Stamina and the Heavy Bag

Previously, I mentioned that boxing gyms generally use the heavy bag to develop power in their punches. I also wanted to briefly mention that the heavy bag is also designed to develop endurance. There are a few ways that a heavy bag does this and one method is to hit the bag in five to eight punch bursts. The reason this develops endurance is fairly obvious: 5 to 8 punches is a lot of movement and a lot of energy expenditure. Also, if you are hitting with a lot of power you will also test you endurance a little further.

It is important to mention to pay attention to safety. Never throw such long combination bursts can cause the bag to sway. Chasing the bag can sometimes lead to injuries so it is not always recommended.

Another thing to point out here is that you wouldn’t want to throw 8 punch combos in sparring. When you throw combinations that are too long, you open lines up for counterattacks. Remember, drilling long combinations are for stamina and power.