In the arena of functional fitness and sports performance, Coach Henkin is a widely acclaimed innovator. He lectures nationwide at conferences, top fitness facilities and Division 1 college strength and conditioning programs. He has published articles in many national journals and often appears on television and radio as an expert on the most cutting-edge developments in fitness training.
When Coach Henkin released Sandbag Fundamentals in 2005, the book was an immediate smash hit and provoked a demand for quality sandbag training equipment. He answered that call with the creation of The Ultimate Sandbag, the world’s most durable and versatile sandbag training product. Along with this came a series of training videos, culminating in High Octane Sandbag Training: the DVD.
In addition, Coach Henkin has teamed up with strength coach Troy Anderson to create SMASH: Total Body Conditioning with Sledgehammers, a potent new DVD on functional fitness.
Coach Henkin is the owner of Innovative Fitness Solutions, a premier strength and conditioning company in Scottsdale, Arizona. From this base, he travels the United States, teaching about core fitness and the use of sandbags and other “outside-the-box” approaches to training.
To learn more about Coach Henkin’s upcoming seminars and projects keep visiting UltimateSandbagTraining.com
Discovering Sandbags: A Story Of Loss, Learning and Recovery
Here’s how Coach Henkin tells his own remarkable story:
After two years of playing Basketball for ASU, the return of an old back injury forced me into early retirement. Furthermore, a devastating ankle injury threatened my ability to walk normally. Add several slipped disks and major back pain, and I lost the use of my right leg for quite some time.
This devastating experience propelled me to learn all I could about fitness. I went in search of a system that could allow me to heal my injuries and return to my love of athletics once again. On my journey, I experimented with dozens of methods, techniques and programs and spent thousands of dollars trying to achieve what doctors considered next-to impossible.
An Odd Discovery
After literally hundreds of hours of physical therapy and the most "cutting-edge" fitness techniques, I came across a book, Dinosaur Training, which introduced me to the ancient concept of implementing odd objects into your strength program. This method was very different from the conventional body building style that we all know too well.
What first seemed primitive was actually the most honest information on getting stronger and more functional. Despite the incredible pain I was still fighting, I began implementing some of the simple concepts. After slowly seeing some initial improvements, I found that changes began happening much faster. In fact, I discovered this stuff worked so well that I was able to compete in my first Strongman Competition!
Enter The Sandbag
After my comeback I was now ready to take his incredible experience and use it to help others achieve their dreams.
I began to implement similar techniques into my clients programs but I found one tool to have more benefit and appeal than any of the others…the sandbag.
This incredibly simplistic tool has been around for centuries but lost its popularity when the fitness industry found out they could make much more money on machines which cost thousands a piece.
I made it my mission to share the lessons of my own journey with a training system that is versatile, fun and astonishingly effective. To that end, I designed and created the Ultimate Sandbag.
Education
Josh Henkin is a graduate of Arizona State University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science/Physical Education and was a member of the Men’s Basketball Team.
Coach Henkin’s certifications include:
- National Strength and Conditioning Association (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist)
- Bachelor of Science-Exercise Science (Arizona State University)
- Club Coach with USA Weightlifting
- Corrective High Performance Exercise Kinesiologiest, Level 1 – Certified Instructor
- Russian Kettlebell – Certified Instructor
