Heavy Bag Help

[jl91]

Hey folks,

I have a 100 lbs everlast heavy bag that I want to do more kicking work on, but the filling has settled and it is like kicking cement. My shins aren’t conditioned enough to take the pounding yet. Does anyone know what I can do about making the bag easier to work with?

Any good ideas on conditioning my shins?

Thanks!! Joe

[newkravaddict]

Hard ass way: Keep kicking it until your shins are used to it. Suck up the pain.

Logical way: maybe get some packing foam and wrap a layer or two around the bag, then seal it with a layer of duct tape, wrapping it around the bag

Wuss way: wear shin guards when kicking it

[mike-p]

Lighten up your kicks. Start at 25% power, and then gradually work your way up until your shins are conditioned.

[anonymous]

maybe try wrapping your legs…

when i used to box i would pound the lead-filled (or so it seemed) heavy bag until my knuckles bled, then someone put me on to wrapping them. makes a world of difference and you can barely notice you’re wearing antyhing

[vwr32]

It needs to be repacked. Banging away on a rock hard bag is going to cause injury. A lot of the newer bags come with a 3inch foam liner surrounding the core to keep them from sagging or settling. The bag should be able to absorb whatever you throw at it… without the possibility of causing damage to your fists or shins over time. They’ll toughen up on their own, impact and resistance training improves bone density. Don’t rush it.

Shin guards help if you don’t have some. I can go full force on the bag without them no problem, but still wear them when I’m doing long training sessions of roundhouse kicks. My goal is to continue to strike harder and faster each time… wearing the pads is just an added safety feature just like good bag gloves and wraps.

I’ve seen instructional websites that use the foam liner inside, sand wrapped in a bag at the bottom for weight, then stuffed with rags to the top. Packing the rags tight keeps things solid when you strike it. If it’s me, I wouldn’t be happy training on something that forced me to only hit it lightly or less than my full potential. Nor would I spend the effort to repack it. 😉

Just my opinion.

[vwr32]

Thought I’d add this from IronLife.com magazine:

\”So how exactly do you condition your shins?
The tried and tested method is to basically kick the bags and pads AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!!

The harder the pads and bags, the better the conditioning however, you must start at a level where by you are not feeling as if you are damaging yourself. After all, whatís the point in hitting the bags that are so hard that you are all bruised and battered and then canít hit for at least a week?

Sure you will feel some pain on your legs after training but with the right treatment (Massage, Ice etc) youíll be good to go for the next training session.

In Thailand I would see fighters train on the bags kicking away at them morning and afternoon, continuously kicking with one leg for over 3 rounds thenswitching to the next leg. This amount of kicking is the correct way of conditioning your shins. Along with patience and perseverance\”
Full Article: http://www.ironlife.com/mag/issue6/shin.shtml

The bag should be hard, but not cement as stated in opening post. I didn’t see the other post before, so I had to add that if wearing shin pads makes someone a wuss, then I guess I’ll just be a wuss with shin pads lol. Big sissy me… I even hold that kick pad in front of me during class when someone fires off a front kick at my chest. Running? Yeah I wear appropriate footwear. Punching? Hand wraps and at least 4 oz gloves. Mouth piece? Got it. Protective cup? Yep. Rubber padding on garage floor? Covered. They’re collecting dust now, but I even have some elbow pads which I bought because I got tired of having to wipe blood off the bag. (Besides, it kept getting the \”eewwww\” comments from my wife.)

Come on people… train safely so you can keep training. If kicking or punching is causing *pain*, change something. The pain from training should come from an intense workout… not from the first strike. Like any piece of training equipment, the heavy bag also needs maintenance. If the filling has \”settled\” over time, repacking or replacement is just a necessary part of responsible training. It’s one of the reasons we have to pay dues and membership fees to train: someone HAS to make sure things are functional and safe.

The \”logical way\” described by NewKravAddict of wrapping the bag with foam and duct tape is a cheaper (and probably better) method of something they call a \”heavy bag gel wrap\” which you can buy on Title.com or Everlast.com for around $30-40. I didn’t mention it before because I’ve read some bad reviews on it. \”Too slick\” was the biggest complaint. People went with more padded gloves instead, but in this case a rock hard bag against shins might warrant shin pads if the bag itself isn’t going to be addressed.

I’d still go with the new bag purchase… but what do i know? Now I’m always wrong AND a wuss. 😆

[clfmak]

I’ve heard of people breaking up the hard areas periodically with a baseball bat. This can work, but I’ve broken some heavy bags before their time by working stickwork in there.

I was asking the same question of a guy who trained in Thailand. He said that when doing bag work, all round kicks were delivered above the hard parts, not to avoid shin damage but to make the kicking more difficult, so the cut kick would be easier when thrown.

[giant-killer]

I wonder if it’s possible just to hang the bag upside down and let all of the hard stuff sink back down over time?

By the way, I’m getting \”invalid session\” messages and keep getting logged out after posting. Does this happen to anyone else?

_________________
Giantkiller

[jl91]

Thanks

Thanks to everyone that posted a reply. I ended up emptying the entire bag and found bags of compacted sand that were up against the wall of the bag, which is why it felt like hitting concrete.

I went to Lowe’s and got the carpet guy to give me a length of empty tube which I filled with the sand and repacked the whole thing so the sand is in the middle with padding around it. It is 100% better and I can actually kick it now!

Now I just have to get my shins in shape.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Joe

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