Looking for a punching bag but not sure whether to choose a sandbag or a waterbag?
Read on to learn about the pros and cons of each option and discover which one might be the best fit for your training needs.
Explore the differences between sand vs. water punching bags and find the perfect option to take your workouts to the next level.
Sand vs. Water Punching Bag
What Is a Sand Punching Bag?
![Sand vs. Water Punching Bag](https://theboxingguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/john-wallace-wiFeTCyU61g-unsplash-700x1050.jpg)
A sand punching bag is a cylindrical-shaped boxing bag normally made with an external layer of leather as a hard-wearing material to avoid tearing and sand or sawdust on the internal side.
Advantages of a Sand Punching Bag
1. Heavier Weight
A heavy punching bag can put a lot of force on strength and cardio exercises.
Sandbags are accessible in different sizes that go as far as possible up to 150+ lbs because the heavier the punch, the heavier the punching bag should be.
That is something you can’t coordinate with a water-filled punching bag.
2. Better Stability
A boxing bag with heavier weight won’t swing around so much and give great stability. The effect of each punch will move the energy and power to the bag, and the harder you punch, the more the pinching bag will move.
At the point when you have a lighter punching bag, you have to stop your exercise every single time and stop the swinging bag so you can begin once again.
3. Longer Lasting
Sand punching bags end up being very durable. Whenever you think about durability, obviously you’ll save in the long term.
As compared with a water-filled one, you will not get similar durability, and it’s one of the advantages of a conventional punching bag that means they stay favorite consistently.
4. Ideal for Boxing Footwork
Keeping your body moving in an offensive and protective manner is something that heavy sand punching bags are best intended for.
The slow movement of a huge, heavy-weight bag is one of the advantages you can’t misjudge.
A water-filled one will move significantly quicker and flightier, making it a less reasonable one to figure out how to move your feet accurately.
Drawbacks of Sand Punching Bags
1. Hard to Refill
You won’t have to fill sand punching bags as regularly as water-filled ones, yet when you do, it tends to be a nerve-wracking pain.
Indeed, you have to unfasten the sack and afterward, slowly top it up through a little opening at the top.
2. Extremely Heavy to Move
As the name recommends, sand punching bags are big and heavy, and in addition to that, there’s no place to hold the bag assuming that you want to move it.
3. Less Suitable for Precision Training
Heavyweight punching bags generally come in one shape, and that is a cylinder.
These don’t get you to focus on a small area for accuracy hits that mixed martial art fighters often need. It’s likewise not a great choice to practice uppercuts, so remember that also.
What Is a Water Punching Bag?
![Water Punching Bag](https://theboxingguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/mike-cox-LpWreRGMK74-unsplash-700x467.jpg)
A water punching bag is a training tool that helps a boxer or fighter to train their punching and kicking abilities.
Unlike conventional heavy sand-filled punching bags, water punching bags are typically made of a rubber material that enables them to hold large capacities of water efficiently.
Advantages of a Water Punching Bag
1. Design Options
This is the main benefit of a water punching bag, as you don’t simply have huge cylindrical-shaped punching bags. A significantly more famous choice is the tear shape water punching bag, which is great for use as an uppercut bag.
2. Additional Training Methods
Regardless of whether you’re a beginner or a pro fighter, a typical heavy-weight bag includes a similar sort of effect again and again.
With water punching bags, you can bring different variations to your training sessions to either work on strength and stamina through repetitive kinds of punches, or you can change to high-intensity training.
3. Simple Storage
Another advantage of water punching bags is that they are more convenient to store when not used.
4. Better Portability
The last advantage to highlight is that water-filled punching bags allows you to set up for boxing training without moving a 100+ lbs sand-filled bag.
When you empty water bags, they just weigh a couple of pounds, and you can flatten them down to bring them to an alternate location.
Downsides of a Water Punching Bag
1. Risk of Leakages
While water punching bags are largely made up of solid and durable materials, still there are some unavoidable possibilities that they tear off and leak out.
2. Refilling Regularly
After filling a water punching bag, you should continue to refill it. The explanation is that the water will gradually vanish and a deflated water punching bag will lose its advantages in general.
3. Not suitable for A Professional Boxer
Water-filled punching bags are additionally not the most ideal choice for pro fighters. This is particularly the situation with regard to speed bags for speed training.
What to Purchase: Heavy Sand Bags or Water Punching Bags?
In my opinion, both bags are extraordinary and fill various needs.
If you are looking for a punching bag that doesn’t hurt your knuckles and simply expands your reflexes and accuracy of punching, then, at that point, the water punching bag will be a nice decision for you.
Be that as it may, to build your punching strength and train your muscles to punch with much more power, then, at that point, the heavy sand punching bag will be a decent choice.
Final Words
To conclude, out of a large number of varieties available in the market, pick one that is almost half your body weight as it will provide you with the right level of resistance.
That implies it’s not too heavy to harm your joints and not too light to even think about swinging around.
By understanding the Sand vs. Water Punching Bag listed in this article, you should be in a better situation to make an ideal decision for how you can best use it for your exercise.