Sand Bags are the REAL DEAL
by: Josh Bryant
Venezuelan tactical legend, Carlo Vecchi, is showing off his sandbag skills.
Functional training?
Sandbags are just that! This ain’t your pink dumbbell, Pee-wee Herman functional workout, either! Sandbags are the real deal –building the strength you need for the real world.
Lifting that sandbag is like tussling with an unpredictable opponent on the gridiron or wrangling a suspect down to the ground. It’s as wild as sippin’ some homemade moonshine while waiting for a table at Waffle House!
With barbells and dumbbells, you are gripping, holding, pushing and grabbing at predictable, repeatable straight angles. You see, sandbags don’t play by the rules like dumbbells and free weights. Nope, they shift and turn in ways you never saw coming – just like life throws us curveballs! And that’s the beauty of it, folks. When you’re wrestling with that sandbag, you’re targeting muscles that regular ol’ lifting programs forget to mention!
I love using sandbag training with tactical athletes because the required strength in the field is rarely used in a linear fashion; furthermore, for the warfighter on a mission, empty sandbags can be brought along and filled as needed for training without excessive additional load carriage, ie adding a bunch of extra heavy crap to an already heavy load.
Sandbags are instrumental in Tactical Hypertrophy.
As motor pattern efficiency is enhanced with barbell training, you learn to find a groove with technique in various exercises. While this is great for developing limit strength, the weight does not shift like objects or opponents.
Watch any advanced powerlifter compete or train and it will become obvious that to execute a squat, bench press or deadlift, there is a certain way they set up. This “greasing the groove” is great for developing foundational strength, but think about this: Is the set-up in every physical encounter the same each time?
Hell No!
Sandbags are unpredictable in how their weight shifts.
Because of the uncooperative nature of the sandbag, your body must work overtime to use muscles for stabilization. Core and trunk strength are greatly enhanced through sandbag training.
Just like strongman training, sandbags offer an excellent way to build a hellacious grip. As a tactical athlete or a clergyman, you can never have enough grip strength, and that’s where sandbags step in. Now, you might be curious about what sets sandbags apart from other grip-strengthening methods or exercises.
Unlike traditional modalities, the sandbag is always shifting its weight. When handling a sandbag, there will be instances where you must not only balance the weight but support and hold it. Your grip gets a major upgrade, and your wrist and forearm muscles join the party, too. Sandbag training is a must for any tactical athlete’s strength and conditioning program—it’s the missing piece to the puzzle of badassery.
Here are some great sandbag exercises:
- Clean and Press
- Snatch
- Loading
- Lunges
- Turkish Get-Ups
- Push Press
- Deadlifts
- Bent-Over Rows
- Various Squat Variations
- Sandbag Twists
Final Thoughts
So, if you want to spice up your routine and become more functional yourself, get your hands on a sandbag! Embrace the chaos and challenge those muscles you didn’t even know you had. Next time you’re in the gym, skip the cookie-cutter workouts and give sandbag lifting a try. It’s time to get rugged with your training – just like sipping moonshine at Waffle House with the gang!
The Encyclopedia of Functional Training is HERE.