Morrama boxes clever with connected at-home punching bag

London product design studio Morrama has designed a new punching bag for Boxx, complete with ‘smart punch trackers’ which monitor people’s workouts from home.

The Boxx punching bag aims to provide bespoke workouts to people from their homes, tying into the rising popularity of remote exercise. According to a survey of regular exercisers, almost half said a key advantage of home workouts was flexibility and convenience.

Boxx founder Anna Samuels initially set up the company as a way to offer online classes and explains that she found it difficult to access workout routines while on maternity leave.

“We’re designing for the new world of at-home workouts,” she adds. “We’re also thinking about your space as well as your style. When you’re not working out we want your home to feel like home, not the gym.”

Entering the home fitness ring

Morrama was tasked with reimagining the boxing bag for at-home connected workouts, and the studio designed both the bag and trackers.

There were two key considerations for the product, according to studio founder Jo Barnard. Firstly the design had to be as easy to use as possible, she explains.

“People want to have workout equipment in their living space because it removes the barriers of having to travel and pay for the gym and pre-book classes,” Barnard adds.

The biggest challenge however was around context, according to Barnard. “Everyone’s homes are different,” she says. “Some people have kids, pets (and plants!) that need consideration and safety becomes a top priority.”

Sporting equipment designed for home use has caused injury in some cases. Many Peloton users reported dangers with the at-home exercise brand’s treadmills, for example.

One of the most significant features of the Boxx model is its ability to go from fight mode to storage mode, Barnard explains. To switch into fight mode, people need to twist and lift the bag so that it has more flexibility. In this setting, the bag absorbs the impact of punches and the base remains stable, according to Barnard – the designer calls this process “dampening”.

When the bag is rotated into storage mode, people can shift the it onto wheels and roll it out of the way, she explains. The designer adds: “Although it’s designed to fit the style of our homes while being convenient to use, at its core, it’s a solid punching bag that can withstand heavy hits.”

The punching bag has to be filled with sand to weight it down. While many bags have a small opening which people fill using a funnel, Morrama has designed the Boxx bag to be disassembled with a large opening to fill with whole sandbags. The team says this is both “easier and cleaner”.

While the bag had to be heavy for workouts, the aim was to make it lightweight as possible for shipping, Barnard explains, which would make it more environmentally and cost-friendly.

For that reason, many of the parts are made from plastic, though the design team is exploring how to use recycled materials for the base and bag cover, according to the designer.

As well as a range of colours, the bag can be made with vegan leather or a cotton blend material.

Morrama also designed the smart trackers which fit inside the bespoke boxing gloves. These are equipped with accelerometers and Bluetooth connection, and provide real-time workout metrics. Through the Boxx app, people can join class leader boards.

Though it currently exists as working prototype, and Boxx has launched a Kickstarter to help fund the product.