Ultimate Sandbag Training Exercises vs. Results
It was love at first rep! The very first time I ever attempted to lift a sandbag it was like nothing else. I couldn’t believe that other people weren’t into sandbag training, what the heck was wrong with them? That being said, I couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t flipping tires, dragging sleds, lifting kegs, gosh this was all so awesome, but again this was almost eight years ago before everyone did start using all these tools. Heck a gym isn’t considered a gym without its tire or some sort of sled. Should make me happy right?
For awhile I was pretty psyched! I loved seeing the fitness industry embrace what I thought was going to be the future of fitness training. I did it, for awhile my clients all across the board implemented these implements in one form or another. Then it hit me, it hit me REALLY hard! As I was watching one of my middle aged clients try to work with a keg I just found myself horrified with myself. As I watched my client struggle I really saw how he was compromising his posture, excessively using the muscles I was trying to counteract, and overall I found myself thinking “why am I having and letting him perform this exercise?”
The Moment that Inspired Ultimate Sandbag Training
I fell into the trap that I forewarn many other coaches about. I got so sucked into the fun, the rejuvenated feeling of training, that I started to allow things to occur in training that normally I would have never said was ok. For some reason I had let the implements dictate the training and forgotten the success of our training in the past was based on such deeper training, not novelty!
My enthusiasm for these “odd objects” started to fall quite quickly. It hurt, it took me being a hard critic of myself to say that something I had gotten so excited about may have not been that good all along! That is why I can be so strongly opinionated about the use of odd objects and the way they are used in fitness programs!
I have written A LOT about my disappointment with sandbag training and I was darn close to dropping this form of training all together. Don’t believe me? Shortly after having this epiphany I got rid of many of these odd objects and was going back to much of what had worked in the past. Tires, gone! Kegs, gone! Stones, gone! If I was being honest with myself, my clients weren’t getting a strong benefit and often times were just feeling beaten up. The time it took me to teach them how to perform the exercises correctly couldn’t justify their use. The variations were so limited that I found them taking up more space then ever being used.
Is Ultimate Sandbag Training Any Different?
In fact, look at our training facility today you won’t find any odd objects being used other than our Ultimate Sandbags. Why is that? You would be surprised to find out that we have no vested interest in using Ultimate Sandbags with our clients. Heck, who would know if we never did?! We use them because of the same reason we would use any piece of training equipment, they solve a problem!
You see my mistake was giving the tools such as tires, kegs, and stones too much power in of themselves. I had forgotten the key idea was how I used them. How could I make people better and get them towards their fitness goals by using Ultimate Sandbag Training became the bigger question. Not how tough the training could be or cool it may look.
That is why EVERYTHING we do is about solving fitness needs or expanding the program to make the training experience better and more effective. That is why I am excited to announce a new family member to our Dynamic Variable Resistance Training family, it is our DVRT Advanced Systems. What the heck is that? The DVRT Advanced Systems allow you to use water or sand in your Ultimate Sandbag Training shells.
Working in rotation with the Advanced Ultimate Sandbag Training system raises the bar!
Why water? Water is obviously very unstable, so it brings another element into the programming and progressions in Ultimate Sandbag Training and the DVRT system. If that is the case though, why not use water for everything? Great question! The answer is that water is ONLY unstable while in our foundational Ultimate Sandbag Training system we can manipulate load, stability, and dimension, with water the instability plays a much higher role and is for more advanced training.
Sand again? The idea of using sand in the Advanced Systems allows you to make a VERY unstable sandbag. Again, in our foundational system we can slightly adjust instability, where in the advanced system it is very profound!
This system gives me the same feeling when I was able to make sandbag training into something really special. A fitness system of changing how people train, feel, and get results! This Advanced System allows us to do the same for keg training. Why kegs? Even though I got rid of most of mine from my Strongman days, I was always intrigued by their use. I always remembered a classic quote from Strength Coach, Allan Hedrick…
“But, applying the concept of specificity, it makes sense that training with a fluid resistance is a more sport-specific method of training as compared to lifting exclusively with a static resistance because in most situations, athletes encounter a dynamic resistance (in the form of an opponent) as compared to the static resistance. Further, because the active fluid resistance enhances the need for stability and control, this type of training may reduce the opportunity for injury because of improved joint stability.” (NSCA Journal, Vol.25 Number 4)
Now with our new Advanced DVRT System we can bring the same great programming to keg training as we did sandbag training. We can take away the power from being in the training tool and more into what YOU choose to do with it and empower your fitness training. We are launching today with a special 48 hour sale where you can get 15% off these new training system when you use the coupon code “advanced”! Don’t worry if you have our existing Ultimate Sandbag Training system you can still use your shell and get just the Advanced Filler Systems as well, we want you to maximize your training, not blow up your wallet! Watch the video below to see how easy and fun your training can become, but most of all the powerful results you will produce!
