The speed bag can be used to perform cardio and build muscle. But can it help tone and strengthen your arms? Yes it will definitely help you tone up, and put a little muscle on your triceps, biceps, and even forearms. Other muscles are involved, like the shoulders, but the arms do most of the work. So if you want to get sculpted looking arms, speed bag training is a great choice!
Will The Speed Bag Help Flabby Arms?
As you may know, it is not possible to “spot-train” for fat loss. Doing crunches does not exclusively burn belly fat, and doing push-ups doesn’t burn arm or chest fat.
That being said, speed bag training will definitely help with overall fat loss, and some of this fat will come from your arms. More importantly, you will build lean muscle tissue in your arms and this will result in some tightening of the skin around those larger muscles.
One of the great things about the speed bag is that training on it can also be used as a form of upper body cardio.
But I Don’t Want To Get Too Big!
For males, the muscle gain will be more noticeable. Females are very different from men hormonally and, although their results can be impressive, they will not generally experience as much muscle growth. In most cases, women who are concerned with arm flaps are not looking to gain a whole lot of muscle in fear of becoming too muscular.
There is a very widespread, and rather outdated misperception among some women that they will get very muscular, very quickly from weight training or any type of anaerobic exercise. Meanwhile there’s millions of men out there wishing it was that easy! No one is going to “accidentally” turn into a bodybuilder! It takes a lifetime of hard work, strict dieting and, sadly, often drugs to get hugely muscular.
For anybody, gaining a few pounds of muscle won’t turn you into the hulk and will almost always improve your appearance.
The speed bag provides a great workout that will build muscle, burn fat, and has a slew of other benefits.
What Muscles Does The Speed Bag Work?
Obviously, this is an upper body exercise, so the majority of the effects of speed bag training will apply to the arms, shoulders and, to a lesser degree, chest and core.
The muscles that will reap the most growth stimulating effects are:
- Triceps
- Biceps
- Shoulders
Triceps
The triceps unarguably get the most from hitting the speed bag. The speed bag gives you a monster triceps pump that is totally addictive!
The speed bag seems to really work the long head of the triceps, right near the elbow, toward the inside of the arm. This is a difficult part of the triceps to isolate, and the speed bag hits it directly!
Being a fast twitch dominant muscle group, the explosiveness of speed bag training provides effective growth-inducing stimulation to the triceps.
Biceps
The biceps is responsible for controlling the speed of the punch. And ‘reloading’ by bringing the hand back to get ready to throw the next punch. The speed bag is more of a balloon, or ball, that is filled with air, so when you punch the bag it doesn’t have enough weight to stop, or slow down, your punch. This is where the biceps steps in to “catch” your punch and bring it back.
Shoulders (Deltoids and Traps)
The front deltoids provides the initial boost when you launch a jab at the bag. This is an extremely dense muscle that is also fast twitch dominant. The front deltoid is an incredibly strong muscle when taking size into consideration.
This muscle is essential to every type of upper body pressing or pushing exercise. If your shoulders are strong, you will be strong.
When hitting a speed bag you are forced to keep your hands up in a guard position. This works your deltoids and trapezius, and never lets them rest between punches. After a few minutes you will really start to feel this. Stick with it and you’ll find yourself with stronger, more muscular shoulders too.
Forearms
Training with a speed bag will work your forearms to some extent too. workout. Simply clenching a fist and holding the wrist rigid will strengthen your wrist flexors.
Core
When hitting the speed bag, try not to just stand still the whole time. Moving your feet and swaying and rocking side to side will help develop your core, and burn more fat. Anything you can do to increase the difficulty will generally help burn more fat, so involving the core can only help.
So Will This Help Me Tone My Arms?
Regular use of a speed bag will have a very noticeable effect on your arms. First you will feel them become firmer and feel awake. The size and shape will take a little longer but you should see results within a month of training.
Your muscles will start to grow and the skin on your arms will become firmer, even tight.
How Often Should I Train?
It is fine to hit the speed bag everyday, or 3 times a week. Really any training frequency is fine, but try to do an hour a week. That doesn’t sound like much, but that’s 60 x 1 min sets, or 30 x 3 min sets per week. Even so, it’s not very time consuming even accounting for rest time.
A few sample beginner workouts might look like:
- 5 days/week – 5 x 2 min sets, 1-2 min rest.
- 3 days/week – 10 x 2 min sets, 1-2 min rest
- 2 x per day, 5 days week – 5 x 1 min, 1 min rest.
- 2 x 3 min sets, everyday.
Hitting a speed bag for just 5 mins a day will give you an awesome pump and will definitely help tone up your arms. I would say that the benefits will grow with higher training volume, up to about half an hour a day. Going beyond this amount will not result in additional muscle growth, but instead will simply count as conditioning.
Keep It Balanced.
It is very important to hit the bag with both your left and your right hand. Ensure that you don’t undertrain your less coordinated side. The speed bag is a great tool for evening out imbalances in performance between left and right. But if you train favoring one side over the other, speed bag work will only increase that imbalance. So always make sure you alternate hands.
You may choose to alternate each punch within a set, or perhaps to do a whole set at a time for each arm. The latter is more challenging and will be harder to maintain a fast pace, but will do wonders for bringing up a lagging side, for technique, speed, and muscularity.
What If I Want To Do More?
If you just love hitting the bag and have tons of free time, you can pretty much hit it as long as you want without having to worry about overtraining. However, higher training volume will have diminishing returns as far as muscle gains, but you’ll still be burning calories and improving your technique and speed.
You can use the speed bag for all, or part of, your cardio regiment which will really speed up fat loss, giving you the toned, defined arms you’ve always wanted!
Where Can I Find A Speed Bag?
Many gyms and health clubs have a speed bag set up somewhere. Often in the deepest, darkest corner of the place! Some gyms will not have one but may be open to it, especially when they discover how low cost speed bags are.
Boxing gyms will definitely have a number of speed bags, so if you are near one and feel comfortable going in, this will be an option for many people who live in larger cities.
If you are like me, and would rather learn to train with a speed bag in the comfort of your own basement, garage, or back porch, there are many very affordable options. Alternatively, you can purchase a swivel, a bag, and some plywood and make your own.
Are Speed Bags Expensive?
Speed Bags are surprisingly inexpensive, with entry level platform and bag sets often sold for under $100! Of course, you can spend more if you want something more durable and of higher quality. Or, as I already mentioned, you can make your own.
Most important is having a good place to install it. A speed bag platform will need to be very securely attached to wall studs or ceiling rafters. This will help minimize noise and vibration, and keep the bag’s action quick.
Which brings up one important consideration….
Is It Too Noisy?
Speed bag training is not something you’d do right after putting the kids to bed. It’s loud! It may be offensively loud to some (lame) people so ideally it will be placed somewhere isolated, and well insulated.
I used to go to a YMCA in North Carolina that had a speed bag, but no one ever used it so they took it down. Some ‘fitness’ types of gyms may not want something that noisy, or ‘masculine’ in their establishment. I prefer to have my own speed bag anyway for ease of access, and I never have to wait my turn!
It’s Totally Worth It!
Training with a speed bag is rather loud, but the sound becomes hypnotic and sort of therapeutic. You will enjoy the satisfying thump and whack! You’ll feel great, and look cool. With time, it’ll help you look your best too.
So It’s Great For Toning Arms?
Absolutely. Hitting a speed bag is like jogging, for your arms! You will get a fantastic pump in your triceps and biceps when you hit it. More muscular, sculpted, arms will definitely be in your future.
The entry level bag and wall attachment apparatus really are pretty affordable. It will be far cheaper than a monthly gym membership! So get started with the speed bag, you will see great results in your arms, and learn a cool skill to show off to your friends!
