You should ask yourself, what is more important, speed, agility, endurance, power, or size for you? What type of body do you want to build? A boxer’s body or a bodybuilder’s body?
Cardiovascular and muscular endurance can be improved through heavy bag training. Furthermore, hitting the bag can improve your conditioning as well as your various boxing skills.
The use of weights is a method of strength training in which weights provide resistance. As a result of weight training, the muscles are stressed, and they are adapted to this new stress, which causes them to grow strong and big.
In short, the two types of exercise have very different effects on your body.
In my opinion, to build a body capable of standing a wide range of physical activities, we should combine the two equally. That is what I do. In the past, I was a powerful lifter, but I didn’t enjoy it. In the short run, my power was good, but my endurance and cardio were limited.
But we are different, so you have to decide what is more important for you.
Is it better to hit the heavy bag before or after lifting weights?
This will depend on how much time you are willing to devote to working out and your goals.
As a general rule, if you plan on just hitting the heavy bag for a conditioning workout and you have the primary goal of building strength and muscle, then I would suggest you start with your weight training and get the heavy bag in after that. Therefore, you won’t tire your body out from doing cardio first.
On the other hand, you should train heavy bags first and complete a resistance training circuit later if you’re just doing weightlifting to complement your boxing training. This way, you can get the benefits of heavy bag training first.
Also, you can combine these two types of training, which is challenging but is a very effective way to increase endurance and burn fat.
Note: To warm up before using the heavy bag, shadowboxing (punching into thin air using reflections in mirrors as opponents) and joint rotation exercises are essential.
What are the best ways to lift weights for boxing?
It’s usually best to do lightweight training with high repetitions instead of heavy weight training with low repetitions because heavy loads are stressful to the ligaments. In addition, if the main goal is to box, a large amount of muscle mass will slow you down as more oxygen is consumed during the sessions.
- Lifting during non-boxing training days. You’ll have energy for more lifts and more recovery time. Simply put, you can focus your efforts on resistance training.
- Separate boxing from lifting as far as possible on the same day. The ideal time to do boxing is in the morning and lifting weights in the evening so that you can have a rest after. You’ll have more time for recovery and be less likely to have an injury. Many professionals do strength training this way.
- Lifting weights after the boxing. Make sure your workout consists of 1-3 exercises that are compound movements, such as bench press, squat, and deadlift.
Note: You should include bodyweight exercises in your strength training besides lifting weights. The majority of bodyweight movements, such as push-ups, dips, or pull-ups, are compound exercises. That means multiple muscle groups are engaged during the motion. The moves are more natural to your body biomechanical, and you’re less likely to get hurt.
Watch the video full of useful tips for strength training for boxing.