Getting a workout in is a challenge for most people. It can be hard to find the time and energy to exercise even if you know it’s good for you.
The problem is that most workouts aren’t fun or exciting enough to keep you engaged. You end up getting distracted and quitting.
Heavy bag cardio workouts have been proven to burn serious fat and make you strong. It’s like an intense interval workout – but instead of running on a treadmill and riding on a bike – you push your body and mind past its limits with boxing bags. It can be challenging, rewarding, and realistic for daily use.
You can burn between 400 to 600 calories in only 30 minutes during the punching bag cardio workout routines. Plus, it is cool training.
Why is a heavy bag a good cardio workout for weight loss?
An intense heavy bag workout simultaneously requires stamina, balance, coordination, aerobic endurance, and muscular strength. As an all-around fitness activity, it is one of the most demanding. It seems easy to hit the bag. But bag work is a physically and mentally exhausting as boxing in the ring.
Bag workouts provide a variety of benefits to the entire body. You can improve your cardiovascular health, muscular endurance, and muscular strength. HIIT reveals lean muscle unlike any other workout, as it melts fat and tests your athleticism on your upper body, lower body, and core. It’s perfect for shaping your shoulders, legs, hips, and arms.
Learn more: Benefits of heavy bag workouts.
How do you use a heavy bag for cardio?
Make sure you go slow and throw light punches when you’re doing cardio with a heavy bag. If you go hard in boxing, you’ll get a soaring heart rate. You should aim to throw three or four punches with very light contact in a steady rhythm. The level of fitness you have will determine the intensity you can comfortably maintain. Gradually, the intensity of your cardio boxing workout can be increased as you gain cardiovascular endurance.
If you want to mix it up, you can also do some shadow boxing. As you move around the room more than you can on the bag, you’re going to be working a different set of muscles.
Wear boxing gloves and wrap your hands when hitting a bag. Don’t ignore protection for your hands, even when you aren’t going all out. If nothing else, it adds a little weight to your arms, resulting in more intense cardio boxing workouts.
Tip: During your session, imagine you fight with a real opponent. Throw both head and body shots.
Are you a beginner? Learn the basics!
Boxing stance: Taking the proper stand will help your punches travel farther, increase their power, keep you centered and in position to strike quickly, as well as allow you to move faster on your feet. This is the most critical boxing technique.
Boxing footwork drills: Even though punching is one of your most noted movements, every action begins with your feet. Boxers must learn to balance, accelerate, and make their punches move with force, power, speed, and accuracy by using their footwork.
Learn the basic punches: For the best results, you need to learn how to throw jabs, crosses, right and left uppercuts, and right and left hooks with proper form. Each punch also has a number.
Learn some easy combinations: In boxing, punch combinations are composed of smooth blows strung together efficiently. For a cardiovascular workout, combos with 2-4 punches will do.
What piece of equipment do you need?
A heavy punching bag
The punching bag you choose should reflect your current skill level. Avoiding injuries requires picking the right weight. You don’t need too much resistance since your aim isn’t improving the punching power. If you plan on doing a cardio fitness routine, use a light to medium-weight bag that can be easily mounted and lowered and stored securely when not in use. You may also want to consider a freestanding bag that does not need to be installed on the ceiling and is a bit easier to target.
Buying guide: Best punching bags for cardio
Hand wraps and boxing gloves
Protecting your hands is the primary purpose of hand wraps. Using your hand wraps, all the bones and joints that move around will be secured. Your joints are held tightly together by the hand wrap, so the shock is distributed more evenly across your whole hand.
Your knuckles, wrists, and forearms will be put under a great deal of strain by training on a fitness bag. You can avoid injuries by wearing heavy bag gloves that are the right weight and padded.
Punching bag cardio workout examples
Here are some videos that show you how you can get an effective heavy bag routine.
Heavy bag cardio workout for beginners
You’ll learn how to throw boxing combinations, how to move around with good footwork, maximize your power and enjoy working the fitness bag during this 20-minute workout. There will be 5 rounds. In addition, you will learn defensive techniques such as head movements.
30-minute Heavy bag HIIT workout for fat burning
With high-intensity interval training (HIIT), you perform short bursts of cardio exercise followed by extended periods of rest. You will sweat a lot, learn killer boxing moves, and lose weight by doing this circuit workout.
Boxing bag cardio workout for women
If you do not have a punching bag, you can still complete this workout at home. You can shadowbox if you don’t have a boxing bag. The cardiovascular exercises will consist of jabs, crosses, lead hooks, rear hooks, lead uppercuts, and rear uppercuts. The routine lasts for about 25 minutes, including warm-up and cool down.
To sum up
I have outlined why using heavy bag training is an excellent cardio workout. You can burn more calories, lose weight and enjoy training by doing these punching bag workouts. You’ll build up muscle along the way! The one disadvantage of these heavy bag drills is they are harder to learn at home so maybe look on our website for some boxing tips if you can’t go to a boxing gym for help.