5 Benefits of a Speed Bag
Speed bags have long since been a go to piece of equipment for boxers looking to enhance their hand speed and instill muscle memory through repetition. With that said, speed bags have become a hot topic of debate as to whether or not they do in fact offer any benefit to the user, or instead, are an outdated boxing ritual.
Today, we’re going to be taking a closer look at the speed bag by discussing 5 key benefits that you can receive from implementing a speed bag into your training routine.
Before we begin, its worth mentioning that in order to gain the most out of a speed bag, they should be used with both maximum focus and intensity. A lot of guys I know use the speed bag as somewhat of a rest round, without putting much effort into their workout. In doing so, they dramatically reduce any benefits they would have received from working on the speed bag properly, so it’s something to remember.
Ok lets’ get to it.
What is a Speed Bag?
A speed bag is usually a tear shaped punching bag that hangs down from a platform via a specialized speed bag swivel. When the bag is hit, it will swing back, rebound and swing forward again, with the aim of a speed bag workout being to continually strike the bag, keeping it rebounding.
Speed bags tend to come in a number of different sizes, with the smaller models requiring the most amount of skill, as they rebound faster and posses a smaller surface area, meaning a higher level of hand accuracy is needed.
Benefit 1: Work on Your Co-ordination & Reaction Time
Due to the nature of a speed bag, good hand-eye coordination and quick reaction times are needed in order to maintain the rhythm and keep the bag rebounding correctly.
The speed bag must be struck as it’s around half way through its rebound and hit in the correct spot in order keep the bag swinging back and forth. The window of opportunity to the hit the bag is incredibly small, requiring split second timing as well as a well placed strike, which at first, can be incredibly challenging.
That being said, you’d be surprised at how quick you can get the hang of working the bag, allowing you to hone both your coordination and reaction time in one routine. If you’re new to using a speed bag, I’d recommend using a larger model first, as this will ease your learning curve and allow you to get to grips on an easier bag.
Benefit 2: Great for Developing Shoulder & Arm Endurance
When using a speed bag, both hands need to be raised just below the bag for the duration of the workout. This positions your fists to be able to strike the bag at the correct time and also prevents you from loading up up your punches, which can cause the bag to rebound far too quickly.
Typical speed bag workouts tend to be performed in rounds of 1-3 minutes depending on your routine. While this may not seem incredibly long, keeping your hands raised and consistently throwing strikes for this amount of time provides a great method of developing the muscular endurance of your arms and shoulders.
As the endurance of your arms and shoulders continues to improve, you can lengthen the duration of your speed bag workout, or even implement weighted wrist straps to further increase the intensity.
Benefit 3: Get Familiar Keeping Your Hands Raised
While each boxer or martial artist will have their own preferred guard position, traditionally keeping your hands raised, in front of your cheeks is one of the first guards you’re taught. For those new to boxing, keeping your hands raised for a long duration of time can feel unnatural, meaning that your hands can easily drop without realizing.
As I mentioned in my previous point, speed bag workouts require both of your hands to be raised just below the bag. As well as developing endurance in your arms and shoulders, working out on a speed bag allows you to get used to keeping your hands raised for a long period of time. As such, repeated use of a speed bag will allow this to become second nature, as well as providing you with the endurance to maintain a solid guard position.
Benefit 4: Practice Striking with an Object Coming Towards Your Face
While knowing how to effectively throw a punch is incredibly important, being able to do so with someone else attempting to punch you at the same time is a completely different ball game. Our natural instinct is to flinch and shut our eyes, which isn’t particularly wise in any combat sport.
Admittedly, you’re not going to get hit when using a speed bag, however your face will be in close proximity to an object swinging towards you. Using a speed bag on a regular basis will allow you to get used to throwing punches against a moving object directly in front of your face.
Benefit 5: Can Easily Be Set Up at Home
Lastly, speed bags are incredibly easy to get set up at home, which in turn allows you to practice on a regular basis. One of the key components to improving at anything in life is consistency, and by setting up your own speed bag, you’ll be able to cram in as many workouts as you see fit.
Your co-ordination isn’t going to improve if you use a speed bag once a month, nor will your arm and shoulders develop increased endurance. However, by setting up a speed bag at home, you’ll be able to improve each of the areas we discussed on a day by day basis.
So, how do you actually set up your own speed bag station?
You’re going to need three things, a platform (such as these), a swivel and of course, a speed bag. You then simply mount the platform to the wall and then attach the speed bag via the swivel to the bottom of the platforms’ drum.
Final Thoughts
With the speed bag, as with many things in life, you get out what you put in. Spending two minutes every now and again effortlessly working the bag won’t allow you to reap the benefits we’ve discussed in this article. However, when used with maximum effort, focus and intensity, the speed bag has a plethora of benefits to offer anyone looking to improve their striking game.
Thanks for reading, and if you’ve got any questions at all, please feel free to comment down below.
Author James Davis