Someone tell me if this is a bad idea. I have a shop where I'm about to put in a small home gym and I'm wondering if it would be safe to hang a bag from the crossbar you can see in the top of the pic. If not I can figure out something else, but this would definitely be the easiest.

Sorry that's the best pic I have, I'm overseas right now.

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I would probably use something like this

To spread the load between multiple ceiling beams? I'm not sure how it would attach, I'd prefer not to drill through any of the structural steel if possible (although it might be fine, this is just my first metal building and I don't know much about them).

Yeah to spread the load, but also to make it easy to move, and swap bags if neccessary.

I keep my heavy bag on a shrimp trawler on my power rack. It's noisy, and makes my change plates fall off the rack storage once in awhile.

Hmm... interesting idea. I'd prefer a ceiling mount so I have plenty of room around it but it's not a 100% necessity.

That cross bar looks pretty sturdy and I wouldn't be concerned, but you could always call the manufacturer of the garage or the installer.

Don't do it. Spread the load.
My buddy invited me over to show me how he put his bag in his basement. It was attached to the cross beam. One front kick later, the bag shot up and the beam cracked when the bag came back down.

It surprised us both since it supports the floor above it.

Recommendations?

I'm thinking about clamping a strap to one of the actual roof beams then to the crossbar, then hanging the bag from the bar. That way the roof is taking some of the weight and preventing the crossbar from sagging at all. I think that would be more than enough support considering the roof beam would spread the weight in a much larger area.

I only need about an 80lb bag. I'm aware that I can shake a whole building kicking one though

Dicks Sporting Goods sells a few different stands.
The strongest are the multi-bag cages like Ringside sells.  If you can weld, I would make one like the Ringside cages. That is what they did at the gym I go to.

This, or buy a stand.  I have one and it works great.  At most you just need to put a rubber mat under it and weigh it down, so your punches and kicks don't make it slide around.

It's hard to say for sure but the beams look a little light in the gauge.  Looking at the shed I'm guessing you are in a warmer climate and that building isn't made for much of a snow load?

IF it's what I'm thinking, those light-duty sheds won't take a lot of abuse and a good heavy bag session will be both noisy and rough on your shed.  I'd get a decent stand or build a structure into the shed to support the bag motion.



Just an idea but you might want to put like 1/2 to 3/4 inch of DIY spray-on insulation covering the inside of the shed.  It'll be enough to act as a moisture barrier and do a surprisingly good job of cutting down on radiant heat in the summer and keeping it decent in the winter.

I've actually just started looking into that. The property came with a mobile home that looks like a meth lab but is shockingly nice on the inside so I'm living in that right now, but I'm planning on turning half of the shop into a home later on