How to Fill Punching Bags – Good Bags for Great Training

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Stuffing an empty bag for punching yourself tends to be much cheaper than buying already-filled ones available on the market. In this way, you can control both the heaviness and density of the bag as well.

Many people still think that it is like a hard challenge, but the reality shows the opposite. If you do not believe, our guide on how to fill punching bags will demonstrate how easy it is.

How to Fill Punching Bags: A step-by-step Guide 

Let’s get started with three main phases. 

#1. Choosing Filling Materials (2 Steps)

The filling materials decide how heavy and dense the punching bag will be. 

Step1: Determining your desired punching bag’s heaviness and density 

Both heavy and light bags have their pros and cons. 

  • As for a heavy bag with a dense filling, you may find it harder to move the bag from one place to another. But its heaviness and density become extremely useful for advanced training exercises to develop your muscles’ strength. 
  • By contrast, the lightweight of lighter bags is an ideal option for you to gain your punching speed. In other words, with the high bouncing frequency, you can practice how to defend and attack rivals effectively. 

A common method to consider the punching bag’s heaviness is to base on your body weight. One pound of your body weight is equivalent to 0.5 pounds of the bag weight. For example, if you weigh 190 pounds, the punching bag should be 95 pounds heavy. 

Step 2: Choosing materials to stuff

There are two options.

  • For lightweight and soft density: we suggest you choose large rags like old clothes. These types of fabric can limit how heavy and dense the bag will be. 
  • For heavyweight and firm density: it should be a combination of rags and fine materials such as sand and sawdust. They are inexpensive materials to make your punching bags with more force. In case you only stuff the bag with sand or sawdust without clothes, the heaviness and density will be extremely high. 

#2. Preparing The Filling (3 Steps)

The second phase is not to stuff the bag right away. It would help if you made some preparation for materials first. 

Step 1: Preparing old clothes

Metal buttons and zippers on the clothes can cause the bag to tear while you are punching. Hence, you must remove these details and then cut the clothes into small pieces. The more and smaller fabric strips you stuff, the denser the bag will be. 

Step 2: Preparing sand or sawdust

Pouring sand or sawdust directly into the punching bag can damage the bag. It is a must to pour them into a resealable plastic bag beforehand. Next, you wrap these sand/sawdust bags with duct tape to avoid ripping. 

Step 3: Weighing

This step is to make sure that you prepare an adequate amount of material for the bag.

Firstly, you weigh the empty punching bag. 

Secondly, it is time to weigh clothes and sand/sawdust. With a heavy filling amount, you can place the material into trash bags and weigh them separately. 

Then, you add or remove some of the material till the total weight (the empty bag’s weight and the weight of material) is equal to your desired heaviness. 

#3. Stuffing The Punching Bag (5 Steps)

Now, we turn to the final phase. Since it can take hours for you to stuff the bag, you should give a room to fill it without disturbing other people.

Step 1

The punching bag often has a zipper at its top so that you can add the filling. So, you need to find and open this zipped line. In case that there is no zipper with the bag, we suggest you ask the seller or search for information regarding specific types of bags online. 

Step 2

The next step is to stuff the first layer of material into the bag. If you use old clothes only, drop some of the total amount into the bag to cover its bottom. 

With sand/sawdust included, you add some of them into the bag first. Then, you surround these fine materials with clothes to protect the bag from tearing. 

Step 3

You press the first filling layer with a long tool (a baseball bat, for example). This task is to make sure that you do not leave any empty space among stuffed materials. The bag cannot reach a perfect density unless you press the filling firmly. 

Step 4

You drop another layer of clothes into the bag and use the tool to pack the filling down. In the case of sand/sawdust included, the materials (sand/sawdust and clothes) are the same as the first layer. You place a sand/sawdust bag in the center and surround it with old clothes. 

Adding layers will keep going till you get the desired bag heaviness and density. And don’t forget to press the filling firmly with the tool.

Step 5

After ensuring that there is not any empty space left in the punching bag, you close the zipped line. One note is that a too-stuffed bag may prevent you from zipping the top closed. As a solution, we suggest getting some filling out of the bag so that the zip line can go smoothly.

>Also read: Speed bag vs double end bag

Conclusion 

With the simple steps of how to fill punching bags listed above, are you ready to give it a try? We bet that you are. Just an empty bag and some filling materials can help you make a perfect preparation for great training right in your house.

For further instruction, you can drop us a line. Or if you have already completed your punching bags, why don’t you share pictures of them? We are so eager to hear from you!

Categories Training Guide

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