Cardio is like brushing your teeth. Something that needs to be done daily.

Sadly, the weather may not play ball for that outdoor run. You might not be able to make it to the gym. And even if you have a home system, there’s only so much Netflix you can watch to keep treadmill time interesting. Throw these at you in one week and you’ll probably give up exercise. It’s easy to give up.

To stick to an exercise routine, it needs to offer a functional purpose and offer you benefits to other areas of your life, found a paper in Frontiers in Psychology. Combat training ticks those boxes. It’s a superior workout. Keeps you fit enough to protect yourself. Is excellent cross training for all sports. It does it all. That said, to do it right, you do need a fair bit of equipment and space to do so review this shopping list and then see how you can consolidate it with a single device.

Heavy Bag

You’ve got to hit something, and this is the traditional way to get the job done. It either needs to be hung from the ceiling or have a free-standing frame to stabilize it against kick and punches. While the unit may take up roughly 5-6 feet squared, plus you also need some room to bob and weave around it.

Free Standing Strike Bag

A heavy bag has one task, build power. This helps you get more accurate with your punches so that you can land jabs with precision. It does require a free-standing base unit as well as some room for it to sway back and forth.

Focus Pads

They may not take up much space to store but they do demand space to be used. Your partner holds them, and you can practice punching or kicking different combinations. They seriously improve accuracy and is an absolute essential for any fighter or exerciser because they’re super fun to use.

Body Opponent Bag

These are essential a freestanding punch bag in the shape of a person. It helps you to get used to hitting targets that are both large and small without having to use your imagination like you would with a heavy bag.

The Set Up

This kind of set up will give you the basics you need to create a combat focused home gym. It will likely take up an entire spare room, at least half your garage or a good portion of your basement. If you have the space to burn, this is what you need to be at your best. If you only have space for a punch bag it is still a very good training option, but it will probably wear thin eventually and you’ll very quickly crave more variety. Luckily, a punch bag isn’t something you need to settle on because it has a new competitor.

The Space Saver

If you want to upgrade your home gym equipment, then try Bas Rutten’s Body Action System. It costs less than a high-end treadmill and offers you all the training options, and more, that the above equipment list can deliver. What’s more, it can also be folded away very easily so your spare room can stay that way. This system is the closest thing to a real sparring partner and an all-in-one device that’ll teach you how to throw every punch, kick and block you could ever hope to execute. It’s the futures version of the outdated boxing bag that can be customized for a person of any age and height. Most of all it’s got the highest fun factor of any product on this list. It’s the kind of equipment that gets packed away into a very small space and can be brought out each day with ease so you can punch out a brilliant cardio session. If you’re short on space but big on training, this is the investment that will make sure you stay fit, strong and mentally invigorated for decades to come.

STUDY REFERENCES

Sticking To It: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01285/full

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