Sand Bags

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ShampooIsBetter
ShampooIsBetter Posts: 114
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone else use odd-shaped/weighted objects for weight training, like sand bags? The science behind it seems sound: inconsistent weight forces your core muscles to keep your body in balance through the entirety of the exercises. Take an exercise like military press. With standard weights, you will mainly use your shoulders to get the weight up. But with an uneven and moving sandbag, you have to keep your stomach and hips engaged to keep your body in balance.

I've been using sand bags for a few weeks now. My gym has an open air room 40 feet wide. I start at one side with a 30 lb sand bag. I stand over it, squat down like a baseball catcher, grab the bag with both hands, and then with one motion, stand up and clean it above my head. From there, I bend at the elbows and toss the bag forward in a motion very similar to shooting a basketball. I can usually toss it about 7-8 feet. I walk to it and repeat until I get to the other side. I go back and forth 4 times. After that, I can barely walk.

I tried a variation today where I turned around and pitched the bag behind me. When I did that, it was all one motion: squat down, grab the bag, and then in one giant burst, stand up and fling the bag over my head. I get greater distance that way, although I got a few weird looks from people in the room who I assume thought I was in danger of hitting someone.

The more I work out, the more I think full body exercises like that actually help much more than exercise machines that attempt to isolate one muscle.

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  • littlebones14
    littlebones14 Posts: 13
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    Not currently, but in HS we used to do tire workouts all the time (throw them different ways, lift them). Replacing a bench with an exercise ball and doing everything with dumbbells unilaterally is one hell of a workout for the muscle group and the core. Used to lay back on an exercise ball and have someone toss a medicine ball to one side, catch it with one arm, and throw it back to them - great for throwing athletes like quarterbacks or pitchers.

    And throwing the bag backwards over your head is EXCELLENT for building posterior chain power.
  • Shizzman
    Shizzman Posts: 527 Member
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    I've only tried sandbags when trying CrossFit...oh and back in college when I was doing Adventure Racing training. They can be quite useful!
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    I've not worked out with sand bags...but this:
    The more I work out, the more I think full body exercises like that actually help much more than exercise machines that attempt to isolate one muscle.

    Is just plain truth =D.

    Cris
  • AZTrailRunner
    AZTrailRunner Posts: 1,199 Member
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    I made my own out of a military duffel bag, 30lbs of play sand, and a couple double-layer heavy duty trash bags. I then subscribed to a Youtube channel that shows tons of workout options for using them. I never used them for a stand-alone workout, but as 1 portion of a multi-movement tabata workout. Brutal stuff if you hit it hard enough.

    I'm into that kind of weird stuff - ropes, tractor tires, kettlebells, sledgehammers, sand bags, etc.

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