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will suffice. Follow this by some simple joint rotations and you joints working from your head and neck down to your ankles.
are good to go. You don’t need to spend long doing it, but it is worthwhile.
When performing the routine you should make sure that all t 1–2 rounds* light punching on the heavy bag focusing on
punches are thrown from the ‘fighting stance’ and emphasis is technique, not over stretching and ensuring you are fully
placed on proper form and technique. T is again will improve mobile and warmed up.
the effectiveness of the benefits I mentioned above, such as t 10 rounds* heavy and hard at your maximum intensity. T is
building strength and speed as well as keeping the risk of injury is obviously the main body of the training regime and the
to a minimum. You should always begin with light punches for part which is really going to make a difference. 10 rounds are
the first few minutes to allow your body to fully adapt to the optimal and something that should be aspired to if you are just
onslaught which is to follow and ensure that you breath correctly beginning – don’t overdo it if this is going to be your first time
throughout. When warm, all punches thrown must be quick training like this. You might feel fine to start with but the next
and hard. day or two your body will not be thanking you for it. If just
T ere are four main punches you should concentrate on starting out, start with five rounds and each time you train add
during your time on the bag (eight if you take into account they an extra round until you reach 10!
can be done with both hands). T ese are: t Five minute cool down. T is should be similar to your warm-
up but obviously lowering the heart rate back down and trying
,#$ 564#+)*6 to flush some lactic acid out of the muscles – light stretching is
T e Jab or Straight is the primary punch. It is a snapping punch also ideal at this point!
done with the ‘leading’ hand. T is is performed with either the *A round is the same as a traditional boxing round and will
left or right hand, depending on which one is in front. When you last for 3 minutes. After each round (3 minutes) you will have a
are in the fighting stance, keep your hands raised and deliver these 1 minute break from punching the bag. T is does not mean you
punches quickly and with maximum force, bringing your hand can sit down and have a quick ‘fag’ though – this time should be
back to a defensive position between ‘blows’. used to grab a quick mouthful of water and then keep the heart
rate up by jogging or skipping on the spot until it is time to start
%4155 the next round.
Performed with the ‘Trailing’ hand. T is punch normally follows To complete the full routine above it should take you in the
the jab to give the traditional 1, 2 combination and is generally region of an hour, and it is estimated you will burn anywhere
the heavier of the two punches. As above this is thrown from the in the region of 300-600 calories in that time (depending on
fighting stance with maximum force whilst keeping your front intensity).
hand and arm up in a blocking position – don’t drop your hands An alternative routine you can do, if you are training with a
when delivering any punch! partner, is warm up as above but then train one minute on the
bag then swapping to one minute skipping. Just keep swapping
*11- around until you can either no longer breathe comfortably or use
T is can be performed with either the left or right hand and is a pre-set time limit, such as 30 minutes or whatever you decide.
normally delivered ‘up close and personal’ with the opponent Depending on your current training regime, I would
or bag in this case. T is is not a flailing hay-maker style punch, recommend doing this sort of training one to three times a week.
which will generally end up damaging you in some way due to it If you are unsure, always err on the side of caution and remember
being a wild and uncontrolled technique. Keep the elbows high it is always best to start with less and build up gradually than to
when delivering this punch and ensure you connect with the bag just go straight in as hard as you can and risk getting injured. And
using the knuckles on the middle and index finger – it is easy to that’s it – straight forward, simple, basic training at its best.
damage the smaller knuckles if you use poor technique. Make sure you always take in plenty of water, consult a GP
before carrying out any strenuous exercise and remember if you
hurt yourself, it’s your own fault and has got nothing to do with
722'4 %76 me! A further ‘disclaimer’ can be found on my website www.
Again performed with either hand, this punch is delivered to
either the head or body region. When delivering this punch on fundamentalistfitness.com – just in case you are interested! ■
the bag, due to its shape, the angle needs to be opened up and
driven into the bag as opposed to straight up as you would an
opponent’s chin.
T is is not a technical sparring session and the idea of this
routine is not to turn you into the 9th Marquess of Queensbury
(Google it if you have no idea of what I’m talking about). T e
emphasis is very much on continuous movement providing for
a calorie burning, strength building environment which will
provide you with all the benefits listed. To that end I am not
including any ‘drill’ or technique exercises just straight into
round one.
T e routine basically consists of the following.
t 5 minute warm up of your choice – this can either be jogging,
static bike, skipping or anything else that will get you moving
and warm up your muscles and joints.
t 1–2 minutes or so rotating all the joints. Make sure you do all