Boxing Gloves?

[mshockley]

LOL...okay, so not about photography, but I have to ask you all, as I'm guessing someone will know this!

I've been wanting to buy a heavy bag and gloves to add to my workouts, but I cannot figure out how gloves are "sized"?? They talk about the weight of the glove in ounces, but doesn't that effect the size also?

I don't know, I just started thinking more seriously about making this purchase, and all the surfing around I did on the web last night made me a bit crazy.

As for the heavy bag, I really wanted that standing bag that appears to be weighted with sand? Except of course the reviews for those are terrible, pretty much everyone says they are junk. I soooooooooo wanted to buy the one that looks like a person standing there!

Anyway---anyone out there into boxing that can give me some tips before I set out to buy this stuff would be most appreciated!

[Biomech]

Funny you should mention that, I'm selling one on ebay right now that ends in 3 hours :P
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

I'd say if you're after fitness, go for heavy gloves. - The trouble with "boxing" gloves is that unless you get a proper proper fitting pair and strap your hands, they aren't practical and you can't make proper fists.

I've always used these and these:

Fingerless bag gloves


Weighed Gloves

[JFSanders]

One, you can use the man shaped as long as you put the sand in and then fill it with water.

Second, start with speed bag gloves and graduate up to 14oz gloves unless you are in the 160 pound range and have strong arms then 16s will do a bit better at wearing you out and the plus is you can use them to spar if you actually want to get that far. If you do want to spar please get leather gloves they will last a whole lot longer. The size is best explained here: Dicks sporting goods glove sizing chart

Get velcro if you are training alone. Laces are cool but tying or UNtying them is problematic to say the least when you are alone and have to pee.

A hanging bag is old school and will get you street cred but the sanded standing dude is probably better for starting out.

Jim

[mshockley]

okay, thanks so much guys.

Jim, the link was especially helpful! Weight=Size to buy!! I can do that

Jamie I wish I could afford to buy your free-standing guy!

[SwissJon]

Maybe i'm misunderstanding you here, but if you fill your punchbag with sand, you'll break your wrists.

[Biomech]

You fill the base of a free standing punch bag with sand and water to make it stay still. You can fill the bottom of a hanging bag with sand too, but once it settles it's like kicking cement :P

Jamie I wish I could afford to buy your free-standing guy!

Absolutely gutted, they go for £380 on ebay, mine sold for £245

[mshockley]

Originally Posted by Biomech

You fill the base of a free standing punch bag with sand and water to make it stay still. You can fill the bottom of a hanging bag with sand too, but once it settles it's like kicking cement :P



Absolutely gutted, they go for £380 on ebay, mine sold for £245

I know, they are crazy expensive. I'm going to go with a good old heavy bag and hang it in the garage I guess.

Of course, while playing with the Wii Boxing game this afternoon I started thinking that would be so much more fun---only problem is too much lag time between knockouts for the game to resume again!

I think I'm going to like this sport.....

[sk66]

I use fingerless keno sparring gloves similar to the first pic Jamie posted...
The bag I have at home (and it's lasted 5yrs so far) is a water bag. I find it more "convenient" than traditional bags, but not "better". I would avoid cheap canvas bags if you are doing kickboxing and will be kicking barefoot...

[mshockley]

Originally Posted by sk66

I use fingerless keno sparring gloves similar to the first pic Jamie posted...
The bag I have at home (and it's lasted 5yrs so far) is a water bag. I find it more "convenient" than traditional bags, but not "better". I would avoid cheap canvas bags if you are doing kickboxing and will be kicking barefoot...

Steve, so you guys think the smaller-less padded gloves are okay with a heavy bag? I would prefer that, I honestly don;t want to have to wrap my hands first before every workout for starters, nor do I even know the proper way to do that yet! I went to Dicks Sporting Goods store today and really liked a pair of neoprane fingerless gloves I tried on!

I was leaning towards an 80lb heavy bag. I am not going to kickbox....the whole reason I want to do this is to give my legs a break from cycling and running, and have a few workouts each week that concentrate on upper body stuff..........plus I just have always wanted to learn to box!

Off to YouTube to see if I can view some training videos!

[Meehaja]

Hi, I'm new here, and for a first post on a photographic forum, this is a little off kilter, but here goes...

As a basic rule, glove weight corresponds to size, i.e an 8oz glove is small, a 16oz glove is extra large. You can get extra large lightweight gloves (particuarly around 10-12oz as these are fighting gloves), I don't know about small but heavy gloves but I see no reason why not!

More important though is wrapping your hands, some people think it is a bit of a drag, especially if you are just using boxing as part of an exercise routine rather than full on training, but I, and everyone at our boxing gym always wraps their hands. Proper boxing wraps can be bought for very little, but basic bandages will suffice. make sure you wrap your wrist, knuckles, thumb and strap everything together! (not too tight, we don't want blue fingers!). Wrapped hands also have the benefit of acting as a towel when the gloves are off, which is great for wiping sweat out of your eyes!

If you have to fill your own bag, there is loads of info on the internet regarding this dark art, I personally filled my heavy bag with rolled carpet, stuffed with rags and textile waste, though I found this a bit soft at the head end, so I lined it with corrugated cardboard. This will break down with time but is cheap and easy to replace.

As for gloves, well, buy gloves that are comfy, that fit well and are velcro cuffed (unless you have a trainer to lace you in and out all the time!), I prefer cheap gloves for bag work as the bag will damage gloves with time, and save my money for a decent pair of fight gloves, but if you're not planning on getting into the ring, don't worry so much about this! I tend to avoid fingerless gloves, as people make their fist to tight, which causes damage to distal phalanges (finger ends) and can (in me at least) cause tendonitis.

All the best and feel free to message me if you have any other questions!

jim