April 2012 Archives « Sandbag Training Fitness System

Ultimate Sandbag Training Superhero Workout 1

Use Coupon Code “Superhero” to Save 15% Till Friday on Ultimate Sandbag Training Products

It can appear that we are very serious a lot of the time at Ultimate Sandbag Training. That’s partly true because we are very serious about providing the highest quality fitness and functional training information. However, this is fitness and it should be fun and we like to think Ultimate Sandbag Training can bring some of that fun spirit with your fitness program.

In that idea of having fun with training I wanted to do something with our Ultimate Sandbag Training and the upcoming movie “The Avengers” coming out end of this week. Yea, I am pretty excited! I didn’t grow up on comic books, but I can remember watching the early 80’s “Incredible Hulk” and like most young boys was brought up with the infatuation with superheroes.

It makes you wonder why we like superheroes so much as a culture! Blogger, Alex Wilgus, suggests the longevity and uniqueness of superheroes goes pretty far into our mindset.

“Action heroes deal with immediate, external properties of the world; superheroes deal with the interior elements of humanity. Superheroes are colorful incarnations of the human soul.”

Ben Shapiro compares superhero stories to our modern mythologies. “In a certain way, then, the superhero world is true to real morality: it has heroes and villains, treachery and valor. “ Something that is really skewed in our reality where it can be difficult to distinguish the hero from villain (anyone look at politics lately?).

It could simply be our desire to think we can be more than our current world sees us. So many people feel “stuck” in their lives and superhero stories open up a world so much bigger where we can see our “super-selves”! No matter how you break down the psychology, they are darn fun! Some even display common human faults that actually make them more relatable and seem more possible.

Ultimate Sandbag Training Superhero Fitness

In some ways that is how I feel about our Ultimate Sandbag Training. Really the roots come from not some laboratory or concocted in some larger company board room. Ultimate Sandbag Training is first and foremost a solution to a very real problem that I have experienced. Severe injury, pain, frustration, and feeling as though my reality was being altered by all these obstacles.

Following our Ultimate Sandbag Training system really has brought out the best in not just my physical abilities, but my creativity and problem solving as well. Hopefully that it continually shown through our almost 400 Ultimate Sandbag Training Youtube videos, books, and most importantly education.

Once you feel good the “fun” and “play” components of fitness really start to come back as a major role. That is why this week we are going to share with Ultimate Sandbag Training workouts based upon many of the characters in “The Avengers” movie. That might sound a bit funny, but there is a way to bridge great training and having fun at the same time!

I wanted to model our first one after the first Avenger: Captain America. what does this Ultimate Sandbag Training workout have to do with Captain America? I thought about the character, someone who went from undersized and weak to strong and incredibly athletic. In light of the idea I wanted to demonstrate how our Ultimate Sandbag Training can hit those common weak spots that people often neglect in their fitness programs. Typically people think moving well and being strong to be mutually exclusive. The problem really comes in how they attempt to solve strength and fitness needs and the tools they choose to use!

With Ultimate Sandbag Training we can build strength in both the big and little muscles of the body. We can challenge cardio and strength training at the same time. We can move better and build a better body. It may be because Ultimate Sandbag Training is stronger than exercises, we believe in training movements and aren’t married to any one particular exercise. Instead with over 400 exercises in our Ultimate Sandbag Training system we can create so many unique movements and programs to address anyone’s specific needs and problems.

That is what today’s Ultimate Sandbag Training workout is all about and I hope you have fun with the inspiration and the concepts of the week. Remember, long-term success is going to be more than Ultimate Sandbag Training itself, it is going to be having fun and having a playful attitude towards your fitness routines. That is how exercise and Ultimate Sandbag Training becomes a positive part of making you the best you possible!

Superhero Workout 1:

Circuit Style

-One Staggered Snatch to Two Overhead Staggered Overhead Squats x 5 Reps Per Side Rest 45 seconds

-Front Body Circles x 30 seconds Per Side Rest 45 seconds

-Zercher Cossack Squats x 10-12 Per Side Rest 45 Seconds

-Pullover to Bridge x 15 Reps Rest 45 Seconds

-Leg Threading x 30 Seconds Per Side Rest 45 Seconds

Perform 4-5 Rounds

Posted on: 04-29-2012
Posted in: Sandbag Training

Are You Doing the Wrong Exercise? Ultimate Sandbag Exercises 1

Can You Improve Your Fitness with Ultimate Sandbag Exercises?

“No! Not another post about the darn lunge! I get it Josh, the lunge is good can we move on?!” That might be what you are saying right now, but how many people actually took the challenge I placed which was taking our Ultimate Sandbag exercises and made them a priority in their training? No, not just used them use them, but put them FIRST in your workout? Pushed yourself HARD on every repetition? My guess is not many!

It also isn’t about Ultimate Sandbag exercises or a cool lower body exercise, it is about understanding training and how to get the most out of it while minimizing negative effects! Are there any bad Ultimate Sandbag exercises or exercises in general? No, there can be the wrong exercise for YOU or poorly performed exercises.

For example, people are told to squat and deadlift if they want to get real results. After all aren’t these the BEST exercises? Heck, why would I complain, you can perform many Ultimate Sandbag exercises just based around squatting and deadlifting. The reason is that more times than not people have a very hard time performing these movements well and getting the results everyone promises them. In fact, the bigger problem is that most people are told just to keep going heavier to make progress when in many cases it exacerbate so many issues people are trying to make better such as low backs, knees, shoulders, the list goes on and on!

What exercises like lunges and these other Ultimate Sandbag exercises allow for is to make the body look better, get stronger, and actually feel better. Because Ultimate Sandbag exercises are not reliant upon JUST weight you can correct your muscle imbalances, but build functional muscle, and burn calories. Check out this study that compares the single leg squat (SLS) to the double leg squat (DLS).

“SLS had the highest integrated and peak activation for both muscles, regardless of load. ”(1) In this case “both muscles” were glute medius and glute maximus that are highly correlated to full body power and more importantly low back health.

Therefore using more weight isn’t the most important factor in fitness programs, which is why Ultimate Sandbag exercises can produce such powerful results even though the actual weight is not as high as the barbell. This is not a detriment, rather a HUGE benefit! Read what actually happens when you put a barbell on your back to squat…

“Cappozzo et al. (11) determined that a half-squat with a barbell load between 0.8 to 1.6 times bodyweight produced compressive forces on the L3-L4 segment equating to 6 to 10 times bodyweight, with forces increasing with increases in external load.”(2)

Are You Doing the Wrong Exercise? Ultimate Sandbag Exercises

Even the legends had a hard time being perfect!

There are a lot of professionals that would tell you that it should be your goal to squat at least DOUBLE your bodyweight! Now are your goals in conflict? Sure you are stronger, but are you healthier, more mobile, and ultimately more fit or just “stronger”?

Are These Ultimate Sandbag Exercises Important?

After working with people for almost 18 years in developing fitness programs what really gets me excited about Ultimate Sandbag exercises is how they solve many of these problems. I know, it isn’t a problem if maybe you don’t squat heavy, but we also live in a time where performing a great squat requires flexibility that most people just don’t possess. Lunges and some of these other Ultimate Sandbag exercises allow us to build strength and flexibility. The reality is most people force their bodies to perform some of these heavy squats and deadlifts that they just can’t do well. What happens?

“Moreover, because lumbar forces are increased with increases in forward lean (55), it is beneficial to maintain a posture that is as close to upright as possible at all times.” The truth is that being upright is important in squats, but the idea of “hinging” at the hips is equally as important in the hip exercises. This is a similar concept as your torso is upright the hips just change the angle.

Again, why should I be so strong in trying to tell you to take these exercises more seriously? Having been someone that was completely debilitated by a low back injury I know not just the impact to your fitness program such pains have, but to your whole life. I want to save you the frustrations that a low back injury caused me! You may be fortunate, you may have no low back pain which is great! But more then 65 million Americans suffer from lower back pain annually. (3) The chances are you are going to be exposed to situations for low back pain and why should it come to from your exercise program?

That is why I am so proud of our Ultimate Sandbag exercises and our overall program. You can get strong, move better, and actually feel good and not beaten up from your fitness program. That is why we keep posting these Ultimate Sandbag exercises and what they can do for you!

I personally have developed my best fitness to date by using these concepts and have almost no semblance of back pain. People will often ask me what I did to accomplish such a great goal? The truth is that is not a secret, in fact, two to three times a week I am giving you “the secret” through our blog posts. It is up to YOU to choose to starting implementing these Ultimate Sandbag exercises and training program.