Kicking Drills w/Heavy Bag

[DanT]

Thank-you everbody for your input! Health issues had me side-lined for the last coupla years. I was down to 120 lbs, and am past "middle age" (pushin' 60). Was finally able to get back in the gym last Spring, and joined a dojang at the same time. I threw myself into both head first. Was crankin' hard 5-6 days a week for 5 months, then got sidelined again for 2 months. I'm back in the gym and/or home gym every day, and will be back in my classes (four days a week) soon.
Right now, I'm focusing on technique and endurance- actually, I'm hyper-focused on technique AND getting xxx # of reps in per kick. And yeah, if it's falling apart then I either slow waaay down and and focus on where it's breaking down, or I move on to another type of kick and finish the troublesome one at the end of my drills.
Thank-you again All for chiming-in. I'm going to borrow a little (or a lot!) from everyone.

Make sure you warm up and stretch for at least 5 minutes before kicking the bag. Since you're "pushing 60", you should pay extra attention to warming up your lower back, hips, and waist. Start slow, once you get 5-10 reps of kick X done, slowly start adding power.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hey All.. I was wondering what everybody's preferred routine is when it comes to kicking the heavy bag. I mean, aside from when I'm practicing my patterns/drills, I really don't have a specific routine. I just bang away. Curious if you guys and gals have a specific number of reps/sets per (type of) kick? I just started doing a couple hundred a day (300-500 depending upon other gym-work), but have no idea where that stacks up, or where I should be. I'm in the gym 4-5 days a week. Thank-you for the insight!
Uncle Max

I don't thrive under repetitive exercises. They eventually bore me, so I vary things a lot. That said, I usually start out with some relatively soft striking (that part always bare-handed), sometimes stopping to check parts of form and look for weaknesses (especially when rehabbing from an injury, like now). After a bit of that, usually just enough to warm up, I increase the power and add some movement. I usually add kicks about this time. I often do that long enough to work up a sweat, then I up the power a bit more. Sometimes I add gloves along the way. Sometimes I mix up the strikes. Sometimes I restrict myself to just punches, or just punches and front kicks, or whatever. If I wear myself out at it, I usually step back down to some light striking, working on maintaining good form and speed while tired.

Honestly, I often get side-tracked thinking things through from a teaching perspective. Halfway through my workout, I get to thinking how to teach something to students, or how to adapt a combination for students at lower levels. Once my head goes there, my workout is over, and is replaced with a session of trying stuff out, which is far less intense.