PunchLab: Track Punches With Your Smartphone

We are looking for fighters to shape the future of boxing training.

PunchLab brings punching bags to life with a Mobile App that “hacks” your smartphone sensors

Boxing training workout just got better and more fun with PunchLab. Punchlab is the first sports tech App that turns any punching bag into an interactive device and tracks heavy bag workouts.

The team behind PunchLab has a clear goal in mind: to put PunchLab on every punching bag in the world. PunchLab came out with an ingenious solution to track boxing workouts: rather than using dedicated and expensive hardware, they built a simple but powerful Mobile App.

The Mobile App uses the technology embedded in any modern smartphone to detect, measure, and react to the strikes thrown at the bag

What makes it possible for PunchLab to rival with the state of the art punch trackers is a phone strap that allows you to secure the phone to any regular punching bag. Once the belt is mounted, and the phone inserted, every movement of the bag is read by the phone motion sensors.

PunchLab gives you statistics on your workout, but this is far from being the whole story: the idea behind the PunchLab project is to offer interactive workouts designed by top trainers worldwide, directly on your bag. Not everybody has access to a coach shouting behind your back to push you beyond your limits, or to elite pad-holders at any given time. PunchLab can do that for you.

Five boxing training routines to help boxers, MMA fighters, and fitness athletes to focus on specific aspects of their punching bag workout:

• Freestyle: It is meant to run in the background when the athlete does his or her own routine. Live feedback and between-rounds statistics are displayed, but it is not necessary to follow the app.
• Workouts: Each round of a workout has an intensity profile, similar to the ones seen on the treadmills. The app penalizes you if you fall below the target intensity.
• Combinations: Similarly to pads, the app calls out combinations and adjusts timing and difficulty based on the athlete skill level.
• Intervals: HIIT training for boxing, the app works as a timer and counts and shows number and force of the punches for each interval.
• Reaction: to measure and train your reaction-time.

“When people try virtual reality for the first time, you can generally see their faces changing expression. PunchLab gets the same ‘wow effect’ on fighters : they trained at the punching bag for years, and all of a sudden, they see there is a whole new level to it! ”

says Nicoló, co-founder of PunchLab.

One of the reasons why PunchLab might very well become widely adopted is the fact that it relies on technology that is already in the hands of the users.

This means that with PunchLab, gyms could easily “digitalize” every bag in their facility at virtually zero costs. They can produce their own branded routines and even schedule them in daily sessions, creating different training routines for amateur, and professional athletes. Gym Members download PunchLab on their phones and can immediately collects statistics, and share them on the socials or directly to the coaches.

But PunchLab might be even more valuable for all those people that train alone in front of a bag, at home or at the gym. For them, PunchLab may be the only way to follow structured training routines, track their progress and be connected to other fighters and trainers.

In fact, while running apps are mostly limited to show you how fast, and how far you ran, PunchLab is like a portable performance lab for combat sports.

“Try to shoot a target while blind-folded: no matter how hard you try, you just can’t! If you don’t measure what you are doing, you will never get better at it. That’s what punchlab is for boxing” continues Valerio, inventor and co-founder of PunchLab.

As of today, PunchLab is getting out of stealth mode and starts working with elite gyms and professional fighters: “We are working hard to establish relations with key partners that help us see how far we can push the limits of punching bag training” Says Simone, CTO of PunchLab. But it does not matter if you are a professional or not: Anyone can apply to receive the PunchLab belt and a code to unlock the app. It is enough to answer few simple questions on punchlab.net and start a conversation with the founders. Spots are limited though, since the team wants to know and work closely with each PunchLab member to learn as much as possible from them and give them a great service.

Many important centers showed interest in Punchlab and are starting to work with the developers to “battle test” the app. PunchLab is already in contact with some of the most important Boxing, Kickboxing, and MMA gyms around the globe (e.g. Hemmers Gym, 2technical Muay Thai, The Blackzilians, Tiger Muay Thai, and many UFC, Bellator, Glory Kickboxing fighters, to name a few).

The team is already considering new and exciting features that are possible with their technology: online “fights”, social leaderboards, and a marketplace for training and routines, where personal trainers can design specific training routines and follow customers remotely.

Stay tuned and thank you for taking interest in what we are making.

We are just getting started and the future looks bright. It’s time to give fighters the technology they deserve and do to combat sports what Runtastic did to running

Stefania – Head of Marketing

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Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.