These five boxing heavy bag combinations are designed to use repetition to sharpen punching technique and power, while improving fitness and conditioning. The heavy bag has long been a favourite tool used by boxers and for good reason. The heavy bag allows you to train on it as much as you want and it will never grow tired of you hitting it. The same cannot unfortunately be said for some training partners!

The heavy bag is also predictable. It doesn’t change shape as you go to punch it or make any sudden movements, causing you to hit your fist on an elbow, or roll your wrist on a hip bone. For this reason it is a great way to get in shape, or stay in shape in the last week before a fight when avoiding injury is the most important. Sometimes our mind can become lazy and we lose concentration whilst working out on a heavy bag. These five combinations can provide for a great workout as well as a simple way of improving our technique through the use of repetition.

Combination 1: Jab, Cross, Hook.

Simple and effective. This combination delivers 2 straight punches to the face, causing our opponent to bring their hands forward to protect the front of the head. Once the hands are forward, the side of the head is left exposed, so we deliver a hook at the end of our combination. A good spot to aim for is the ear. If you land on the ear, you can bust their ear drum, which can create balance problems for them for the remainder of the fight and if they pull their head backwards at the last second, you may be lucky enough to land on the jaw, eye socket, or one of the other areas on the face that will cause lots of damage and discomfort.

Combination 2: Jab, Body-Rip, Hook.

This combination uses the same hand for all three punches. This is not a common occurrence as boxers frequently throw combinations that utilise; left punch, followed by right punch, followed by left punch, followed by right punch repeatedly. By practicing this combination, we can develop power in our combinations, even while punching with only one hand repetitively, which many boxers struggle to do. This unorthodox style can be very hard for your opponent to read as boxers do not frequently use the same hand for 3 punches in a row, at 3 different angles.

Combination 3: Jab, Cross, Jab, Cross (4 straights).

The idea of this combination is to simply deliver four straight and hard punches to your opponent’s head in quick succession. Even if your opponent’s guard is up, it will be hard for them to keep it strong and be unaffected by any of the four punches. When we perform this combination on the heavy bag, we want to practice with both speed and power, as too much of one and not enough of the other can greatly determine the effectiveness of the combination. Having both hard and fast punches can be very difficult to deal with.

Combination 4: Jab, Cross, Uppercut, Cross, Hook.

Changing the angles of our punches during a combination can greatly improve our likelihood of having them land clean on our opponent. By having the ability to punch straight and also punch at different angles, keeps our opponent guessing as to what style of combination we will be delivering next. As we practice this combination, it is good to try and keep the same tempo for all five punches without breaking rhythm. This means that our body is forced to flow through the combination without having to stop and reset our weight each time we throw a punch at a different angle. Remember, the longer we take to deliver the next punch, the longer our opponent has to prepare for it.

Combination 5: Jab, Cross.

Also known as a “one-two” punch combination. This is probably the most commonly used punch combination in boxing and it can be used in many ways. Often times when boxers perform this combination, the jab is used as a tool to gauge distance so that the right-hand is sure to land. Other times the jab is used to distract the opponent so the right-hand can come through unnoticed. And other times, both punches are thrown with force in the hope that the first punch will stun and the second punch will be the finisher. It is good to practice all three styles whilst performing this combination on the heavy bag.