Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Free Standing Heavy Bag and Why You Should be Using it.

By Jonathon Hardcastle

Over the years, mixed martial arts has increased in popularity and that has lead to an increase in use for the free standing heavy bag. When compared to traditional hanging heavy bags, they have a lot of benefits. Those benefits are just one reason why fitness gyms, boxing studios, and training centers have starting using them.

As previously stated, a freestanding bag has many more benefits than a hanging bag; one of those benefits is a larger striking surface. This is vital to those practicing mixed martial arts because punches are used along with knee strikes and kicks. A free standing bag not only accommodates to but withstands those varying attacks better than most hanging bags do.

Even a double mounted hanging bag will sway quite a bit if kicked, which is the second advantage of the standing bag. A free standing heavy bag weighs quite a bit more than even the heaviest hanging bag. A water filled standing bag weighs around two hundred and seventy pounds and can easily weight more if filled with sand, as many are. This gives a much more stable bag to punch and kick.

To lessen the movement, a free standing heavy bag relies on extra padding which helps to cushion the blow and prevent swaying. You can tinker with the filling to get the best feel. For example, fill your bag with stand (as opposed to water) to get a more firm and substantial feel. Many boxing gyms have both types of bags available for you to choose from; you can test out both the sand filled and water filled bags to determine which one provides you with the best results and fewest movements.

Also, freestanding bags are more portable than hanging bags. The ability to move around a freestanding bag with ease is just one reason why fitness centers, schools, and boxing centers like using these bags; they can roll in and out. A free standing bag is also ideal when you do not have enough space needed for a wall mount or a ceiling mount.

Another advantage of the standing bag is cost. Because the end user simply puts water or sand into the bag, the amount of materials needed to produce each unit is dramatically lower than most of the hanging bags. The amount of labor to build one is dramatically less as well. Most of the labor of a hanging boxing bag is in the sewing of the pieces together by hand. Because of the design of most standing bags, there is much less hand sewing need.

Finally, there is the cost of shipping; it is very affordable. Hanging boxing bags are heavy and usually shipped with their fillings already instead, meaning it costs more to ship. Plus, due to their size and weights, some retailers limit their delivery locations. This is not an issue with a standing bag.

A free standing heavy bag makes sense for more and more people. Between the cost, space saving design and the fact that multiple styles can use them they become increasingly popular at not only sparring centers but even gyms.

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