Buying a punching bag: need advice from someone who uses/has one (gym, yoga)
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I'm 5'11"(180cm), 194 lbs(88kg, a bit chubby) and am a total begginer. I have some karate and taekwondo experience but that was way too long ago to actually matter. I intend to buy myself a punching bag and after some researching here's the basics of what I found:
It needs to be about half my weight (so around 100lbs/45kg), filled with water ot textile and have a height of around 50-60 inches (120/150cm).
In a local store I found 2 options: one is 80 lbs (35kg) 50 inch (120cm) and the other is 100 lbs (45kg) 60 inch (150cm). Both are textile filled. Which one seems better for me?
My biggest problem so far is the fact that my appartment has a high ceiling - around 9'7" (292cm). From what I have seen online it seems the perfect height is when the height of the punching bag matches your own (meaning my face faces it's uppermost part). The chain itself seems roughly 20 inches (50cm) and with a punching bag with a height of 50 inches (120 cm) I am left with it's lowest part facing my face which doesn't seem good. With the larger bag (60inches/150cm) things are a bit better but still far from perfect (my face barely reaches the middle of the bag).
How fatal is that? Is it very bad/stupid to make it so high?
(I did look at punching bags that stand on the ground but they are literally 2 times more expensive and I don't have that kind of cash so it's not really an option. Same thing goes for those stands that you can place the bag on instead of the ceiling - not an option).
Here's a rough sketch of how the bag would look in proportion to myself with the 2 options I described (numbers are in centimeters and not feet/inches, sry about that) - http://pasteboard.co/17f53Iuh.png
Last edited by irrelevant; 10-03-2015 at 10:33 PM..
Reason: Fixed link
I'm 5'11"(180cm), 194 lbs(88kg, a bit chubby) and am a total begginer. I have some karate and taekwondo experience but that was way too long ago to actually matter. I intend to buy myself a punching bag and after some researching here's the basics of what I found:
It needs to be about half my weight (so around 100lbs/45kg), filled with water ot textile and have a height of around 50-60 inches (120/150cm).
In a local store I found 2 options: one is 80 lbs (35kg) 50 inch (120cm) and the other is 100 lbs (45kg) 60 inch (150cm). Both are textile filled. Which one seems better for me?
My biggest problem so far is the fact that my appartment has a high ceiling - around 9'7" (292cm). From what I have seen online it seems the perfect height is when the height of the punching bag matches your own (meaning my face faces it's uppermost part). The chain itself seems roughly 20 inches (50cm) and with a punching bag with a height of 50 inches (120 cm) I am left with it's lowest part facing my face which doesn't seem good. With the larger bag (60inches/150cm) things are a bit better but still far from perfect (my face barely reaches the middle of the bag).
How fatal is that? Is it very bad/stupid to make it so high?
(I did look at punching bags that stand on the ground but they are literally 2 times more expensive and I don't have that kind of cash so it's not really an option. Same thing goes for those stands that you can place the bag on instead of the ceiling - not an option).
Here's a rough sketch of how the bag would look in proportion to myself with the 2 options I described (numbers are in centimeters and not feet/inches, sry about that) - Pasteboard — Uploaded Image
There is no way you can bolt a punching bag setup into an apartment ceiling. Even if you bolt it into a stud it will still be too much force when you hit or kick it.
I have tried attaching a punching bag to a major support beam in the basement of a house. It was ok for punching or muay thai style round kicks but for power kicks like sidekicks it seemed like it was too much stress on the support beam. What worked out well was setting up an old swing set in the backyard and hanging the punching bag on that.
Its better to get a Century Wavemaster than pay $$$ for apartment repairs. Even better do bodyweight calisthenics like John Peterson's "Pushing yourself to Power" or Matt Furey's "Combat Conditioning" and forget the punching bag.
My biggest problem so far is the fact that my appartment has a ..........
And this is where I stopped reading.
If you live in an apartment, there is no way you can have a heavy bag. You will be evicted sooner than you can say "jab, jab, hook, cross". Not only do you need to install into a stud/beam for safety, but when you hit a bag it is LOUD. Louder than the most understanding of neighbors would put up with.
Join a gym that has boxing/heavy bags. That will be your best bet.
all I can tell you is that the optimum height for a heavy bag is to have the top of your head--your height--to be even with a line about 3/4ths up the bag from the bottom of it.
I would go with the 80 lb. bag. Wear wrist wraps which they have now so your don't have to tape them. They'll be with the boxing gloves at your sporting goods store.
For gloves I like the 8 oz. ones for hitting the heavy bag. For the speed bag I usually just wear anything I have that's light, like an old work glove or evne a golf glove. You don't need any padding, just a thin layer of leather to keep your knuckles from getting scraped.
they DO have kick-bags that stand on their own, ya know. They are quite a bit lighter than the ones you're talking about and stand on a anchored base about 30" diameter and about 10" high. they're OK to hit like you would a heavy bag, to practice body shots, but they're also made more for martial arts kicks too. But these are good for an apartment. (BTW_-are you sure your landlord is OK with you hanging a heavy bag?) LOL. You do know you have to screw those into a ceiling joist, right? Makes a pretty big hole. Plus the noise of its gonna be heard from an upstairs neighbor if you have one.
The one drawback I don't like form those portable kick bags is that to me it seems that base gets in the way of my feet, like if I move in for a hook to the midsection or a upper-cut. So ya have to keep your foot back just a little more than you would with a hanging bag, maybe about half a foot or so, which doesn't sound like much but I notice it all the time and its annoying, throws off your technique and really saps power from uppercuts.
UHHHHHHH, wut......someone actually plans on hanging a punching bag, LOL, in an apartment?????
Do you like getting evicted and sued????
He is going to hang it and use it 1 - 3 x times top and then never use it again.
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