Heavy bag workout and your special joints.

[Cipher]

What do you all know or have experience about kicking and punching a heavy bag and damaging your joints? Is there any trueth to this? I have people say it can be bad for you and some say it is not. I have used a heavy bag for the past several years doing full force punching, elbows, knees, and kicking and so far I hve not seen any adverse effects.

It seems to me that as long as you keep good form and don't hyper extend your joints you should be fine. I'm sure it also has to do with the body structure you have. Like some people I know hurt if they lift too much weight, were as I can lift the same amout and not hurt but we are about the same over all strenght.

Any thoughts?

[Former castleva]

Have not had any bad effects.
Proper,very very basic body mechanics do very good.
I have nearly had damage with hard kind of tameshiwari conditioning-striking trees...hard,bare hands etc.
I suppose people with special limitations such as joint issues should take a closer look.
And basically,it´s good for strengthening the joints too.:)

[Flattop Monk]

Anyone who does have concerns can try a water filled bag instead of a standard boxing bag. Also, if you do have problems, you can try a smaller bag. A 40lb bag might be better to start for some people than an 80lb bag.

Also, a good Dit Da Jow can be worth it's weight in gold. Rubbing a good Jow into your hands, elbows, etc can really speed up recovery time.

[Cipher]

Dit Da Jow is good too. I have used it mostly for bruises from doing arm bars, working on the WC dummy, shins and for Iron palm training. Does Dit Da Jow help with circulation and basic wear and tear. That is neat though if it helps with conditioning too.

[BSH]

Dit Da is a very important in my training. I use it everyday and it makes it possible to train hard and recover fast. Be careful though, there is a lot of fake Dit Da being sold which does nothing.

Bag training can definitely cause injury. Almost always it is caused by improper training or doing too much too fast.

Best of Luck with your training.