Best Kickboxing Workouts at Home with a Heavy Bag (Expert Advice)

Are you sitting at home wondering how to spice up your workout routine? Do you have a heavy bag just hanging around in your home gym? And are you bored with following the same old punching techniques? Well, then the great news is that we can definitely help you punch up your fitness game (quite literally) with a fun and exciting kickboxing style!

If you haven’t already tried doing a kickboxing workout routine then you are definitely up for a treat because this workout is going to be absolutely fabulous and exhilarating. A kickboxing workout routine quite literally includes kicking and boxing together; which means that through this workout you will be working on your upper and lower body simultaneously. The results of this workout include the same as any other cardio-oriented workout in exercises such as HIIT, skipping rope, weight lifting, gyming, and aerobics.

However, the kick in kickboxing is that you will be able to learn self-defense and combat skills and techniques that overall allow you to grow and develop as a human being. The skills that you will develop through this workout are inspired by mixed martial arts sports such as Muay Thai, boxing, kickboxing, judo, and Jiu-Jitsu. This new routine will be an excellent way of challenging yourself and pushing your boundaries forward; we never ever back away from a challenge and expect that neither will you!

Let’s look into the physical and mental benefits that you will be getting out of this new kickboxing workout that you are about to try:

1. Improved Flexibility

Flexibility is absolutely important for any kind of sport or exercise because flexibility determines not only how well you will perform an exercise but it also helps to prevent muscle and soft tissue injuries. With this workout, you will definitely improve your upper body and lower body flexibility.

2. Cardio

We all know that no workout is complete without your heartbeat going up and hence cardio is a massive part of any workout routine. Cardio helps to prevent you from getting heart diseases, makes your heart stronger, and also helps to improve your blood circulation. With a kickboxing workout, you will definitely be getting an intense cardio workout.

3. Improved Blood Circulation

Improved circulation helps to rejuvenate dead cells, recover muscle damage, allow you to think clearly, and make your muscles stronger and supple. So that rush of blood that you feel going straight to your head during this workout, means you have nothing to complain about because it’s all the blood circulation!

 4. Robust and Toned Muscles

If you are in search of a workout that will allow you to get well-defined and toned muscles, then trust us that consistency with this workout will allow you to achieve just that.

5. Improved Stamina

Whether you want to participate in MMA or just simply lead a healthier life, good stamina is essential for it. Strong stamina means you have a high endurance level and you will be able to excel and last longer in any kind of physical activity. This workout really helps to build and maintain your stamina

6. Increased Weight Loss

It is no secret that people train and exercise primarily to lose weight and get in shape; but why should that mean that people should be limited to just doing boring gym exercises? You could be learning new tricks and techniques while still shedding off weight, and that is exactly what this workout does for you!

7. Reduced Stress and Anxiety

A kickboxing workout at home is one of the best ways we can think of to vent out your frustrations, anxieties, and stress; after all the pandemic has been testing our patience a lot.

8. Improved Balance

An improved balance helps you to perform better at tasks, makes your muscles and bones stronger, and also helps you move around and utilize your space more efficiently. With excellent coordination of your arms and legs through this workout, your balance is bound to improve.

9. Hand and Eye Coordination

Thinking about sharpening your reflexes? Well, that is important because good reflexes show that your mind is active and is alert at all times. So allow yourself to improve as your body and mind sync together through this kickboxing workout.

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Kickboxing Workout Begins!

As this workout begins, we have three major things to learn (this is important especially if you’re a novice at kickboxing)

1. Punches and Boxing

Delivering punches is actually not as easy as many boxers and athletes may like you to believe, in fact, they can be quite tricky and you need to learn the real technique so that you can prevent yourself from getting injured or hurt.

There is some important lingo that you should be aware of before we start this kickboxing workout:

• Jabs (bring one foot/side forward and punch in a straight motion with the side in the lead)
• Crosses (punches that you deliver from the side that is at the back)
• Hooks (punches aimed at the head and in a hook-like motion that goes down)
• Uppercuts (again aimed at the head but motion that starts from below and goes up)

2. Kicks

• knee strikes (bring up your knee and pull your opponent/heavy bag towards your knee simultaneously)
• front kicks (bringing the knee up and then continuing to straighten your leg)
• sidekicks (pull out your leg from one side)
• Roundhouse kicks (lengthen the knee of the leg at the back, continue to turn into a semi-circular motion and towards the supporting leg, and do a kick slap)
• back kicks (rotate knee towards the back and then lengthen leg back)

3. Kicks and Punching together

As you improve both, kicking and punching into the heavy bag, you will then need to start working on doing them both simultaneously and this is where your balance and techniques are tested the most. But don’t worry because with practice you will improve.

Workout

This workout includes a warm-up and a cool-down like any other workout.

Warm-Up

Jog in one place for 10 minutes

15 seconds of jumping jacks

15 seconds of high knees

15 seconds back kicks

30 seconds plank

20 seconds of pushups

20 seconds side pushups

20 seconds wide grip pushups

Round 1

Begin with the Left Side (10 times each at your own controlled speed)

Jab + Cross

Jab + Cross + Hook

Jab + Cross + Hook + Uppercuts

Jab + Cross + Uppercut + Jab

Hook + Uppercut + Uppercut + Hook

Jab + Hook + Hook + Uppercut + Cross

Round 2

Begin with the Left Side (10 times each at your own controlled speed)

Shin Block + Knee + Cross + Jab

Knee + Cross + Knee + Jab

Knee + Jab + Front Kick (Left) + Knee + Front Kick (Right)

Front Kick (Left) + Hook + Cross + Front Kick (Right)

High Kick + Shin Block (Front) + Back Kick + High Knee + Hook

High Kick + Uppercut + Jab + Hook + Back Kick 

Cool Down

Do not forget to cool down with some stretching exercises because this step will help in muscle and soft tissue recovery. Cool-down exercises help to circulate blood and are generally a pleasant way of ending any workout.

The best time to do cool-down exercises is when your muscles are relaxed and still warm after an intense workout. Some examples of cool-down exercises and stretches can include:

• Neck Side Bend Stretch
• Lower Back Flexion Stretch
• Quadriceps stretch
• Hamstring stretch
• Groin Stretch
• Hip Flexor Stretch

Hold each position for at least 10 seconds and give yourself at least 10 to 15  minutes minimum to do cool-down exercises.

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