.
What do you think I should do? Give any suggestions. Thanks for your time
“It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”
I don’t see how 40 minutes a day could be harmful to your body - however, it might be harmful to your skills if it’s all you’re doing. Too much bagwork to the exclusion of shadowboxing and padwork can be harmful to your balance.
Depends on your contact level. When doing Muay Thai I always used wraps when hitting the heavy bag or when hitting hard. And I strapped my ankles too. I realise that on the street you won’t have wraps but on the street you won’t be punching for 40 minutes either.
Everything in moderation. Treat your body well, and it will reward you.
Your bag routine sounds fine. You might want to mix it up with other bag tools, such as the speed bag or double string bag.
Lifting and putting on about 10 lbs of mass should be good for you if you want to do it. The additional muscle fibers can increase your muscular endurance and help maintain proper structure while striking. Don’t worry, 10 lbs won’t slow you down if you keep stretching and hitting the bags.
The only thing wrong with constant heavy bag is you might get bored.
Eating urinal cakes will probably not make you fat. It probably will make you throw up, though. I have no empirical evidence to back up these theories, however.
This has been a completely pointless post. I ought to find something productive to do.
I do use gloves, otherwise my hands wouldn’t last that long. As far as doing other things, I don’t really know what else to do. I only have 2-3 months experience in Villari’s which I took a year ago. I don’t have any forms to practice.
I’m doing bag work to get in shape for Praying Mantis kung fu, which I plan on starting in 2 weeks. I want to be strong, quick, and flexible by the time that starts so I will be able to pick it up quicker. Thanks for your opinions so far,
“It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”
If you’re talking strictly bag work, I have some advice for you. Make sure your punches are solid, and make sure your base is correct for your kicks. I have been putting some time into the heavy bag, and I really did a number on my shoulders with the massive amount of hooks that I’ve been throwing (they’re hooks from Praying Mantis, but I was inspired to sharpen them up after watching a lot of boxing :)). It also didn’t help my reverse/cross punches, because my shoulders were already taking some punishment, so I had to stop the bag work for about a week (I did a lot of stretches, and a cool pushup routine that I found from Roy Harris’s site that helped me keep my shoulders together).
I’ve also twisted my knee with improper (read: sloppy) planting of the base foot for roundhouse kicks. I’ve really been watching that, and sharpening the kicks now.
I don’t know about punishment in the long run, but I only work the bag once or twice a week now, but I also spend time doing some type of kung fu shadow boxing (using the heavy bag as a general “place holder” not really striking it) to build things like flow, accuracy, and footwork. I’d do more forms, but the street in front of my house is too freakin’ busy.
I also work the bag bare handed. I know that’s not the best thing to do, but I use Dit Da Jow, and I still have my dainty “artist hands” I’m conditioning my hands this way, only because I don’t want to go get bag gloves. Also because I use more than just the fist. I also strike the bag with knife hands, ridge hands, open palms, tiger claw (heel palm, then finger ripping), back hand/fist, forearms, and elbows. One thing I found out back in the day. If you’ve done Iron Palm (even if you didn’t really master it), the conditioning alone lets you really rip into the bag for a very long time without showing any real type of wear on your hands (abrasions, swelling, or bruising).
Jaguar Wong
[i]“If you learn to balance a tack hammer on your head
then you learn to head up a balanced attack!”
If you are doing the bag work to get you ready for PM than I would suggest you stop.
Without instruction, you will likely just build bad habbits that will be hard to break.
JWT
If you pr!ck us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that the villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. MOV
I’m conditioning my hands this way, only because I don’t want to go get bag gloves. Also because I use more than just the fist. I also strike the bag with knife hands, ridge hands, open palms, tiger claw (heel palm, then finger ripping), back hand/fist, forearms, and elbows. One thing I found out back in the day. If you’ve done Iron Palm (even if you didn’t really master it), the conditioning alone lets you really rip into the bag for a very long time without showing any real type of wear on your hands (abrasions, swelling, or bruising).