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BUILD SERIOUS STRENGTH WITH SANDBAG

TRAINING!
Josh Henkin, CSCS
August 30, 2017 • 5 min read

A loaded barbell isn't your only option for building serious strength. Build more muscle and strength with this 4-
days-a-week sandbag training routine!

"It really doesn't matter—weight is just weight." I've heard this sentiment expressed in many different ways by
everyone from anonymous Internet posters to some of the most highly regarded strength coaches in the industry.
As the thinking goes, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, bodyweight, and sandbags, like the Ultimate Sandbag, are
more or less the same thing. Sure, some are slightly better suited to certain movements, but ultimately, it doesn't
really matter which one you select. If you are serious about gaining muscle or building strength, you just need to lift
the biggest weight possible.

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I understand the tempting logic behind this argument—after all, who hasn't believed it at one point in their life?—but
with every year I spend training and teaching, I witness more evidence of how it's simply not true. Just ask any
bodybuilder who became tired of getting destroyed under overloaded barbells, and then achieved a "miraculous"
breakthrough after simply switching to dumbbells.

If you want to be a fully developed athlete, you need a fuller understanding of what it means to be strong. Spending
some time working with a sandbag can help you see it, and the program I've shared below can help you achieve it.

THE STRENGTH-STABILITY CONNECTION

Over at Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway, a pair of professors by the name of Saeterbakken and
Fimland have performed a number of experiments in recent years looking at how variations in stability affect muscle
activation in a wide range of exercises. The upshot of their work: Looking simply at the amount of weight lifted—or
one-rep max strength—can be misleading.

"THE EXERCISE WITH THE GREATEST STABILITY REQUIREMENT (STANDING AND

DUMBBELLS) DEMONSTRATED THE HIGHEST NEUROMUSCULAR ACTIVITY OF THE
DELTOID MUSCLES, ALTHOUGH THIS WAS THE EXERCISE WITH THE LOWEST 1RM
STRENGTH." - SAETERBAKKEN AH, FIMLAND MS.

In one study, the researchers found that factors such as the inherent instability of a weight and the position of our
body may actually be more important in stimulating subjects' muscles than the heaviness of a load. In this study,
dumbbells in a less stable body position actually created more muscle activity in the shoulders than a heavier
barbell in the more stable position.

It has also been demonstrated that when using unstable surfaces, similar muscle activity can be achieved using
reduced loads for the squat and bench press.

As I discussed in my article "Fill in Training Gaps with a Sandbag," I've been a believer in the power of odd-object
lifts for years, so hearing about the importance of instability isn't surprising to me. But don't worry, I'm not going to
tell you to do all your workouts on a wobble board. Stability, like weight, is just one of the variables you can adjust to
maximize the training stimulus. Some others include:

How you hold a weight

How you stand when you lift a weight
The level of stability of the weight you are lifting
The stability of the surface you are standing on
The dimensions of the weight
The plane(s) of motion you are working in
The speed with which you move or lift
The range of motion of the movement
The total amount of work you perform (exercise volume)
The time you rest between sets and exercises (exercise density)

Ponder that list for a second, and you might realize that your routine is pretty limited in what it asks you to do. That's
what led me to create the DVRT training system, to help athletes tap into what most programs are missing, no
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matter what implements they use. Of course, I happen to believe that
the sandbag is special, in that it lends itself to working in all sorts of
postures, stances, grips.

ULTIMATE SANDBAG TRAINING

25 VIDEOS

"I'VE BEEN A BELIEVER IN THE

POWER OF ODD-OBJECT LIFTS FOR
YEARS, SO HEARING ABOUT THE
IMPORTANCE OF INSTABILITY ISN'T
SURPRISING TO ME."

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 Ultimate Sandbag Squat Jumps

In other words, you can build strength that you can express in a wider range of settings, speeds, and situations. As
one commenter on my last article noted, if you need more convincing, just ask a Marine. They're no strangers to
sandbags.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN THE SAND

If you're looking for a place to start with sandbag training, or if you tried the beginner's circuit in my aforementioned
article and want to know what to do next, try on this four-day-a-week program for size.

A lot of these exercises might be new to you, or add new challenges to movements you know, like squats, lunges,
curls (yes, you still get to do curls!), and rows. Despite what you might think at first, that's a good thing. This type of
training is fun and exciting, but most importantly, it is challenging—particularly if you're accustomed to working in a
single plane of motion, with a single grip and a single type of weight. I've also linked to example videos for each
movement so you don't feel lost.

These workouts show a relatively simple approach to integrating nearly all the training variables we discussed up
above. Welcome to the evolution of fitness and strength training. Give this program a shot and let me know what
you think!

SANDBAG STRENGTH PROGRAM

Workout 1

SUPERSET

Rotational Lunge
2 sets of 10-12 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

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 Clean and Press
2 sets of 6-8 reps, rest 40 seconds

SUPERSET

Bear Hug Squat

2 sets of 8-10 reps, rest 40 seconds

Staggered Row
2 sets of 5-6 reps per side with 2-second pause at top,
rest 40 seconds

TRISET

Front-Loaded Good Morning

2 sets of 10-15 reps, rest 40 seconds

Around-the-World
2 sets of 8-12 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Biceps Curl
2 sets of 8-10 reps, rest 40 seconds

Printable Page PDF Document

Workout 2

SUPERSET

Front-Loaded Good Morning

2 sets of 6-8 reps, rest 40 seconds

Pull-Up
2 sets of 5-6 reps, rest 40 seconds

SUPERSET

Shoulder-Loaded Staggered Squat

2 sets of 6-8 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

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 Spider-Man Push-Up
2 sets of 8-12 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

TRISET

Press-Out Lateral Lunge

2 sets of 8-10 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Kneeling Around-the-World
2 sets of 6-8 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Front-Loaded March
2 sets of 60 seconds, rest 40 seconds

Printable Page PDF Document

Workout 3

SUPERSET

Shoulder-Loaded Step-Up
2 sets of 8-10 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Rotational Press
2 sets of 6-8 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

SUPERSET

Front Squat (shown with barbell)

2 sets of 5-8 reps with three second pause at bottom,
rest 40 seconds

Staggered 1-1/4 Row

2 sets of 5-6 reps (switch feet alternating sides), rest
40 seconds

TRISET

Shoveling
2 sets of 10-12 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

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 Crunch to Leg Extension
2 sets of 10-15 reps, rest 40 seconds

Grip Curl
2 sets of 10-12 reps, rest 40 seconds

Printable Page PDF Document

Workout 4

SUPERSET

Front-Loaded Up-Down
2 sets of 6-8 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Chin-Up
2 sets of 6-8 reps, rest 40 seconds

SUPERSET

Lateral Step Clean

2 sets of 6-8 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Leverage Push-Up
2 sets of 8-10 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

TRISET

Bear Hug Squat Hop

2 sets of 10-15 reps with 2 second pause at bottom, rest
40 seconds

Half-Kneeling Arc Press

2 sets of 5-6 reps per side, rest 40 seconds

Shoulder Carry
2 sets of 60 seconds per side, rest 40 seconds

Printable Page PDF Document

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REFERENCES
1. Saeterbakken, A., & Fimland, M. (2013). Effects of Body Position and Loading Modality on Muscle Activity and
Strength in Shoulder Presses. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 27(7), 1824-1831.
2. Saeterbakken, A. H., & Fimland, M. S. (2013). Muscle force output and electromyographic activity in squats with
various unstable surfaces. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(1), 130-136.
3. Saeterbakken, A. H., van den Tillaar, R., & Fimland, M. S. (2011). A comparison of muscle activity and 1-RM
strength of three chest-press exercises with different stability requirements. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29(5),
533-538.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Henkin
Josh Henkin, CSCS, has been in the fitness industry for over 20 years, and is highly sought-after
for his innovative approach to functional training.

View All Articles By This Author

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3 COMMENTS

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Comments

Larry21506 (Larry)
Is there any way of getting the powers-that-be here @ bb.com to add these exercises to the database so I
can create the workout and use the app/phone to track??

September 16th, 2016 • Report • Reply

wsracejr (Wade Race)

I've done something similar with my heavy bag: I'd hook it up, box it for a while, then throw it around. Heavy
bags definitely deserve some press.

March 30th, 2016 • Report • Reply

PinkRayneDrop (Jacki)
I'm new to sandbag training. This kicked my ***.

March 23rd, 2016 • Report • Reply

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