I love the speed bag. So much so that I even put one up at work – and it has become very popular with the guys I work with. Now they’re asking me to put up a heavy bag! I think the speed bag is enough, but they think the heavy bag is a better workout. So I thought I’d look into it and then write a nice helpful post about which is better, the speed bag or the heavy bag?
So, which is better, speed bag or heavy bag? It turns out that it depends what you want from your workout. If you are training to be a fighter, or to improve speed and coordination, the speed bag is better. If you just want a good workout, the heavy bag will burn more calories than the speed bag and will help grow more muscle. Basically, the heavy bag makes you strong, the speed bag will make you fast and accurate.
So it turns out that while these two both provide a great workout, and achieve some of the same goals, they are not really equivalents. Depending on what your goal is in your training, one may definitely be better than the other for you. Read on and I’ll explain.
What’s Different?
What’s important is your goal. Do you want to lose fat? Build muscle and strength? Are you interested in becoming a fighter? Of course a serious fighter would train with both of these, but the benefits of the two are different.
Both the speed bag and the heavy bag provide good cardio but they both have certain strong points.
| Type Of Bag | Speed Bag | Heavy Bag |
| Cardio | ✔ | ✔✔ |
| Builds Muscle | ✔ | ✔✔ |
| Improves Strength | ✔ | |
| Improves Accuracy | ✔ | |
| Improves Speed | ✔ | |
| Involves Large Muscle Groups | ✔ |
So, Speed Bag?
The speed bag is more effective at evening out imbalances in coordination between your left and right hand, and will give you a great triceps pump, and will help tone and strengthen your arms and shoulders.
The speed bag is better than the heavy bag for improving your accuracy, timing, and speed, and involves less impact so it is easier on your hands. However, the heavy bag is better than the speed bag for building muscle and strength, and getting your heart rate up. With the heavy bag, you will have more foot movement as the bag swings, and you are striking the bag harder, making it the more strenuous of the two.
The speed bag takes longer to learn and requires more skill than the heavy bag. It requires rhythm, focus and timing. if you’ve never hit one before, concentrate on hitting the bag in the same spot each time at even intervals. Get the rhythm down and the speed will come later.
Training on a speed bag is better for someone who is interested in boxing or martial arts, as their speed, balance, timing and accuracy will all get better as a result of continued use.
The speed bag provides a good arm and shoulder workout. You will really feel it in your triceps and front deltoids in particular. The fast nature of this exercise will force you to keep your hands up in a ‘guard’ position and this will work your trapezius too. The triceps provides the power, and the biceps provides the speed by bringing the striking hand back quickly for the next punch.
Your accuracy will greatly increase, especially with your ‘bad’ hand. I was very much a southpaw, and after a few months on the speed bag, my accuracy was virtually even with both hands. This in turn allowed me to strike the heavy bag harder with my right and therefore increased the effectiveness of that exercise as well.
The speed bag is simply filled with air, so it is gentle on your hands to hit. This is great news for anyone with tender hands or wrists, or those working with other restrictions.
So, Heavy Bag?
Hitting the heavy bag is great, but it will not help you get better on the speed bag. It is a slower, more power-focused type of training. However, it does offer several things that the speed bag does not.
You can hit it harder. When you strike a bag with close to maximum force, your fist is moving the weight of the bag. Depending on the size of your heavy bag, this may be 50-100 lbs that you are explosively striking.
The heavy bag allows for more movement. The swing of the bag means that you will move your feet and step back and forth to hit it. The type of punches you’ll throw at a heavy bag will involved the core far more than speed bag punches too.
The heavy bag has long been used to increase punching power. It is a form of resistance exercise and will definitely stimulate muscle growth and even lead to some soreness when you first start out.
When done correctly, I would say heavy bag training is kind of like to jogging and lifting weights at the same time! Working out with a heavy bag will burn significantly more calories than a speed bag. A 180 lb man will burn around 500 calories an hour, as opposed to about 300 per hour on the speed bag, so it makes the heavy bag a better choice for cardio if your goal is cardio for fat loss.
So, The Heavy Bag Is Better For Fat Loss?
First and foremost, your diet has to be in check. If you’re overeating, or not following the right eating pattern, you won’t lose fat. That being said, the heavy bag will burn more calories per hour than the speed bag as it engages more muscles it provides more resistance, and you hit it harder. Also, you will be able to hit it for longer sets. The heavy bag is more like a steady jog, compared to the speed bag which is more like a sprint.
Won’t The Speed Bag Build Muscle?
The speed bag will definitely help build muscle, particularly in the triceps and deltoids. This doesn’t mean that it will turn you into 1975 Arnold Schwarzenegger, there are diminishing returns after a while. However, with regular use, most guys could certainly add an inch or so to your arms and tone up your shoulders quite nicely. This will be especially true if you have never done any regular resistance training.
You’ll find that the pump you get in your triceps alone will motivate you to continue to train with the speed bag.
Should I Do Both?
Absolutely. The speed bag complements the heavy bag very well. Your heavy bag use is great for getting more power behind your punches and getting a good workout in general, but your weaknesses will be obvious.
What I mean is that if you’re right handed, and your left hand is far less coordinated, you will not hit the bag confidently with your left. You won’t be able to hit as hard because you won’t be accurate with that hand, so the imbalance will only get worse. If you do hit with all your power, and land the punch wrong, you may hurt your wrist, or hand.
This is where the speed bag comes in handy. It will force your left and right to even out as you get better hitting it. It requires focus, and accuracy, and will greatly improve the latter.
How Often Should I Train?
As often as you like! 2-3 times a week for 30 mins on the heavy bag, or 15 mins on the speed bag will be enough to get some serious benefits from either one, but the heavy bag will probably require more recovery time between workouts. You won’t need an hour a day, 5 days a week like a treadmill! But if you take care of your hands, and you feel like it? Go ahead and hit it more frequently. However often you choose, you can feel good knowing you picked a really great, time-effective way to work out!
Related Questions:
What Muscles Does A Speed Bag Work?
The speed bag works your triceps, deltoids, biceps, forearms and trapezius. Also, to a much lesser degree, pectorals. You will really ‘feel the burn’ in your:
- Triceps, number one. This is where the explosive power comes from.
- Front Delts, this is the central muscle to the whole movement, controls the direction of the punch, and provides power.
- Trapezius, this holds your arms up, a slow burn will build towards the end of your set!
Speed bag training is also good cardio, although not quite as strenuous as the heavy bag because the bag is filled with air, so there’s less resistance, and you recruit less muscles.
Do Speed Bags Make You Faster?
The speed bag is like sprinting for your upper body, so it will definitely help you get faster. As the name implies, the speed bag is designed for this very purpose. It also greatly improved your accuracy and evens out imbalances between your right and left hand. As you confidence and accuracy gets better, the speed will come.
