Best Free Standing Punching Bags Reviewed [2020]

By James Punching Bags

If there’s one preferred training equipment for boxing and MMA. Then traditional heavy bags are the one choice that every boxer and fighter will choose all day every day. Punching a heavy bag allows you to develop your power, speed, and footwork, which are vital when we’re talking MMA fighting and boxing. You can easily use them in a gym environment because they have pretty demanding mounting requirements. But, they can also be set up in your home if you have the space required!

But, if you’re planning to bring your whole routine home and you’re limited with space, we have another solution for you. You’ll need to find the best free standing punching bags that suit your needs. Namely, you can benefit a lot by using a free standing punching bag. Namely, a free standing punching bag is a heavy punching bag that is mounted on a base filled with some kind of a material to increase the stability of the bag.

There are pros and cons of using different punching bags. The advantage that free standing punching bags have over the heavy bags is the fact that they’re easily movable and don’t require a lot of space in order to train with them. These bags are amazing when it comes to training in a small gym, a home gym, or, you can even pack it up and train outdoors. Today we decided to get a list of the best free standing punching bags and help you out in choosing the best fit for you!

Gear Guide: Best Free Standing Punching Bags

Pros of getting a free standing bag:

There isn’t a need for complex mounting: One of the biggest drawbacks for a heavy bag is the fact that it’s really hard to mount, and it requires a lot of space. There are tons of parts like brackets, bolts (big and small), bracing, and many other things that are required in order to be safe to operate the bag. All you need to do in the case with a free standing bag is to fill the base with water or sand and mount the bag, and you’re good to go.

It’s much more portable than a heavy bag. Naturally, when you have a smaller standing bag rather than a big, heavy bag, you would have much more portability and convenience. This makes it much easier to take the free standing bag outside with you and train outdoors. And, when you are done, the storage of this bag is another plus. You can just roll it up and store it in a closet.

If you’re planning on moving the bag more frequently, the easier thing to do would be to fill it up with water because of the fact that it’s easily drained. If you fill it with sand, it would be much heavier, and much it’s much harder to get all of the sand out of the base. We would advise you to remember this when you’re first filling up the base.

Cons of getting a free standing bag:

It’s really clear what the drawback is of getting a free standing bag. Logically, because it’s not mounted anywhere, this bag won’t be as stable as a regular heavy hanging bag. That’s simply physics for you. And, stronger people who pack a punch would easily tip the bag over unless they decide to lower the strength of their punches.

So, this means that they wouldn’t have as explosive of training as they would if they got a heavy hanging bag. By analyzing your strength, you can easily find out if these bags are meant for you or if you are too strong for them. Lots of people would love to have one in their home gym, and to those people, we’d say go get it!

Ten Best Free Standing Punching Bags

Today we’ve done some research and decided to list the top 10 free standing punching bags that will help you improve and bring your training home. There aren’t set up by a particular order, and we think that all of them are a great punching bag.

Let’s look closer at the best free standing punching bag of each category. We’ve highlighted three of the top bags for fitness use and three of the best for regular punching and kicking training.

1. Best Free Standing Punching Bag Overall – The Century Wavemaster XXL

The XXL from Century Wavemaster is the best free standing punching bag overall. The base of this bag is pretty hefty, and when it’s filled with water or sand it weighs around 270 pounds. Despite the fact that this bag isn’t spring loaded, it still contains a shock collar, which is located between the bag core and the base. By buying this bag, you will get a stationary experience.

There’s one issue with this free standing punching bag, and that’s the fact that it slides. A lot! But, this is easily fixable by just filling the base with sand instead of water. You can improve the stability of it even more just by implementing a rubber mat below the bag in order to further eliminate the slide. You can easily find assembly instructions on YouTube or Google. And we hope you like it!

2. Best Free Standing Punching Bag Stability – The Ringside Elite

This one is a great option if we are talking about stability and durability. The Ringside Elite is designed with a huge base that’s 32 inches by 10 inches. It possesses a low center of gravity and has a weight of 270 pounds when full. And, despite of the fact that most of the other bags have similar specs, this is better than all of them when it comes to stability. Namely, the reason for its stability doesn’t lay in the specs. Rather, the technique of connection of the bag to the base is much more significant for this one.

This bag contains a spring loaded core. This allows the bag to absorb punches instead of its base sliding all across the room. This also means that the way of connection adds more sway to the bag when it’s hit. For some, this might be a problem, and for others, it surely is a plus. It hardly depends on the type of training that you’re trying to implement.

There’s one real problem with this free standing bag, though, and that’s the fact that as time passes by, some of the screws that attach the base with the spring collar seem to vibrate loose of their place. You can use some temporary Loctite, and this will solve the problem. If you experience the other big problem with this bag – a squeaking spring, then you can use WD40 or some other lubricant in order to shush it.

It’s a pretty tall bag coming at 6ft 4in height. It’s great if you are trying to practice a full range of Muay Thai Moves. And, it’s also a great bag for practicing punches. If you are a taller boxer trying to find a free standing punching bag, then take a look at the Ringside Elite!

3. Most Realistic Free Standing Punching Bag – The Century BOB and BOB XL

When we’re talking about the most realistic feeling free standing punching bag, then the Century BOB is an awesome option for martial arts. The BOB stands for the body opponent bag. And, the BOB XL is an even more realistic punching bag which will imitate your opponent. It’s a great way of learning how to strike different areas of an opponent, and that’s the main reason why this bag is used in lots of martial arts studios around the world.

Like the last two bags we spoke about, this bag’s base is also a big base that weighs in at 270 pounds when you fill it with water or sand. If we have to compare it, we would say that this bag’s base is most similar to the base of the Wavemaster bags. If you need to, the design of this bag makes it really easy to slide it or roll it around in order to move the bag from one side to another, or if you need to do some specific drills.

BOB, the bag will take your punches like a champ, and to be totally honest with you, it is really hard to move it. It won’t sway, tumble, fall or slide no matter how many punches you throw at it, or how hard the punches are. The body of the bag is made from plastic, so it’s important to use good gloves. The smaller BOB is just a torso, and the bigger one is a torso, and it has upper legs included, which increases the range of training options for you!

Whole review here.

4. Durable and versatile – the century powerline wavemaster

It has Double the Foam Density than the Original Wavemaster
Really versatile with 8x height adjustments for optimal training!

This punching bag is amazing because of the fact that it takes everything that was good with the Century Original Wavemaster, and it takes it up a notch. It has double the foam density when compared to the original Wavemaster. And, you can even adjust it to eight heights for the optimal training. It starts from 47inches, and it goes all the way up to 68 inches. Just like with other bags, you can also fill the Wavemaster with sand or water in order to make it easier for you to train with it. But, it also makes it easier to roll it or slide it to the desired location. Filled, the whole bag weighs around 270 pounds.

With the versatility, adjustability, and height that this amazing bag possesses, it’s great when you’re trying to train martial arts. This bag is pretty high, so this makes it pretty ideal when it comes to training martial arts. It doesn’t matter if you’re practicing Karate or Tae Kwon Do or even Kickboxing. This bag has what it takes for all of you. You can find it in blue, red, or black color variation, so this means that it will match any gym setting.

What’s even better is the fact that these bags come with a one-year warranty. But, the fact that it has undergone lots of rigorous tests shows that it’s made to last. It is designed to withstand even the hardest punches.

5. A Budget Friendly Option – The Century Original Wavemaster

Fitness bag with exceptional resistance and fast rebound!
The OG and superstar freestanding heavy bag for martial arts by Century!

You get all the explanations that you might need in the name. The OG superstar from Century, the Wavemaster. Every beginner should own one because it’s known as the best started freestanding heavy bag. It’s ideal for regular training, but you can even do some martial arts training on this bad boy. Its high density foam and round base design allow the Wavemaster a fast rebound and exceptional resistance. You get seven adjustability points with this bag. And, because of its round base, it makes it pretty easy for this bag to be moved around your home or your gym. In order to make it a bit more stable, you can fill it with sand or water, and when filled, it weighs around 270 pounds.

This bag is ideal for practicing and improving your strikes, punches, and kicks. You’ll never go wrong with choosing the OG Wavemaster. And, when you find out that you get 1-year of warranty along with every Century bag, you know that you get something that will last. The base is 24 inches wide and 19.5 inches tall. And, the fact that the Original Century Wavemaster is the best-selling free standing heavy bag says a lot about its features and quality.

This amazing bag is a medium-sized one, but it has 7 points of adjustability. The Century Original Wavemaster is a budget option with a price that’s acceptable for lots of people. However, it still has the performance that we came to expect from a Century bag.

6. Century Versys Fight Simulator

Practice your takedown combos and knock down the Versys Fight Simulator.
Best for MMA training.

The Century Versys Fight Simulator is an amazing bag. It can practically be your sparring partner if you want to train alone. It has a narrow footprint, and it’s pretty small all around, for the purpose it serves. And it can be easily moved or rolled across the gym or your home. This punching bag comes in really handy if you are trying to build your endurance, training your takedown combos, speed, and techniques.

It doesn’t matter if you are doing stand-up or ground training. This amazing bag is a great choice for you. You get 100 pounds with its base full. It comes filled out of the box. And, there’s no complicated assembly process when you get it. So you won’t be spending a lot of time on assembling it before you start your training.

The Versys Fight Sim has more than three times the surface for striking when compared to a typical bag. Its base recreates a natural rebound, which makes things even more realistic. There are even top and bottom handles if you want to improve your technique. You can both throw the bag on the ground and do your work there, and you can also take it in the stand-up position. There are tons of moves and techniques that you can practice with the Century Versys Fight Simulator.

More Regular Free Standing Punching Bags – For Fitness Training

The point of fitness free standing punching bags isn’t for professional training. They are significantly smaller than their professional counterparts, and they’re much lighter. These bags are just like their name points out, a fitness alternative, they allow you to train casual box, but they’re best for improving your cardio!

7. Fitness Cardio Training with the Everlast PowerCore

Implement more cardio workout into your training.
More realistic training due to its rounded design and high-quality chamber.

If you are training martial arts, but want to improve your training, then the Everlast Power Core freestanding fitness punching bag is just the thing for you! You can easily move around the bag due to its round design, giving you an even better cardio workout. And you also improve your leg-hand coordination.

When you hit the bag, its design allows it to take in the impact, and it manages to perfectly reduce the movement and sliding. You can make it even more stable by adding in water or sand in its base, and when you do that, you’ll bring its weight from 250 to 370 pounds. This bag is also great for using it indoor, and the fact that it’s not that big even allows you to take it home and train there.

You can get the Everlast Power Core in a couple of variants. You can either get a 2 pack power core bag or a 3 pack power core bag, which adds in more accessories in your bundle. Also, you can choose to get the standard power core bag and don’t get any accessories except the bag and the needed equipment to set it up.

8. Century Cardio Wavemaster

This bag is also known as Century Wavemaster Aerobic, contains all the features of bigger bags, but this is all packed in a small compact design. You get a smaller bag that’s shorter than normal, but this comes with the reason of it not being a heavy bag and rather being a fitness bag. But you can also do mixed workouts, it’s especially good for starters.

With this bag, you get a smaller base so you can fill it with around 170 pounds of sand or water. If you decide to fill it with sand, you’ll have to be a bit patient because of the fact that you need to shake it and swerve it until the sand gets into all the corners. You won’t be having this problem if you fill it with water, but that means that it won’t be as sturdy as if you fill it with sand, and it will be more prone to sliding.

This one, just like its bigger brother, won’t move sway a lot, so if you like the resistance, then you’d want to go with this one.

9. Ringside Free Standing Fitness Punching Bag

The Ringside Fitness punching bag is practically the same as the Ringside Elite bag, which is its bigger brother. It has a smaller base and striking surface, which is the main difference between the two. You won’t be able to train power punching, but you will definitely be able to improve your cardio.

Once you fill the base with sand or water, it gets up to 140 pounds of weight. But there’s one problem. The fill hole is smaller, and this means that it will take up more time to fill than the Elite, despite of the fact that the base is smaller.

If you don’t want to experience any sway, we should remind you that the bags from Ringside have some to them. And you surely will experience it during your workout routines. But, if you don’t mind the sway, the Ringside is a pretty reliable option.

10. Century Torrent T1 & T2 Pro

Great for light Martial Arts training.
More bending and less shifting due to its great design!

The Torrent T1 and the Torrent T2 from Century are a great way to get into martial arts. But, these bags are also great for people who are already in martial arts. They are good for working out and improving your cardio. They’re a great way to break out and practice alone away from your group. These bags are also designed so they won’t come undone during any rolling motion. And, the best part is that they are great for both indoor training as well as outdoor training. You can still get this bag if you are practicing kickboxing, or you can even train regular boxing. But, its main purpose is for cardio training.

The T1 Torrent from Century comes in at 60 inches of height, and 15 inches in diameter. And, the T2 Torrent from Century comes in at 67 inches of height and 24 inches of diameter on the base. They both weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 pounds when you fill their base with sand or water. This will also improve their stability significantly. This makes the Century Torrent T1 and T2 Pros some of the best free standing punching bags