Types Of Punch Bags For Boxing Training

If you’re looking for a new punch bag for your home gym. You might not know where to start in terms of the punch bags that are available to you. Should you just get a standard stationary bag or something that requires reflexes and movement?

Maybe you’re looking to try something slightly different than using a traditional bag. It might be worth getting a punching bag that works on both reflexes and power. Either way, you will get a good workout with both types.

Now before you go on to read the list below, you will see that there are lots of different punch bags you can get. I have split these punch bags into 3 different sections.

Stationary Punching Bags
Reflex/Speed Bags
Unique Punch Bags (specific)

I will also provide you with details on each type of punch bag and how they can help you in your training. I will of course provide you with recommendations and ideas to help you out.

Stationary Punch Bags

Hanging Heavy Bag

The hanging heavy bag is a piece of boxing equipment that hangs either usually from the ceiling or from a boxing bag stand. They can in fact come in a whole variety of different shapes and sizes.

This is probably one of the first pieces of equipment you will consider using and is extremely important and effective for boxing and MMA training. The heavy bag is particularly good for developing strength, stamina, and punch/kicking techniques. Check out the option below or see my top 10 heavy bag options here.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value

Bag	Title Boxing Heavy Bag	Outslayer Punching Bag	Ringside Leather Heavy Bag
Weight	80-150lbs	130-150lbs	100lbs
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon

Free Standing Bag

Free-standing punching bags are very useful for those that don’t have access to a boxing gym/normal gym nearby to practice their punching skills. You do occasionally see more expensive ones in the gym, but generally, these are best for those that don’t have enough space to hang a heavy bag in their own home, garage or anywhere else practical.

These bags are a brilliant option for those wanting to learn to box from home. They are a lot easier to set up than your traditional hanging heavy bag, which could prove to be a nuisance if you don’t have enough space to hang it up.

The other great thing is that you can push them out of the way after you finish your workout to create more space.

Check out the options below or have a look at my Top 16 Best Free Standing Punch Bags Review here for more options.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Choice	Best Value
Preview
Bag	Century Original Wavemaster Punch Bag	Ringside Freestanding Punch Bag	Dripex Freestanding Punch Bag
Height	Adjustable 4ft – 5.6ft	6.4ft	Approx 6ft
Price	Check price on Amazon or Century	Check Price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon or Dripex

Uppercut bag

Uppercut bags or sometimes known as wrecking ball punch bags. These are fantastic for those looking to improve their uppercuts or angled hooks and jabs. Unlike a standard heavy bag, it isn’t as long and is more compact at the top.

For the most part, by using an uppercut punch bag you will generally get the best of both worlds as you will be able to throw your typical straight punches alongside angled or uppercut punches.

The standard hanging heavy bag will always have its place in helping to develop your straight and hook punches, but uppercut/angled bags give you the flexibility to practice your uppercut punch skill set properly and without potentially injuring yourself.

Check out the options below or my top 10 uppercut punch bags here.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value

Bag	Outslayer Bag	Ringside	RDX wrecking ball
Weight	70lbs	65lbs	N/A
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon

Water based Bags

Water-based bags are literally what it says in the tin and filled with water instead of micro fabrics, foam or sand like the other bags on the list. Aqua bags were one of the first to come up with this type of bag. They were inspired by filling up boat buoys to create the original and unique concept. However, there have been other brands that have come up with similar water-based bags of different sizes including Everlast.

These pretty much work in the same way as the uppercut bags as mentioned above. You will be able to throw uppercuts, and hooks along with straight punches.

Check out the main options below or read my Aqua Punch Bag Review here for more information.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s pick	Best Value

Bag	Aqua Bag	Everlast	Ringside
Weight	75 – 190lbs (Multiple sizes)	100lbs	24-153lbs (multiple sizes)
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check price on Everlast	Check price on Amazon

Humanoid Punch Bag

Now no doubt you will have seen the famous BOB punch bag at some point. It’s obviously quite a popular punch bag due to its human-like appearance. Sometimes it can be a lot harder to visualize hitting a human with a standard bag or aiming for the body or head. This helps to give you a more realistic and authentic experience of how this works.

There are other humans shaped punch bags, but nothing quite like The Century Bob punch bags in terms of quality. You can read my Bob punch review here for more details and options.

	Best Overall	Best Value

Bag	Century Bob XL	Original Century Bob
Size weight	Adjustable 60″ to 78″	Adjustable 60″ to 78″
Price	Check price on Century or Amazon	Check price on Century or Amazon

Reflex Bags

Double End Bag

The double-end bag is a punching bag that is attached with adjustable bungee cords from the floor to the ceiling, (Hence the name) with the ball usually hanging in the middle around the chest to head height. Due to the stretched cords, this allows for increased movement when hit, as it bobs in and outwards.

Double end bag also helps those looking to practice technique, alongside an array of different striking options and patterns. For instance, depending on your boxing ability and level, you can adjust the bag to best suit your height. If you’re a complete beginner, you can tighten the bag so it doesn’t move quite so much, allowing you to practice your initial jabs before adding blocking and hooks into the mix.

Check out the picks below or visit my top 12 double-end bags here.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value

Bag	Cleto Reyes	Everlast	Ringside
Size / weight	XS, S, M	6, 7, 9 in	5, 7, 9 in
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check price Everlast	Check Price on Amazon

Cobra Reflex Bag

The cobra bag or standing reflex bag is unique in the sense that it is a reflex punch bag that mimics the movement of an actual opponent, via the specifically-placed spring. This arguably creates even more movement than some double-end bags.

For training your reflexes and timing, this is a brilliant piece of equipment and will certainly help this area. However, it will really require a lot of concentration. Otherwise, the bag can come back and hit you easily if standing too close. Therefore it will require you to slip the bag on either side, shoulder roll or use footwork to get out of the way.

Once you start using this consistently, you will really start to feel improvements in your hand-eye coordination and reactions to moving in time with the bag.

Check out the top picks below or visit my top 12 Cobra bag options here.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value
Preview
Bag	TITLE Deluxe Cobra Reflex Bag	Wodesid Freestanding Reflex Bag	Ringside Reflex Bag
Height	Adjustable 4ft-5.5ft	Adjustable 4ft-6ft	Adjustable 5ft-7ft
Price	Check on Amazon	Check on Amazon	Check on Amazon

Speed Bag

The speed bag is another fun piece of equipment and can take a little while to get used to before mastering it. The speed bag is basically a solid leather ball that is usually connected to a metal swivel that is attached to a wooden platform so you can hit the bag back and forth.

This for me is one of the most satisfying pieces of equipment to use in the gym as it really helps to get you to focus deeply on the target when using it. It also helps to develop and condition your shoulder muscles as it forces you to keep them up while rolling as you hit the speed bag over and over again. It also helps with your overall rhythm, timing, and reflexes too.

Remember you will also need to install and buy a platform with the bags. Check here on Amazon.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value

Bag	Cleto Reyes Speed Bag	Title Boxing Speed Bag	Ringside Speed bag
Size	One size: 10.01 x 6.01 x 1.01 in	S, M, L	S, M, L
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon

Reaction Bar Bag

A reaction bar bag is a great defensive tool to use as it is a piece of equipment that specifically is aimed to improve your defense and counterpunching.

This usually includes a bar that can spin round at 360 degrees and also includes a padded punch bag at the top for you to throw punches at (to simulate punching to the head and great for practicing counters).

Unlike with lots of other boxing equipment, if you punch the spinning bar it will come back and hit you if you do not duck, roll or move away from a distance. Therefore, you are always having to move or react to the bar depending on when and how hard you hit it. This, therefore, helps to improve your speed, reflexes, and head movement.

	Best Overall	Boxing Life’s Pick	Best Value

Bag	Sparbar	Title Boxing Rapid reflex bar	Innolife Boxing Bar
Weight/Size	Adjustable	Adjustable Adjusts from 60″ to 78″	61″ to 94.5″
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon

Unique Punch Bags

Doorway Punch Bag

As far as I’ve found, Quiet Punch seems to be the only one of its kind in the current market. Unless you make your own one!

In the case of the Quiet Punch Bag is a fantastic option for your home gym if you are extremely limited in space. The reason for this is that you can actually set up in your doorway and once you have finished you can quickly pack it away until your next workout session.

The downside is you will only have so much space to move around, but it does give you access to a punch tracking system with their app which can monitor your punch stats to help you improve.

If you travel a lot this also might be a good option for you to do workouts from your hotel room.

Read my review here or visit Quiet Punch’s website here.

Punch Pad Station

Now, these are probably the most unique free-standing punch bags on this list. This is because they have done this by creating a reactive rod system attached to each target.

These rods have been set up in a way to replicate punching a mitt, by offering a slight “give” in the pads on the impact that has that lovely ‘pop’ when you connect.

This standing punch bag is slightly different and more on the expensive side. But if you are looking for something a bit different this could just be for you! I recommend you check out the following option below.

Read my reviews below to find out more

FightMaster vs BoxMaster station

Nexersys Punch Stand Review

	Best Value	Beginners Option

Bag	Core Home Fitness Fight Master	Nexersys N3 Punch Stand
Size	Adjustable 5’0″ to 6’10”	Adjustable
Price	Check price on their website	Check price on Amazon

Wall mount punch bag

So they are best for those that want to practice throwing punch combinations at angles using footwork. They’re also great in terms of where you should throw your punches. E.g. body or head, due to the angle of the bag sticking out of the wall.

These can be useful for a home gym if you don’t have that much space for a heavy bag or free-standing bag.

	Boxing Life’s pick	Best Overall

Bag	HOTSYSTEM Punch Bag	Fairtex Punch Bag
Size	23.6″(Tall) x 11.4″(Width)	60 cm (tall) x 40 cm (wide)
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon

I highly recommend you check out some of the following articles to help you out further on different bag options and home gym setups.

Jamie - Boxing Life

I'm a boxing analyst, amateur boxer, and blogger looking to pass on my boxing experiences and passion to anyone looking to learn or find out more about the sport of boxing. Whether that be gear reviews, fighter analysis, news, training tips, or my own personal journey, I'll be covering it on 'Boxing Life'.