I have been training taekwon-do for the last four years and I have been working on the bag for some time. I am often tired and my hands are often bruised. Can you give me some advice on how to train on the bag effectively? I am a Second Degree Black Belt - Eric Loh

Working on the bag is a very good form of exercise. If you do it right it tones up your muscles, improves your bone density, builds up your strength and stamina and develops your reflexes. However if it is done wrongly this can lead to problems and negative results. Joint aches and sore hands are common.

Like all exercises bag-work takes some time to recover. You get progressively better from periods of stress-work and periods of rest. You should train and put the body under stress, let the body recover and then put it under stress again. That�s what training is. Over a period of time, intensify your training or train for a longer period and your body will become more resilient.

You should acknowledge your limitations and avoid overtraining as it may lead to injuries. Training with pain from lactic acid build-up ( the feeling that the muscles are being worked hard ) is fine. However training with pain at the muscles and joint soreness may lead to chronic problems.

You must understand that muscle soreness recover faster than tendons and ligaments that hold the muscles and joints together. Very often muscles recover before the connective tissues. Continual overload may lead to problems.

There are a few basic things to remember when you work out on the bag.

• 1.Keep yourself relaxed and work fast. Striking power is the result of speed and proper technique. Sloppy bag-work leads to bad habits that is not beneficial.
• 2.Don�t over penetrate the bag. That would be pushing. You should have the impact as your arm nears full extension, penetrating a couple of inches beyond the surface. The closer to full extension you are the more speed you will generate and thus the more striking power.
• 3.If you do weight training without any rest in between you may be injured. Impact work is no different. Take time off between workouts so that your body can recover. Three sessions of bag-work per week should be enough.
• 4.When I have a decent work-out on the heavy bag I use bag gloves or hand wraps at times to support and protect my hands. I feel that there is more impact. Try it!
• 5.If you are feeling the stress then you could opt for a lower impact training. Use the heavy bag intelligently, couple it with punching and kicking in front of the mirror to monitor your own technique, and you will find that its fun. Enjoy yourself! �HAPPY KICKING AND PUNCHING�