HIIT using a Punching Bag????

[Alex-db]

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PS. This bag is top of the line, but the top portion is much softer and gives much more than the bottom portion. Kicking low gets no give or punching low.

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This is standard for Thai-boxing, people add more in the top of the bag to make it all harder. Its to condition your shins so you're not afraid to kick someone hard knowing they might block with their shin/knee/elbow.

Like in that film where some kid was kicking a tree.

[IrOnLaW]

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PS. This bag is top of the line, but the top portion is much softer and gives much more than the bottom portion. Kicking low gets no give or punching low.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is standard for Thai-boxing, people add more in the top of the bag to make it all harder. Its to condition your shins so you're not afraid to kick someone hard knowing they might block with their shin/knee/elbow.

Like in that film where some kid was kicking a tree.

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Kickboxer with Jean-Claude Van Damme
Great Movie

[IrOnLaW]

By the way, how often should I be implementing this training regimine in my current routine. I lift weights about 4-5 times per week, heavy and intense..... Thanks

[Blarg]

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For those without a punching bag but with gloves, would shadow boxing with the same type of intensity get close to the same results?

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No. Shadow boxing if done with real vigor is fantastic for working specific technique, coordination, speed, aerobic capacity and balance, and even studying yourself to see if you can be less telegraphic. But driving your fists into a heavy bag is much more intense and explosive, involving much more muscle tension, and of course the impact is a bigger strain on your shoulders and wrists. Also, actually hitting something teaches you a lot about balance that shadowboxing won't clue a beginner in to for a long time, if ever, and is pretty priceless for that alone.

You can still use shadowboxing as part of an interval cycle, though. It would seem to make a good interval with something that really worked the legs, like duckwalks or frog jumps or one-legged squats(pistols) or box jumps.

[Blarg]

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By the way, how often should I be implementing this training regimine in my current routine. I lift weights about 4-5 times per week, heavy and intense..... Thanks

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I'll leave that to people more knowledgeable about working with weights than I am, as well as your diet questions.

As to supplements, I take a bunch of them, but just vitamins and minerals. I think the best supplement most people could get would be to eat a lot more vegetables. I also take sesame oil and green tea. If you want to look at a lot of interesting articles on vitamins and supplements, I'd recommend the articles at www.lef.org. They sell the supplements too, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt, but their articles give sources and are often quite modest in their claims for any particular nutrient or supplement.

Here's a link to some of their protocols: http://www.lef.org/protocols/

I'd also recommend this book highly. Lots of information on everything from vitamins to nutrients to prescription drugs, from their use in dealing with disease to new uses being found for them regarding improving health. It's available at Amazon.com too.: Disease Prevention and Treatment

Note that it is listed twice at Amazon, once at a much more expensive price because it is being sold by one of their affiliates. Go for the cheap version if you try out the book. It is well worth a read.