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Maybe your experiencing some stress from one of life's many challenges. Perhaps you walk down the street like a loose cannon ready to go off and would rather avoid being on the front page of the paper. Look at your physique, a little pudgy and have a severe case of office or car butt? When you walk down an alley at night are you a little scared or fearful of getting attacked or mugged? Maybe a joining a gym would be nice, but you lack the commitment or the funds required..? Sounds like it's time to install a heavy bag in your home.

First thing to do is find a suitable location. This is often the most difficult step of the whole process as the following criteria need to be addressed:

-spouse/roommates ok with location, as it does not fit in with most décor and is quite loud when in use

-ceiling joist in a suitable location

-enough room for bag to swing freely

Tools you will need:

stud finder(do not scan yourself till after you work out a few times),  drill bits, large screw driver, chair/ladder

Equipment:

40-50lb Heavy bag, bag hanger chains w/ spinner, 1/2" Eye Bolt, boxing gloves, foot pads, foam mat system

Locate joist on either side using joist hanger, mark center with pencil. Drill with a 1/8" bit to create a pilot hole into the stud several inches, measure inner thread diameter of your eye bolt and find a drill bit 1/16" to 1/32" smaller. This will ensure that the eyebolt will be good and tight and not back out during use (don't go too small on the hole diameter or you will not be able to fully screw in the eye bolt and also risk splitting the joist above.)

Place a long screw driver through the eyebolt and use that as a lever to turn the eyebolt. You will also need to push up firmly in the beginning to ensure that the threads are engaging properly. Make sure that you completely thread the eye bolt all the way up into the stud so that there is only about 1/4" of shank left - punching/kicking a heavy bag can generate a large amount of force.

Hang the heavy bag so that the top is a little above your head - use a chair and a friend for support to figure out how low to hang the chains. It is critical to have a free spinning element, otherwise you will wear out the metal components above and your bag will fall on you eventually or unscrew the eyebolt - none of which are desirable or safe.

I obtained all my chain, spring clips, eyebolts, at the home store - but there are kits that are available which make the process a bit simpler.

By having a heavy bag at home, you will save on gym membership fees, stay fit, keep stress at bay, let out any inner demons on an inanimate object, plus train for any situations should you ever need to defend yourself.