I've been feeling lately that I should be working on my punching and kicking more because it's not something I'm very good at. However I don't really have the cash or space for a punching bag and the local gym dispite having every kind of weight machine, yoga ball, and sports court known to man lacks any sort of punching bag. Is their anything I could try to work my striking in place of a bag?

-Umbra

Get a partner and start hitting some mitts. It will help your over all timing and speed. Although I love heavy bags and say you should save up some money and get one.

I agree a partner w/ mitts would be excellent, but if you can't find one or can't afford the mitts work on shadow boxing. It's better than nothing and you can try to perfect techniques and speed. Try it super slow for technique and then speed it up for more of a work out. Also a big mirror to stand in front of helps alot.

I don't know what type of budget your working with, but unless it's incredibly and food-stamp type low, I really think that you may not be looking hard enough. Before attempting any half bakes ideas (All the advise above is great, I'm not referring to that council), I'd suggest 3 things. 1: obviously, try the used sport shops. Often times you will get low quality bags, but the good thing about a bag is it's not there to look pretty. Even strapped with duct tape, it still does it's job. 2: and this is kind of out there, but i've done it. Go to a few boxing gyms, and see what they have available. I'm talkin, beat up, run-down type places. Throw in some cash, and you might get lucky and walk away with a cast-off. Chances are slim, I know ...usually that sort of stuff goes to those who train there, but again, couldn't hurt. The good thing about boxing coaches, is many of them understand hard times, and are willing to help serious trainers. or 3 ...Garage sales man! look around! Heavy bags are alot like Total Gyms, or Stair Masters, in that alot of pseudo-macho types buy them jus to show'em off, maybe hit it a few times, but usually just get rid of'em later ...You might get really lucky and walk away with one heck of a bag for 20 bucks.

Otherwise, yeah ....Shadowboxing, and mitt's are great ideas. I'd also recommend shadowboxing underwater. Sounds weird, but give it a shot. One heck of an exorcise, at least.

Good luck!

-Ket

Also if you have anything equivalent to a Buy,Sell, and Trade where you live look through that I must see 2-3 heavybags everytime I look through it.

I think you should save up for a heavy bag.. even a 80Lb one from wal-mart or I think they may have 70 Lbs, and 50 lbs also. They arn't overly expensive, and will probably be close to the price of the mitts.

The Bag i use now, came from goodwill. It cost me five dollars. However, you might not be able to find it. Try sparring or shadow boxing.

You can make some hand mitts pretty cheap. A chair cushion could be used as a kicking shield. Just some food for thought.

I ran out and bought "top contender" and windy gear because I train quite abit so I wanted stuff that will last. But thats just me lol.

Ask your friends to help you go in and buy stuff because 2 - 3 pockets are deeper than 1.

Brandon

All the other lads suggestions are good. But how about just asking your gym to invest in a punch bag. Get some other gym users to do the same and if it is a good gym as you say it is, they will listen to their members.

Good luck

Excellent idea.

Plant a banana tree in your backyard or wrap any old tree with a towel. If that doesn't sound appealing then check out craigslist. People are selling their bags sometimes on it.

One thing you could try is to ask your gym if they can get one. Maybe they overlooked it, if you pay good money for a membership, they should try to cater to your needs. As it has been said previously, a heavy bag is not that expensive, a lot less than weight training equipment.

-Jeff