punch bags?

half_life_man

do punch bags help tone your whole upper body, I want to start doin about 20 mins of punching everyday. Do u think my upper body will tone a lot over the next few months if i do 20 mins everyday? Also does it tone the back (well)?

Cindy Love

Ive been back training hard for the last about 3-4 months.

I train about 4 times maybe 5 times a week. I do a mixture of standard cardio (jogging) and weights (all the usual suspects-mostly core movements and recently a few isolations)

I also box with a heavy punch bag. Ininitially it was unbelievably tough. Now i bosx using a rounds system-3min round followed by 1 minute break. I do this for about 30 mins.

After about 10 minutes im sweating like nothing else. after a half an hour-no matter how stressed i had been im one chilled out mofo! Nothing relieves the stress like pounding the shiznit out of a bag!

Be careful initially that you are hitting the bag correctly. (ive a martial arts background) Be careful with your fingers and your wrists. you'll know what i mean when you punch the bag wrong-it hurts. Also get decent mitts as your knuckles can look a bit nasty.

Ive definatly toned up. And my lats and back are alot more twitchy if that makes sense-they seem to have alot more explosive power-(speed as opposed to sluggish and tight)

I cant recommend doing this workout enough-im no expert but in my opinion give it a shot

(thats a pretty long reply-im lovely )

Dragan

I too am a huge advocate of bag work, and if you can get a training partner who knows what he is doing, some pad work as well.

As previously mentioned, the rounds system is one of the best fat burning workouts there is. I suggest you start out at a minute on, a minute off, and then move up from there.

There are many instructional sites that will show combo's and styles etc, a good one is www.rossboxing.com he has some free info on his site that is very good.

TO be honest, for any new beginner, i would suggest you find either a boxing or a kick boxing class and attend that. It is a great full body workout and you will quickly pick up the basics and not injure yourself. I have seen people who think they know what they are doing snap a wrist ****ing around thinking they can box. Like all sports, training is required and the equipment needs to be respected.

Finally, you main goal will not be acheived by just excercise alone. I suggest you look at your diet and think about that carefully. Do you drink enough water? How much sugar and salt to you take in a day? What is your split like between carbs, protein and healthy fats? Do you eat many bad fats? Do you eat a lot of processed foods?

All changing one or more of things could bring you a little closer to the goal. Afterall, "toning" is nothing more than dropping bodyfat and minimising water rentention.

PJG

a punch bag, skipping rope and and imagination is all you need for an excellent workout. Love them both.