Working the double-end bag

I donned my winter gear and trudged through the snow to the gym on Saturday morning only to learn that combat fitness and Haganah class had been cancelled because of the weather. I could still get inside the gym because I have a pass code that gives me 24-hour access and that’s when another guy there told me that he just received an email about the cancellation.

I didn’t mind about class being cancelled because having an empty gym gave me the opportunity to practice the double-end bag without feeling like a total idiot. The double-end bag is similar in size and shape to the speed bag, except the double-end bag is attached to the floor and the ceiling by bungee cords so it stands at about head level. When you punch it, it tends to move unpredictably. That unpredictability is what makes it hard to hit and easy to be hit by it. This bag teaches you how to throw fast and accurate punches while also teaching you to get out of the way of the bag as it jumps around on the bungee cords. When you hit it with a strong jab, the bag will shoot right back at your face so you have to slip to get out of its way.

For a while, all I practiced was the jab. Hit the bag and then slip as it came back at me. Once I was feeling OK about that I started to add the straight right. Jab, then straight right. Except landing that straight right on a moving target was a rare occurrence. I punched a lot of air and this is why I was happy to practice in the empty gym because I probably looked like a crazy man trying to fend off an invisible swarm of bees.

I worked the double-end bag for about 45 minutes, jumped rope, did some pull-ups and dips and called it a day.

A trip to Philadelphia Rock Gym

Having a light day on Saturday left me fairly fresh for a rock climbing expedition on Sunday. My buddy’s CrossFit class had arranged an outing to Philadelphia Rock Gym in Coatesville and I was able to tag along. If you’ve never tried this and are looking for a totally different workout, definitely give it shot. You will give your forearms a workout to remember scaling the indoor climbing surfaces. It will also help you overcome fear of heights because it’s impossible to fall.  You wear a very secure harness and are tied to a belay man on the ground. So even if you fell from the wall at the same time your belay man suffered a brain aneurysm and dropped dead, you wouldn’t fall to the ground because your rope is tied to the belay man’s harness and his body serves as a counter weight to yours.

Now, even though you can’t fall and get hurt, that doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt by other means. An important point to remember is incorporating your legs to assist your arms during your ascent. One of the CrossFit instructors – a very strong and fit guy – ended up blowing out his shoulder because he was probably not using enough of his legs and was relying too much on upper body strength.