How to Start Boxing at Home With a Punching Bag

The fastest way to Start Boxing at Home With a Punching Bag and see results!

I am one of the 70% of the people who would rather sit than go to the gym until I start boxing at home with a punching bag.

Fortunately, when I was at home during the pandemic, I discovered a new hobby: boxing. I was astonished to find out that I look forward to doing it every day. Not only did I start to get into shape, lose weight and have more energy, I also started to feel like a badass who can throw a decent punch (even at my old age!)

Now that I’m 68 years old, I’m still kicking– I mean, I’m still enjoying boxing.
As I got more addicted to it, I learned more and more.

Today, I want to share how to Start Boxing at Home with a Punching Bag

What You Need to Start Boxing from Home with a Punching Bag:

1)  A Punching Bag (if you already own one, skip to the next step.

There are several types of punching bags depending on what you are looking for:

• Hanging Punching Bag – This can be one of the toughest things to figure out when getting started and I often get asked how to hang a punching bag in a basement. Decide the best option for your punching bag based on your needs and the space you have available.
• Free Standing Punching Bag – This type of punching bag is mounted on a stand.  Often the stand is filled with water or sand to weigh it down and prevent it from tipping.
• Other Types of Punching Bags:  Speed Bags, Reflex Bags, Uppercut Bags are all different types of punching bags you can use.  Oftentimes, these are considered speciality bags and used in addition to a traditional punching bag.

The Best Type of Punching Bag:

There is no “Best” type of punching bag.
It just depends on your budget, how much space you have and what your goals are.

Cost of a Punching Bag:

While the cost can vary, they are normally $200-$500.  Depending on how serious you want to be and how quickly you want to start seeing the benefits of boxing from home, will determine how much you want to invest into your new hobby.  The more you spend, the higher quality you will get, the more enjoyable the punching bag will be to hit and increase the odds that you stick with it so you can reap the benefits of boxing from home.

2)  Boxing Gloves

Types of Boxing Gloves

* Training Gloves: This is the most used type of gloves as it is used for all-around boxing training. This type of gloves is best for a starter as it is pretty versatile for different techniques.

* Sparring Gloves: This type of gloves is specialized for when you have a sparring partner that you have to practice with. The padding in these gloves is softer to lessen the sharpness of impact.

* Professional Gloves: This is made for pro players who are competing in boxing. You can purchase this if you want but note that this is less comfortable to use because it utilizes offense.

Optional:  Wraps

For even more protection of your wrists, you can buy wraps for more support.

Clothes

Be sure to wear something comfortable and breathable.

Mentally Preparing to Start Boxing at Home with a Punching Bag

Consistency is the Key

Don’t think of boxing as a simple activity that you can neglect anytime you want. Your body wants to work, so let it work out. It doesn’t matter if you’re demotivated or there is too much on your plate. You should quit thinking of reasons to pass and just get started. Consistency will lead you to the body that you want.

This is the hardest part when you’re just starting, whatever workout it is. It is yourself that you have to fight and the distractions that you may encounter. But if you’ll logically think about it, the consistency just means committing to working out regularly for the same amount of time. Stick into your plan.

Start Slow and Work Up

Basically, you shouldn’t overdo it in the first week, mainly when you’re still familiarizing yourself with boxing. Start off by doing some warm-up routines to get your body ready; you can do it by spending a minute each for jumping jacks, jumping lunges, running in place, squats, push-ups, and more. Rest shortly if you must.

A great way to increase your stamina, warm-up your body and improve your footwork is a jump rope work out specifically for boxers. Jumping rope is a great exercise overall, but following specific workouts, you will quickly start to notice a big difference in the ring with how easy you start sidestepping punches!

After the warm-up, you can proceed to the basic boxing punches, including jab, cross, and hook. As long as you know these three, you will eventually have a signature attack of your own where you feel comfortable. And it will also be an indication of whether you are ready to work up in the higher phase of boxing exercises.

Learn the correct way to punch the bag

Before you start punching the bag as hard as you can, it is important to learn how to properly to hit a punching bag so you don’t injure yourself. There are a few key things you want to keep in mind before getting started. What worked best for me was to watch 10-15 minutes of videos on YouTube so I could watch and learn the best practices.

Set Small Goals

There is nothing bad with aiming high, but you should know the stepping stones you need to overcome before achieving it. Most people usually lose sight of the stepping stones, which are the ladder to your main goal. So let’s think about it this way. You have the primary goal, but your small goal is to do the steps you need to do.

That way, you will learn how to be patient with yourself and assess your improvement in the best way possible. Setting small goals will also make you more confident in the long run. You will be sure that you can achieve it because you’re doing good in the small plans. It’s all about the mindset.

The Bottomline

How to start boxing at home with a punching bag is actually very easy if you are motivated enough to do it. You can simply improvise punching bags if you’re on a budget, and gloves are optional. But once you start to get engaged in the sport, you’ll be sure to plan on buying some equipment for your hobby.