Boxing a punching bag is part of any fighter's regular routine, but working out with this kind of equipment can give you value even if you never plan to step into the ring. This is because a punching bag develops a variety of physical attributes important not only to boxing success but also to overall health and fitness.
Large Muscle Groups
When you hit a punching bag, the large muscles of your body drive the punch forward and absorb the impact of the strike. Muscles engaged by punches include the triceps in your upper arm, your deltoids and trapezius in the shoulder, and your latissimus dorsi in your upper back. Good punching form will also involve the abdominal muscles and abdominal obliques as you twist at the waist to drive the punch home.
Stabilizing Muscle Groups
Dozens of small stabilizing muscles in your forearm, shoulder, hips, knee and ankle engage whenever you land a punch on a punching bag. This helps support and protect your joints during the rigorous impact of the strike. For example, your forearm muscles will keep your wrist from buckling, which would otherwise risk a twist or even a break.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Dedicated and vigorous work on a punching bag can elevate your heart rate, developing your cardiovascular fitness and reducing your risk of circulatory problems such as high blood pressure or stroke. According to health-resource website HealthStatus, a 150-pound person will burn about 200 calories in 30 minutes of boxing with a punching bag. By way of comparison, that's more calories than you would burn lifting weights or doing light yoga, but fewer than you would burn while running or cycling.
Muscular Endurance
You develop muscular endurance by asking your muscles to perform more repetitions than they are used to of any given range of motion. One punch won't develop muscular endurance, but the hundreds of punches you'll throw in a session with a punching bag may. It's the repeated impact, which your body must resist, that best develops this attribute, rather than pushing the punch forward and retracting your arm. For this reason, bag work develops endurance much more effectively than shadowboxing.
References
- "The Art of Expressing the Human Body"; Bruce Lee; 1998
- HealthStatus: Calories Burned Estimator
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