So I'd picked up a good Grade 1 Army Surplus Canvas Kit Bag and 4 Bags of Builders Sand. The total weight at the moment is 160 lb which is enough get started with the sandbag and learn how to get the most out of it.
One of the most tricky things about it is grabbing a hold of it. Unlike a bar there is no perfect grip to be had. You've just got to wrestle with the thing - grabbing hole of whatever you can in order to get it moving. This makes it a perfect implement for grip training at the same time. Additionally the sand moves about inside of the bag - weight redistributes itself as gravity tries to pull it back down to earth via any route that it can find. This is great for core and stabalizer muscle strength as you are constantly fighting for balance and keeping it in the right direction.
No doubt I can lift more on a bar in a gym - but just the way that the sandbag works against you makes it an awesome training tool.
I'm not sure how I will best fit it into my training split - I'm going to sit down soon and plan out my next 6 month training cycle which will be fully incorporating the sandbag. For today as a taster I used it for the following exercises:
- 3 x 12 Deadlifts
- 8 x 2 Bear-Hug Squats
- 5 x 2 Zercher Squats
- 8 x 1 Clean & Press
- 5 x 3 Power Cleans
This was really another odd day where it was almost a full body workout. I think that the sandbags will seriously help my overall physical strength and be a very welcome break to shifting bars and dumbells.
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