Secrets to fill punching bags

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If you search the internet (just do a google search on how to fill a punching bag) for questions related to the subject of punching bags, a large number of questions are about how to fill a punching bag. The main question people have is what material do I use?

I’ve seen answers that include: “fill it with water” or “use sand” or even better – “grass” – LOL. Water, sand is ok, but it really depends on the heavy bag and what material the shell is made of… Trust me, if you fill a normal punching bag with water, you could have a lot of problems… and you might need to buy a mop!

You can’t use weed because it will smell. Also, weed just doesn’t pack well. The bag will be too soft. If you don’t agree, do this: mow the lawn and fill a trash bag with grass. Try punching him… you’ll get the point.

So for this article, I am going to tell you what you need to know about how to fill a punching bag. And I give it all based on years and years of experience both in dojos and boxing clubs.

The first important lesson to always keep in mind when filling punching bags is the outer shell. I have had many of my students (unfortunately on a lower budget) come to me and say: what kind of material should I use so that my aunt can sew me a bag? My answer: If you want to spend a lot of time and money buying stuff over and over again, you can.

Ok, how about buying a sack? A bag is not supposed to be hit with hard blows over and over again. It wasn’t made to withstand that kind of pressure. Again, like I said before, go this route if you want to waste time and money. The best thing to do if you don’t want to buy a punching bag that is already filled is to buy an unfilled one. They were made to fill!!! Make sense?

And very often, empty bags are cheap… because it’s really the filler for the most part that distinguishes, say, Everlast from TKO or Aries.

So we don’t have Everlast’s specially engineered padding…now what!? The next thing to consider is the resistance/stiffness levels of the punching bags. Some heavy bags feel like they’re hitting a brick wall… well, to the beginner it may seem that way. Others are like hitting a bag of weed… Well, not that smooth (at least we hope not!) but you get my drift.

There are a variety of different materials that you can use to fill a punching bag. Through years of experience filling bags, in my opinion the best way to go is to fill the punching bag with a combination of materials.

These are the materials that you can use to fill the boxer bags:

*Cotton

* Wool

* Air

* Foam mattress

* Water

* Clothing

* sawdust

* Pens

*Rice

*Sand

* Polystyrene foam

* Trash bags rolled up tight

* Shredded tires

Now, let’s put this together. If you want a good speed bag, fill it with air… it’s that simple. For heavy bags, this becomes a bit more complicated. I’ll tell you exactly what we used to do with punching bags at the friendly neighborhood dojo when I was in martial arts school… Just don’t tell anyone I told you.

I want you to notice something: if you go to a boxing club or dojo, most of the answers you will hear from people about filling a punching bag is to fill it with sand. I guess you could say sand is a common filler ingredient…but to people’s dismay, it’s NOT THE ONLY INGREDIENT in the filler. Professionals can get away with filling punching bags with sand. The sand will make the bag very stiff. If you are a beginner, you will undoubtedly insult your hands.

This is what dojos do…and probably no one will tell you this about filling a punching bag…it’s very simple! Here it is… short and sweet:

Fill with fabric. Then pack it well. If it’s too loose, you’ll have a misshapen punching bag that’s too soft and uncomfortable to hit. The solution?

Use fine sand on the bottom to keep the punching bag essentially a “heavy bag” and keep its shape. Fill the outer wall with fabric. Sleeping mats or military bags work great. Proceed to core fill the punching bags you are filling with a mix of feathers and shredded tires and/or whatever rubber is available.

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