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There’s no denying that creating a home gym is the ultimate dream for fitness fanatics. Being able to work out from the comfort of your own home, saving both times traveling to a gym, and money on membership is extremely tempting.
Unfortunately, when it comes to deciding what equipment to fill your home gym with, things can get a little confusing. There’s an astronomical amount of equipment out there, meaning it can hard to decide on just a set of few pieces.
Today we’re going to be taking a slightly different approach to creating a home gym, taking a look at some different boxing equipment that’s easy to use and provides a ton of different health benefits.
If you’ve ever watched a pro (or amateur) boxing match, you’ll probably notice the incredible physical condition theirs in. This is thanks to the plethora of boxing equipment that is used in their training.
What’s more, boxing equipment tends to be cheaper than regular fitness equipment, making it a fantastic choice for those creating a home gym on a budget.
(See also: The Many Benefits Of Using A Home Gym)
Ok, lets’ take a look at some equipment.
1. Hanging Heavy Bag
First up on our list is the traditional hanging heavy punch bag. If you’ve ever watched a boxing film, been to a boxing gym, or even heard of boxing, you probably know what this is. As the name suggests, heavy bags tend to be quite large and usually weigh a lot.
The exact weight of a heavy bag varies depending on your personal preference and the brand of bag, however, they typically weigh between 70lb and anywhere up to 120lb. SmartMMA is a great source to learn more about heavy punching bags and boxing gear.
When shopping for a heavy bag for your home gym, you’ll come across two different types of models. Firstly, is the hanging heavy bag, which is seen as the more traditional of the two. A hanging heavy bag can hang down from a ceiling, a beam, or even a specialized heavy bag stand.
The only real drawback of a hanging heavy bag is that it can be fairly difficult to set up. You’ll either need to find somewhere suitable to hang the bag or buy a heavy bag stand, which can add to your total costs.
Aside from that main drawback, the hanging heavy bag is by far the better option. They tend to be more durable, can’t be knocked over and their swinging motion far more accurately simulates a fight situation.
Ok, so what about the other type of heavy bag?
2. Free Standing Heavy Bag
The other form of heavy bag you’ll come across is a free-standing bag. These feature a large base attached to the bottom of the bag that can be filled with either water or sand. The better free-standing bags will feature a spring-loaded design that helps to prevent the bag from toppling over when struck.
That being said, freestanding bags can still fall over, especially if you strike the bag with enough power. This is one of the main drawbacks of a free-standing bag, as having to continually stand the bag up can ruin your workout.
Aside from that, freestanding bags still tend to be the more popular option for home gyms. This is because they’re incredibly easy to set up; all you need to do is fill the base, put the bag in position and you’re ready to go.
If you want to put the bag out of sight, you can place the bag on its’ side and roll it to where ever it needs to go.
With all this in mind, a free-standing heavy bag is a brilliant and practical way to change up your cardio routine without breaking the bank.
3. Skipping Rope
Next up we’ve got the simple, yet highly effective skipping rope. We all know that running is most peoples ‘go-to’ method of cardio, however, the unfortunate reality of running is that its’ highly weather dependent.
Unless you want to fork out some big bucks on a decent treadmill, you’ll need to find another cardio routine for your home gym.
A skipping rope is incredibly budget-friendly, provides a similar cardiovascular work out to a treadmill, and unlike running, isn’t weather dependent.
One of the best aspects of skipping is that it’s far more than just a cardio routine and has a variety of different benefits to offer. It can improve bone density, is less harsh on the joints than running, is an upper and lower body work out and is highly effective at burning calories.
All in all, you’ll struggle to find a more well-rounded piece of equipment at this price range, making it a fantastic option for home gyms.
4. Speed Bag
The speed bag is probably the most iconic piece of boxing equipment in the world and is a great, affordable addition to any home gym.
(See also: Home and Health: What to Do When You Can’t Go to the Gym)
While using a speed bag can seem pretty difficult, it’s actually fairly simple and can easily be mastered with a bit of practice. The aim is to continuously strike the speed bag whilst it’s rebounding, usually twice with your right hand and then twice with your left hand.
In order to make the bag accurately rebound, you must strike the speed bag in the right place at the right moment, otherwise, the rhythm can be lost and you’ll need to start again.
Working the speed bag provides incredible muscular endurance training for your arms and shoulders, as both of your hands need to be raised at all times, whilst throwing a strike with alternating fists.
What’s more, it’s a fantastic piece of equipment to get your heart pumping and develop your cardiovascular endurance as well.
5. Battle Rope
Lastly, we’ve got a battle rope, which is a fairly recent piece of equipment to hit the scene. A battle rope is a large, thick piece of rope that is weighted down in the middle, usually with kettlebells.
You then hold each end of the rope and explosively swing your arms in different directions, depending on the exercise you are doing.
A battle rope provides an incredibly well-rounded workout, allowing you to develop the power and muscular endurance of your core, arms, and legs all within the same exercise.
Like a lot of the equipment on our list, a battle rope is extremely budget-friendly, making it a great fit for home gyms.
Final Thoughts
There we have it, some incredible boxing equipment to get you fighting fit from the comfort of your own home. While traditional fitness equipment is great, it can always be a good idea to change up your routine to keep things different and entertaining, whilst not sacrificing the quality of your work out.
Even one or two of these items are bound to make a great addition to your home gym and take your workouts to the next level.
About The Author:
James is a martial arts fanatic who became a National Judo Champion at the age of 12 and a member of the Great British Judo Team, competing at an international level. Since then, James has studied various different disciplines such as BJJ, Muay Thai, wrestling, and MMA. He spends his time blogging about different martial arts on his website MMAStation.com and obsessing over the UFC.
