Hitting a heavy bag?

Question

when you hit a heavy bag are you tearing your muscles like in lifting ...like is it bad to hit one day then lift the next day i know this question should maybe be in another category but alot of people here give better answers and actually train in some form of martial arts thank you in advance for any answers

Answer 1

No

Answer 2

you can hit a bag every day it will build punching power

Answer 3

No, you are not doing the microtears that you do in lifting.

Mind you may experience some soreness in the muscles like any other physical activity, that is mainly due to lactic acid.

There would be nothing wrong with say kicking the bag one day, the doing legs the next in the weight room, two different types of things.

While in a sense any physical activity will give you some tearing and lactic acid build up, it isn't the same as what you experience with weight lifting.

I would say to try to avoid lifting with a muscle that still feels really sore. There will be some soreness of muscles if you aren't doing it regularly, you should be able to feel the difference.

If you feel weak the next day, then you need to rest. If you just feel a little sore and find you are having no problems with strength or stamina while lifting then you should be good.

Hope that helps..

Answer 4

Short answer - no.  You aren't working the muscle in the same way as lifting.  

The idea behind the heavy bag is to hit it hard with correct form and work on your punches and combinations.  You should ideally be snapping the punch and retracting your arm after a crisp, hard strike.  In addition to the cardio, footwork, muscle memory and technique you are focused on, you should be TONING, not BUILDING muscle.  The heavy bag workout is more like a low-weight high-rep scenario than a heavy lifting / low rep scenario.

Do a few rounds on the heavy bag, use it as a warm up before you do chest/triceps/shoulders.  It's the same muscle groups essentially, so it's ideal to get the blood flowing and your heart rate up.  I woudn't go full-bore 10 rounds on a heavy bag the day after a heavy chest day, though.    You won't hurt anything, but it could interfere with your recovery a little.  

If you want to do more work on the heavy bag after chest, use it for defense drills, footwork drills, or (if you kick) do some kicking work / knee strikes.  Keep the cross/hook punches to a minimum, and make your punches snap, rather than pushing type blows.  

I also use it for ab workouts - sit under the bag and do a situp to either side of the bag or do leg-lifts the same way.

Answer 5

No it's not bad.

When we practice our kicks we practice doing them in deep stances because the leg that is doing the lifting is getting the work out.  The leg that is kicking the air is actually getting weaker.  That is why we do both sides equally.  The same goes for striking a bag, you'll have some resistance when you strike, which is good.  Just be sure not to lock your elbow and to keep your wrists straight.  Any bend of the wrist, can cause the wrist to collapse on the bag, and that is bad for the wrists.... and even more so if you plan to lift the next day.

Answer 6

You can do some heavy bag work every day you train. I like to see my students take one day off of heavy training a week. This helps rebuild tissue that may be slightly damaged in hard training. The day off can be an active day just no hard punching or heavy lifting. This also gives the mind an opportunity to grow as well. Yo may want to spend that day reading for a couple hours and spend sometime outside walking.