Want to take your conditioning workouts up a notch? Throw in a bit of sandbag training. Love it.
What to get
The equipment is pretty simple. I personally use an Ultimate Sandbag (which I highly recommend – full review); and there are also several DIY options (the basic idea here).
In terms of space, the workouts don’t require all that much – though it’s great if it’s available. As long as you have room to swing the bag in front of you and to press it overhead, you’ll be fine.
What to do with it
There are many, many ways to train with a sandbag. Here are a few of my favourites :
- Sandbag Lifting in Competition
Lifting, carrying and loading. Nice one. - The Chipper
Combine a number of your favourite sandbag exercises, and give the routine a name. Good stuff.
There are also a number of superb sandbag exercises on the High Octane DVD, and in Matt Palfrey‘s Sandbag Training books ( his latest is Sandbag Fitness – 150 High Intensity Workouts ). Highly recommended.
Where to find out more
There’s actually quite a bit of info (both online and offline) available on sandbag training methods, including :
- Josh has a great deal of info on sandbag training over on his blog, as well as his many videos on youtube.
- Dragon Door has a number of top articles on sandbag workouts, such as Effective Sandbag Training. There are also several articles on this site, such as Mike‘s Heavy Sandbag Training series.
- Sandbag Lifting, from John Brookfield’s Grip Tips series on IronMind.
Final thought on sandbag training
Sandbag workouts are one of the few forms of training I perform daily. Once you try them, you’ll quickly see why. Beautiful things.