Home boxing equipment advice

I have a Century Wavemaster. I would not recommend it unless you're a pretty small person (I'm 5'2 and I basically have to wedge it into a corner because it moves so much). I wish I had gotten a Century Wavemaster XXL, which is not all that much more spendy. I like having a stand-alone bag instead of a hanging bag because I know I can find a place for it no matter where I move.

I just use a pair of standard UFC women's gloves - they're light and use gel padding, but I prefer them over heavily-padded gloves. I got them as part of my membership in my krav maga classes, and they definitely do the trick. They are also, thank goodness, machine washable. Not really familiar with men's gloves, sorry!

ETA: I agree with the previous poster that it's great cardio. I like to add it in at the end of a round of barbell complexes, to keep my heart rate up, or to warm up for or cool down from a lifting session.

One thing to think about is straight canvas versus canvas covered with vinyl. If you are going to use gloves, it doesn't matter that much, and canvas is cheaper. Back when I did a lot of karate, I developed pretty caloused knuckes to the point where I could pound on a vinyl covered bag without damaging my knuckes, and there is something weirdly satisfying about hitting a heavy bag full force repeatedly with your bare fists. But.. that takes a while.

Also, take care of your wrists. If you are just looking for exercise, you can wrap them, but if you want to develop the technique, strength and form, you can learn to hit without wrapping your wrists. Just start slowly and be careful. Knuckle pushups are good for developing the alignment and getting the feel of keeping your wrists straight --- done on the first two knuckles of each hand.

It might also be worth getting some lessons. Most people punch from the shoulder, and they expend more energy to get a tiny fraction of the power that they could get from their hips. Again, doesn't really matter, but it is very satisfying to hit hard, and you can hurt your shoulder if you are not punching with it raised. I actually got kicked pretty hard in the shoulder a couple of years ago, and the next day I was hitting the bag and threw a very hard hook with my shoulder up and tore something, and that shoulder has never really been the same. So be careful.

teamvic wrote: »

Hi all, I want to add a bag of some kind at home to do boxing workouts. Anyone recommend a good budget heavy bag, wall hangings and gloves/wraps? I live in the Uk. Cheers

Everlast bags are ok.

Get two or even three sets of wraps and make sure you use them every single time.

14oz/12oz gloves, I recommend 14oz gloves for bag work.
Twins or sandees.


Boxing shoes.
Flat running shoes are also ok if you don't want to get a pair of boxing boots.

I'd highly highly recommend getting a coach to teach you the basics as well.
Jab, cross, footwork etc.
I've seen guys mess themselves up with just a few wrong hooks to the bag.

I love working the bag and I'm pretty sure you're going to as well.

When I studied Tae Kwon Do, I had one you filled up with water. So no need to worry about hanging it, and it worked great. I think back then they were $100.