Heavy Bag

[Pam]

Nope not taking about my mom. I want to get one. I noticed they have some that are on the floor....there is a base that you fill with water so I wouldnt have to worry about finding a place to hang it. Either of you guys know anything about these? Is it easy to get the hang of punching it? I just feel like it would help me to release some of this tension and frustration I have inside.

Any thoughts? Advice?

[fish]

Pam,

I have and use a heavy bag on a regular basis.

The heavy bag provides one of the best workouts I have ever done. Five two minute rounds using a series of designed combinations of blows with a minute between rounds is capital T tough.

The primo way to go is to suspend the bag from a rafter with a sufficient area to permit it to swing in a complete circle. Then, after your blows get it going, you dance around it, striking, as it swings around and about you. There is tape of Ali doing this. It's inspirational.

Done properly, it’s a dance. Then you get into shadow boxing with moves. Phew !

I have a speed bag / heavy bag stand with, of course, both bags. I don’t remember total cost, but if you shop, soup to nuts, $200-$300.

The speed bag is fun. I place the stationary bike under it and ride and punch. It's another great workout. Good for the shoulders, too. Simple techniques easy to learn, more complex techniques maintain interest over time. As you get better, you get smaller and faster bags. All techniques available in Speed Bag Bible.

The combo rig takes up a lot of space. But it's worth it. Don't get it and place it away from your other equipment. You will be less likely to use it.

I am not sufficiently familiar with the water base type to be sure, but when I tried the one my brother's wife bought, I knocked the thing over at one blow, and I am a little guy. It was useless. I think you would knock it over too.

Proper punching technique is important to avoid wrist sprains and to increase effectiveness of blows, but it is easy to learn, and easy to find, on the net or in reasonably priced publications.

Added benefit.

It think it is a disservice when women are given the impression that they can easily offer effective unarmed physical resistance to a man in a "serious" situation. The strength differential is just too great under common circumstances. Testosterone, don't you know .

Heck, even I have learned it’s simple smarts to run from trouble.

But should all else fail, (viz. if and only if she has no weapon available and she cannot run away) if a woman knows WHEN to hit, HOW to hit, and, most importantly WHERE to hit, and she has practiced on a heavy bag so her blows are "heavy", she's got a better chance, if God forbid, she finds herself in a nightmare.

Get one.

fish

[Pam]

Thanks so much for the response fish. My biggest problem, well I wont get into that , but my second biggest problem...with regards to workout equipment... is space....I dont have any. In my familyroom I have a couch, chair, ottoman, 7' pool table, TV, one of those big bb arcade game things (which was bought thinking it would actually fold up much smaller than it does, cage w/lat attachment ;D, treadmill, GHR, plate tree, db's....the list goes on. Dont ask me how I managed to arrange it so the kids could still play down there but I did. Anway I also have a finished ceiling....come to think of it....ok tell me what you think about this....

I have a room down there that right now just full of junk and my elipse..its about 6'x12'...unfinished ceiling...sheetrock on the walls. I was going to turn it into a small "kitchen" for the kids but thought it would be put to better use as my art room...now im wondering about hanging a bag in there....would that be big enough? My only other choice is the garage, unheated...its 30 below zero here now...nuff said.

I was wondering if the floor bags would tip over....what do you think about the 6'x12' space? Too small? I used to take karate and loved sparring...I think a bag would not only be a great workout but fun.

Thanks for your input fish....I really appreciate it.

[jack]

Pam,the 6x12 space would work but you would be limited to a 180 deg. range of motion and the back wall would change the movement of the bag. It would be a tight fit in the 6' direction for both the user and the bag. The suspended bag is definately the way to go though. Even the floor mounted bag will require a lot of space for any kind of a workout. Is your garage insulated. If it is you could get one of the small wall mounted gas heaters at HD that would keep it warm enough for a workout. Don't forget you've got to make room for a reverse hyper in your family room.

I didn't see the 6x12 space but I just don't think you've got enough space in your family room for a heavy bag. The garage with some supplementary heat may be your best option.

When in doubt,"mace em" .

[Pam]

Jack the room was back in the corner where the weider thing was....I could hang the bag in the garage...I may not be able to leave it up though...need to check the space I guess...I'd rather have it in the house just for convenience sake but I guess the garage is an option. The garage is insulated, the walls and ceiling anyway...but the door isnt and there are major leaks around the garage door and back door. I'll have to do some more checking but I would really love one of those.

Thanks for your input.

[fish]

Pam,

There is another option.

I have seen situations where the bag is mounted on a pulley system.

Bag ceiling mount is in the center of the room - or wherever you want it to be. Bag chain connects to cordage. The cordage (rope or cable) runs from the bag chain, up to a pulley which is attached to the bag ceiling mount, across the ceiling to another pulley at the junction of the ceiling and the wall, and down to a cleat attached to the wall or floor.

If the bag is mounted far enough from the wall, you don’t even have to run the cord across the ceiling, but rather can just run it directly from the ceiling mount to the wall anchor.

When using the bag, the bag is pulled up and the cordage made fast to the cleat or other wall anchor.

When not using the bag, it is lowered to the floor and moved out of the way.

This is actually easy, and pretty neat. If the bag is too heavy, one can use a small b&t to gain mechanical advantage.

Depending on where you place the ceiling mount, you can either leave the cordage attached to the top of the bag when it’s lowered down, or disconnect the cordage from the bag and draw the attachment back up to the ceiling mount.

I hope I've made this concept clear. It’s sorta like our new lat attachments. Imagine the heavy bag attached to cable that runs through the upper pulley, then that cable runs across the top and down to where the cable is clipped into the anchor. Can you see it ?

Not much room in that cage, or you could do it there.

fish

[fish]

Pam,

One more thing,

You don't need much space if you hang the bag from the ceiling. A couple a three feet behind the bag perhaps. In my situation, it is the stand that takes up space, even more than required for the heavy bag since it also carries the speed bag platform.

Jack is correct that the back wall will restrict the movement of the bag, but not enough to worry about. Mine is hanging from a stand with restricted clearance behind and to both sides. If you hang yours from the ceiling at the mid point of the wall, you'll be able to move side to side. Just don't hang it deep in a corner.

Foot movement is not essential to an exhausting workout with a heavy bag.

Hey, how did the recovery from the pneumonia go ?

pax

fish