"You can't base a philosophy around an implement"-Alwyn Cosgrove
At first I actually disagreed with Alwyn's statement. There is so much you can do depending upon the implement you are using. It is hard to perform functional based training if all you have is machines. Yet, I then thought about it more and thought about the rise of kettlebells. The more they grow in the maintstream the more poor use and implementation I see. That is when I began to see Alwyn's point. It still all comes down to coaching.
That is why I recently asked Strength Coach, Stefanie Tropea, to sit down with me and go over some of her training programs and coaching. Why did I ask Stefanie? Besides having a very successful training business in Norwalk, CT, Stefanie has began being successful in the sport of strongman. When a coach can balance business success, personal training success, and client success they are someone we can all learn from.
One of the things I learned from Stefanie was simple, yet perfect. Even though Stefanie is a big kettlebell enthusiast she explained to me it wasn't about lifting kettlebells, it was about using kettlebells to learn better movement. That is exactly how I feel about the Ultimate Sandbag, but she put it so much better.
Take time to listen this great interview with Stefanie Tropea where we discuss all things related to strength training!
Last night I got to spend an hour and a half talking training with Senior RKC, Geoff Neupert! We really laid out some of the most powerful training information, especially using kettlebells and sandbags. Just in case you missed the call last night you can hear it for FREE!!
Geoff Neupert with Josh Henkin on mixing Kettlebells and Sandbags - quite possibly the *perfect* combination - don't worry - a replay is available.
For the past four years I have been trying my very best to teach people the benefits of sandbag training. No, not just they are hard, but the science that really does exist behind this form of training.
Every time I run a workshop or certification the light bulb goes off! It is as though once people see and feel the power of the type of training we are talking about, sandbags quickly become a staple of their training programs.
Here is what one attendee thought of my recent L.I.F.T. certification:
"The L.I.F.T. seminar is easily the best I've attended. I'm an aspiring personal trainer, with some experiance from lots of different things, Kettlebells, sledgehammers, bodyweight and so on. I'm a huge fan of functional training, and that's what I like about Josh's methods. It's not overly complicated, it is highly effective and usefull, and it is actually fun. Also I like the emphasize on the corrective and rehabilitating aspect. Even though that is not the main purpose of the training, it is a very nice b-effect. I have several bio-mechanical issues I've been struggling with for years, and several of them improved heavily during the seminar, leaving me better not worse after workout. There's no doubt in my mind that couch Henkin is on to something really great here. And yes, you can build some serious strength with this;) This is going to be a major staple in my regime, both for myself and clients." Henrik Eberhardt, Norway.
I am happy to announce that we have a one day workshop in Irvine, California coming up October 17th for a crazy low price.
Well, without getting into a big debate over evolution, this is one of the basic principles in our world. Now, you can talk in terms of Darwinism or heck, just the sporting world! No, don't doze off yet! This isn't a lecture over Darwinism or a debate on evolution, it is rather a fact that our current world faces including myself!!!
They say that all sports are copycats, meaning whatever system the best team ran, all the others want to start to copy. A good example is last year's Miami Dolphins. Two years ago they won only one game, last year they threatened to make the playoffs. This was incredible considering they really didn't upgrade their players. Instead, the new coaching staff implemented an unusual offense that surprised many teams, called "Wildcat".
This offense is run through the college ranks, but never seen in the pros. Knowing that the Dolphins didn't have the players to really compete in a traditional pro football offense, the coaches got creative, really creative! Although they did not go to the playoffs or win a Super Bowl, their turnaround was one of the biggest ever in the NFL. The result was that almost every team now thinks about how to implement this unusual offense into their own team's program. There was an evolution and a lot of "thinking outside the box" that allowed the Dolphins to experience success.
Where the heck am I going with all this? It reminds me a lot of what were are doing with our Sandbag Fitness Systems program. It began as a simple idea, I wanted a sandbag that met the needs of my strength program. Now it has evolved into a full blown system that goes way beyond the concept of simply a sandbag. "The Ultimate Sandbag" is now a training tool that solves movement limitations, aids in increasing performance, and is a staple in fat burning programs of some of the top coaches in the country.
This idea of evolution can also be thought in terms of our "Ultimate Sandbag" itself. As the demands on "The Ultimate Sandbag" rises, so does our design. As many of you may have noticed we have gone through many designs, specifically on our filler bags. One of the most powerful aspects of our "Ultimate Sandbag" is the function of our filler bags. Being able to change weight and be clean about it is something that truly separates "The Ultimate Sandbag" from any other sandbag like product on the market.
You will now see a new evolution on these filler bags. We recently tried two have two inserts, but that was extremely costly and did not serve the purpose we were hoping. Now, you will see one filler again, but we have new aspects of this filler that will truly allow us to evolve and keep growing the program into something the industry continues to recognize as a leader.
I just came back from the Long Beach Perform Better Summit and had such a great time being around some of the great strength coaches in the industry! Those that work with the most elite athletes and those that are running the most successful training businesses. Throughout the whole weekend everyone shared innovative ideas from training to how to run a more successful training facility.
It is funny how many are saying the same thing, just in a slightly different way. However, out of all the information shared one theme rained throughout. This was the idea that group training is the new age of personal training and coaching. The age of one on one personal training is dying quickly. I love how renown strength coach, Alwyn Cosgrove, explains why this long time used business model is so ridiculous.
What is done in a group atmosphere? Swimming lessons with kids, martial art classes, firearms, SWAT and military training, physical therapy, and about all team training! The idea that we still have one on one sessions is absolutely ridiculous. Sounds great right? Our clients enjoy their training more, we as coaches enjoy the training and build more successful businesses. However, there is just one little problem, how do you set up an effective group training environment.
One of the many goals in my L.I.F.T. certification is to answer this question. This is one of the most powerful benefits of my Sandbag Training and the L.I.F.T. certification, it is that they are perfect for group training facilities and can be easily adapted to these programs to provide the clients with a fun, but highly effective training result.
There are many great coaches already having great results with this type of model. One of this is Dale Buchanan of Supreme Ultimate Fitness. Dale has created very unique programs that fall into the same mindset of the L.I.F.T. program, I highly recommend you check them out!
Coming soon is more videos demonstrating how to organize the most unique and powerful training programs in an systemized manner. Check out our upcoming certifications HERE!
After I spoke about my challenge of "3 Rounds of Hell" last week I received a ton of emails!!! Some wondering how to do it, some how to train for it, and some doubting it could be done! I'll admit, my initial challenge was pretty brutal, but that is how I wanted it. Yet, I feel like there are things I needed to clear up....
1. Why shouldering the sandbag? This seems to be the most fundamental lift that encompasses the most overall body strength. We can load it very heavy or use a more moderate load and the drill won't be limited by blisters on the hands, major technique flaws, or anything other than the drill itself.
Where some lifts test a dominant area of the body (i.e. upper or lower body strength) shouldering requires everything! If you don't have proper hip or low back strength, you will know it! If you don't have enough upper body strength, you will know it. You simply can not cheat the movement.
2. Are there rules? The only rule I have come up with so far is that the movement must be a clean shouldering repetition. You can't inch it up the body or rest it on the legs. It must explosively reach the shoulder from the pulling position in one clean rep.
3. Can you scale the challenge? I don't think everyone should have the same rules. As of right now this is how I see the challenge
I will admit, this challenge is not well tested. That is the fun part about what we are creating with Sandbag Fitness Systems, we are writing the book on sandbag training. Unlike most other forms of physical conditioning there is not textbook on sandbag fitness that everyone follows, we are writing the rules. In fact, I wanted to take the challenge for a run myself, heck, I can't ask others what I am not willing to do.
Yep, it kicked my ass! I think within two weeks of training for it I will have all three rounds nailed down. However, I can honestly say that my hips, back, and arms were completely toast! My heart was racing and I KNOW this will have amazing carryover to so many other fitness goals.
In the next few weeks I will write much more about how one progresses and trains for such a challenge to dominate the hardest fitness challenge!
Are you dying to know what secret training method I was able to scrounge up from secret Romanian strength training books? Do you want to know how I have now been able to develop a sandbag based upon the underground strength training methods of ancient athletes?
The truth is NONE! I know, right now disappointment is racing through your body, DON'T! There is a terrible misconception that anything foreign is better than what we currently have available. Sure, we can always learn and borrow from others, but this idea that training is far more mysterious than it is, is simply a lie.
This really dawned on me as I was doing research for a group that wanted to hear about the history of sandbag training. As I dug, dug, and dug for a definitive starting point of the beginning of sandbag training I kept coming up empty. Until I found some paperwork that seem to find the beginnings of sandbag training to date back to ancient Egypt. So, maybe it isn't Romanian, it is Egyptian Sandbags!
Seriously though, I wanted to discuss that most training isn't from a singular source and maybe sandbags can be the most representative of this fact. Why don't sandbags have a glaring single place that they were popularized? Probably because it was so obvious to so many different cultures that sandbag training was such a versatile and effective training tool. You can find variations of sandbag training in about every culture of athletic development.
Before "functional training" was a big buzz term, athletes and warriors were using sandbags because they could accomplish so much. This is where I face a crossroads of sorts.
I have always been very careful about what I said in my blogs, articles, videos, and newsletters. I never wanted to be that sales pitch guy that made something seem to so much more than is really is. However, that was before I worked so hard to create a tool that would ruin that thought for me.
Initially when I wrote about sandbag training I was in the same boat as everyone else, using homemade simply made sandbags. I was right, at that time sandbags were a good training tool, but they quite wouldn't have the versatility that a staple training tool would have. The evolution of what I know call "The Ultimate Sandbag" does make the sandbag training not just a cool training technique, but an absolutely necessary one!
Want to know why these sandbags are so special and why they won't be sandbags for much longer? Stay tuned for next post!!
Certain things make shock waves, they completely change the way people do things. Sometimes this is either for good or bad reasons. In the last few years the Tabata interval training protocols have done just that. For those unfamiliar, a Japanese study demonstrated that a specific interval training protocol improved both anaerobic and aerobic capabilities. This was shocking for two reasons...
1. The control group that performed moderate intensity only improved aerobic abilities and nothing really to anaerobic. This wasn't shocking as training is thought to be very specific and cause specific adaptations. However, the Tabata interval protocols improved both significantly.
2. The Tabata protocol only required four minutes of work being performed, while the control group performed an hour.
When this research came about people were excited! Heck, four minutes of work could be better than an hour? Can't beat that. So, what did people do? Many began trying to implement the Tabata protocol into their training. Yet, unlike many things in this industry, the original ideas where changed and misapplied. So, really are you doing the Tabata protocols?
I want to propose some issues with both the study and the way people are applying what seems to be potentially a great concept.
1. The study did not compare this form of intervals with any other form of interval training. The study compared the Tabata protocols to a steady state "moderate" level of training. How does Tabata compare to other forms of interval training? There needs to be some direct comparisons and studies to see if there are even more optimal forms of intervals.
2. In the study the Tabata protocols were performed 5 days a week. If you perform them 1-2 will you still get the benefit of the training? We don't know if frequency has anything to do with the results.
3. The study was done on a mechanically braked cycle ergometer, this means CONSTANT motion. Too many people are trying to apply the concepts with exercises that have a break built into them. For example, kettlebell swings, snatches, front squats, shouldering, are all bad choices because their is not constant motion with any of these movements, there is a rest period no matter how brief compared to cycling.
4. The other issue is the intensity, in the study it was "intensity of about 170% of VO2max" that means to the absolute max. Not kinda hard, pretty hard, it means with nothing left to give! You couldn't possibly being performing Tabata correctly and then go train like many are claiming.
The truth of the matter is that we really don't know the answer to some of these questions as with most research, more is needed. Other forms of interval training have been shown to be incredibly powerful and are often underused and misused. That is why interval sets is an integral part of my program. However, you have to follow some rules as well.
1. You have to choose drills that allow quick fluid motions and not long breaks (i.e. get-ups are a bad idea). Shouldering, bear hug squats, push jerks are all good drills.
2. You have to use a very sub-maximal weight to keep the intensity high and not allow fatigue to accumulate so fast you can't perform the interval. Since sandbags generally don't lend themselves to percentage based training you will have to use an RPE or a weight you can perform 20-30 reps normally.
I have always been a big fan of interval training, in fact, you can read an article I posted almost ten years ago!
Let's face it, there are always going to be fitness myths that are perpetuated by marketing, hype, and unfortunately, bad coaching. Recently I had an opportunity to hear some top level strength coaches speak and was sorely disappointed when I heard some of these myths still being promoted! One in particular that drives me a little nuts is the misunderstanding fot he one of the most fundamental concepts of training...overload.
Progressive overload is crucial because this has everything to do with achieving results from your training. Most people associate load or weight with overload, this would be the most common view of overload, simply make things heavier! Guess what? This does work, making a weight heavier will stimulate more change, in fact, research has shown novice lifters need only 40% of their max and more experienced lifters 60% of their max to stimulate some strength gains. So, there is a minimum amount of weight people need to use to stimulate changes, however, overload isn't just about how much you lift.
Changing Leverage Another means in utilizing overload is changing the position of the load. By changing where the load is placed in relationship to the body you can make the same weight feel heavier. A classic example can be shown by squatting. If we begin people with a bear hug squat this represents the base level of squatting and the load is more easily dispersed throughout the body. Therefore, this is the position where the greatest amount of weight can be lifted. So, when the lifter is looking for progression, they have several options...
1. Increase the weight of the sandbag 2. Change the position to a zercher squat (which doesn't have as advantageous leverages as bear hug) 3. Alter programming variables.
Now if we use option two and change to a zercher, the same weight will feel heavier. In the same respect, if we then change from the zercher to shoulder, again the same weight will feel heavier. This is definitely a form of overload.
Alter Speed There times I think people would not have as much confusion about overload if we also looked at force production. The idea of increasing load is to stimulate the body to have to produce more force. This recruits more muscle fibers and motor units leading to better gains in strength and muscle. What most people don't understand is that when you move intentionally slower, the force production drops even though the time under tension increases. While slowing down and increasing time under tension is helpful for adding some muscle mass, it generally doesn't add as much to functional strength gains.
So, if you want to increase overload try lifting the weight faster. In using our squat example, we can work on slowly lowering the weight and then trying to add an explosive squat up. We can also add a pause in the bottom, removing any elastic energy, and then adding an explosive squat and we would again increase overload. This definitely demonstrates how lighter loads can be still very challenging.
Plenty More There are a lot of options in increasing the overload of an implement. This post was intended to discuss two of the more popular means that give you a large return for your time. In our workshops and clinics we discuss many other training means, but I hope this helps you realize that training can be more than simply adding more weight!
I am very excited to announce our first San Diego seminar with Franz and Yoana Snideman of Revolution Fitness. This is going to be a truly unique seminar as the first time any program will combine Ropes, Kettlebells, and Sandbags into one incredibly unique seminar. You will get not only to be taught some of the top coaches in the industry, but we will cover programming and how to get the most out of your training for tomorrow! See what you might be in for....
At just $169.99 for two days, you can't afford to miss!!
I'll be honest guys, I'm still down with the flu bug, but that doesn't mean I can't talk some good training! I really wanted to address a concept that sounds disturbingly simple, technique. I wanted to build off what I was discussing in my previous post without sounding redundant. I do think some people become paralyzed by this concept, but I think others don't give it enough attention.
If I were to follow the current trend in the industry I would post up some random coach's training video and rip it apart. Basically explaining why this specific coach doesn't know what he is doing, you know what though? I am going to do just that, however, I am going to do it to one of my own videos!
Seems pretty stupid, I know, but I hope you will follow me on my points of technique and that even technique and teaching has progressions that are important. If I asked 100 coaches and trainers if technique was important I bet you 100 would say, "duh! of course!" Then why is it that we all let certain things go and forgo technique at times?
Part of it is that we have the other extreme, those that will find some flaw no matter how much practice is spent with one's technique. This could definitely be paralyzing and discouraging. Treading that fine line is one of the greatest challenges in coaching.
When exercises become more complex, it becomes a huge challenge to show proficiency on every repetition. In addition, when a load gets heavy, the same can be said. I truly believe one of the main reasons that some people don't get a benefit from certain exercises is that they don't give enough attention to details. Others fail because they try to become perfect with a drill and never load. Ugh, it is tough!
So, what does one do? I have found you have to consider one very important thing before you proceed...are you performing this is lift in a competitive nature (i.e. powerlifting, strongman, GS, weightlifting, etc.)? If you are then everything really changes. You have to become dogmatic, you have to learn how to become extremely dedicated and patient because you are basically learning a sporting skill. If your goal is to increase your fitness or athletics by the drill then I have a slightly different philosophy.
1. What are the keys in performing the lift safely? Getting injured by performing a lift is always breaking a top rule. Once injury occurs then all performance and motivation is greatly hindered.
2. Don't overcoach at first, identify the three top cues for getting the most out of the lift. I once heard a trainer bark 15 commands at a client at once, man did that client have a confused look on their face! You can always add details, but there usually are some "big bang" keys that are the best to start with.
3. Have a progression of learning cues in mind. What is most important, then next, then next, then next? As a person experiences success the willingness to learn and be open to teaching increases, athletes are no exception.
So, after this simple ideas let's break down one of my own videos.
Let's take the shoulder clean first. Megan does a great job of keeping the load underneath her and not shortening the movement by extending her hip through the explosive part of the movement. My only cue would for her to be more stable at the bottom of receiving the load. A few times her tails tucks under and under a greater load would be not a good idea. Was it safe? Yes! Was it well done? Yes! Could it be slightly improved? Yep.
The hand walking drill is slightly different. Megan starts in a good position, but as she starts to fatigue her body starts to move into more flexion. Her butt starts to rise and her upper back starts to round more. In addition, I would have her tense her glutes and press inter her feet more to avoid excessive sway. Now, most would say she looks pretty good, and she does. However, to move onto more advanced progressions she would have to demonstrate better control. We may even move a step back to give her more stability. Remember too many people are overanxious to do more challenging drills before they are ready.
The leg curls look pretty darn good. However, I would like to see her perform them with her toes pointed towards her, I am not convinced she is using mostly glutes and hamstrings.
The around the world drill is often overlooked in our system. I see very few people actually implementing this drill. It is one of the more athletic drills and as Megan's performance demonstrates, isn't easy at all. Megan performs one of the biggest faults of the movement by slightly ducking out of the way when the bag is behind her. At this point you would ideally want to see the lifter squeeze the glutes and extend the torso so the bag as a lot of clearance, not flex forward. The time she stumbles also tells me she isn't rooting into the ground to establish a great base.
Is this to say Megan is doing anything unsafe? Nope, in fact, she does a great job, however, her performance would increase by starting to implement some of these tips. Would I stop her from training? Nope, I would have to coach better and maybe implement other drills to make sure she is in a position to perform these drills as best as possible. Megan is a great athlete, but we can all improve.
I hope this demonstrates not to rush past drills, but also not to stop training. We can all do better, take time to be your own critic so you can get the most out of your training!
In Strength, Josh Henkin, CSCS http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
It has been a little time since I've last written, I guess catching the flu and travelling are not a good combination of giving good blog posts:) This last excuse was pretty good though as I spent the weekend as an instructor at the Russian Kettlebell Certification. It was terrific to spend time with a lot of great coaches and teach those that demonstrate such great enthusiasm and passion.
I was intrigued on how so many people have their own take on kettlebell training. To me, there is no right answer as long as it helps people perform drills safely and effectively. However, I have found in training it is key to find the most efficient and fastest ways to get your message across because rarely do people live to train for an implement, rather they train with the implement to get a result.
I did find myself smirking part of the weekend though, I must admit something that has been so controversial in sandbag training was reminded to me this weekend. Some of the other instructors were inquiring about my sandbag program, in fact, Dr. Mike Hartle said he loved the idea a nice simple to use tool.
I had mixed feelings about that comment, while I know Dr. Hartle didn't mean anything negative in his remarks, it made me think about the hypocrisy in the industry. Why are sandbags any easier to learn than barbells, bodyweight exercises, or kettlebells? At the RKC a full day is spent covering two exercises, does this make kettlebells complicated or easy to use?
I think a little of both! No form of training whether it is sport or in the weight room can be done truly successfully if one does not pay close attention to the details. People often fly past the foundational exercises because they think more complicated appearing drills are more beneficial, yet perfecting or increasing your proficiency at these foundational exercises usually results in better training.
I feel the very same about sandbag training, to get the full benefit becoming proficient at the foundational movements is essential. That is why I put together a package that reflects just that, a necessity to follow solid programs and exercises to achieve your fitness goals. Also, realizing that financial times are hard this is a great deal, I am going to give you two DVDs for almost the price of one!
This special will go till the end of the week so make sure to take advantage of my double DVD offer. You will receive Meltdown: The Ultimate Fat Loss Kettlebell Training Program and Synergy: Achieving Your Fitness Potential with Sandbag & Kettlebells. All this for the price of almost one!
It is no secret that we have been busy at work! We now have all our sandbags being made in the USA. That might not seem like much, but it means a lot to us! It isn't a secret that their is a world recession and many of our manufacturing jobs are going down fast! So, it is nice to know that the product that I believe so highly in is being made by those that work so hard to keep things in the US going.
Secondly, keeping things in the US allows me to make alterations on our bags much more easily. Recently I have been receiving a great deal of emails asking about dust that appears to be coming out of the bags in our videos. Yes, in our old bags we couldn't figure out how to keep the very fine sand powder from popping out, especially when they were dropped.
This was a HUGE concern for me as I only want to sell something that I want to have in my facility as well. After having a meeting with our new manufacturer we fixed the problem!! Using a special combination of materials we have found something that can live up to our biggest demands.
Now, we still recommend if you are going to throw the bags to throw them on a mat or softer surface, this just makes sure that your bag will last a very long time. However, now you really do have the best bag on the market!!
I know, that sounds like a giant commercial right? Well, what if I told you other "sandbag like" companies were calling us to see if they could use our new insert bags. Sorry guys, this is for what everyone is getting to know as the best sandbags around.
You can purchase our inserts individually if you already own one of our great sandbag shells, or save a lot of money and get them as part as our sandbag package deals!
There is only one bit of bad news, to make these bags better we had to pay more to get them done. Don't worry for one week you can get them at the same price, please allow 2-3 weeks for shipping because they are flying out of our warehouse like crazy!
Tomorrow I am hanging out with Texas Ranges Strength Coach, Juan Vasquez, so expect some more good stuff soon!
Buy Our Sandbag Packages:
http://tinyurl.com/bbl9t7
Buy Our Filler Bags Individually:
http://tinyurl.com/cal84l
In Strength, Josh Henkin, CSCS http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com
I'd love to say that everyone has time and interest to pursue hour long workouts, but let's face it, this just isn't the case. Even those that love to train like myself, can often find themselves in a crunch for a quality workout in a short amount of time. I have to be honest though, I am just not into workouts of hundreds of repetitions of the same movement. While I know that is in vogue right now, I'd rather have a more balanced routine to train a lot of movement.
Complexes lend us the opportunity to do just that! Why perform hundreds of repetitions of one movement? This can lead to the same overtraining that we find so common in endurance sports. More importantly overuse injuries as well, this makes utilizing effective methods of complexes even more helpful.
In this series I demonstrate a very common use of complexes. By performing a set number of repetitions of one movement immediately followed by another, makes for a routine that allows for challenging the entire body without overemphasis on any one area or muscle group. As the leading authority of complexes, Istavan Javorek, would state, complexes make for a more balanced athlete.
Perform this routine 1-2 times a week, when you are crunched for time and see how a small planned workout can outperform a long mess of a training session.
This past weekend was our first full out High Octane Sandbag Seminar. I was able to share the weekend with Master Kettlebell Instructor, Kenneth Jay. It was terrific to have so many people from around the country in attendance, I can tell you how sincerely flattered I was that people would come as far as Connecticut to attend our weekend.
Over the next few weeks I will cover some of the very important lessons that were learned throughout the course. Yet, today I want to cover one of the most important ones that was reinforced over and over at our clinic, the size of the sandbag does matter!
I joked with those in attendance that online our best selling sandbags are the large packages. People try to equate what size they should use with what they know, barbells, and other weights. However, almost every time in our clinics and workshops the small and mediums sell far better! Why? If you truly understand the role of sandbag training you will know the answer.
Sandbags can be obviously lifted for movements such as squats, cleans, and presses. Yet, if that is the only reason you use them then you miss on some of the beautiful movements that are the most effective. Many of the rotational drills that I teach are the best drills to perform, but require one drop significantly in not only weight, but also the size of the sandbag itself. One could say the same for complexes, density training, intervals, and exercises such as get-ups and chops.
In fact, we had a gentleman in our weekend that could deadlift 700 pounds!!! Amazingly enough he struggled greatly in using the 150 pound sandbag for many of our drills. What was most important for this athlete was to learn that his movement capabilities could be greatly enhanced if he used a small sandbag. For a great majority of the time he use our medium sandbag loaded to 70 pounds. This isn't to say he isn't strong, of course he is, but he did find new ways to enhance his strength that weren't solely based on load.
So, you may be asking, "what should I use?" Here are my general guidelines.
Young athletes (8-13)-Intro Package Young athletes (14-18)-Strength Package/Intro Package Female Lifters-New-Intro Package Female Lifters-Trained-Intro/Strength Male Lifters-New-Intro Package Male Lifters-Trained-Strength/Advanced
You will see some cool new changes in the site pretty soon. We are going to educate you guys more on how not to only use sandbags better, but how to pick the right ones for your goals. I hope you will keep visiting to see the very cool new changes along with the new sandbags we are releasing.
In Strength, Josh Henkin, CSCS http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com
I can honestly say there aren't that many people that can say they have actually changed an industry. Well, I can say this about strength coach, Mike Mahler. Mike has been at the forefront of changing the way people view strength and is one of the premier kettlebell coaches in the world.
His unique training approaches have made him a highly sought after coach by elite athletes, military, and those looking for optimal fitness and health. He is a published author in many mainstream magazines and created numerous kettlebell products that have made even the most cynical people into believers!
However, I caught Mike for an hour to talk about a new program he was working on. Something that very few people and understand and even fewer even talk about! Today's interview is really something special and make sure to take the opportunity to listen to this free one hour interview with one of the top coaches in the industry!
Everyone likes to know that people appreciate their work and creativity. Heck, everyone enjoys a good slap on the back letting them know that what they are passionate about and working hard on is quality. I believe that we all benefit greatly from such things and when it comes from the right people it means even that much more!
This past weekend I got to spend time with some great coaches...Alwyn Cosgrove, Anthony Diluglio, Mike Boyle, Rachel Cosgrove, Todd Durkin, and many more! You only get better as a coach by being around such great people, plus it really helps refine your own system and theories on training.
That is exactly what happened when Alwyn Cosgrove (Men's Health writer, published author, and National Presenter) asked me to do a clinic for his staff in Newhall, California. It was the first time I got to present exclusively on sandbag training, from the progressions to programs it was a terrific time to work with great coaches! I was surprised though to see that having these programs are so important as many of even the best coaches don't realize the potential of sandbag training.
This concept is exactly what Anthony Diluglio told me when I presented at his Punch Gym in Providence and he remarked again this past weekend he was surprised about the versatility of this form of training. Anthony put it beautifully, he says you don't lift kettlebells, you move them, but sandbags you can do both! I couldn't put it any better. No matter what the goals, from fitness to elite sports performance, you can quickly adapt sandbags to any training program.
However, my favorite part was when Alwyn introduced my program to the 200 people at the Perform Better tour. Alwyn spoke about the fact his brother came to his facility to train, Alwyn had him perform some log presses and he was able to knock out 170 pounds pretty easily. However, his brother couldn't press a 100 pound sandbag, YES, sandbags are truly the "least cooperative training tool" as Alwyn put it.
Fortunately I video taped my clinic at Results-Fitness and will be offerring it soon as a free DVD whenever you order our sandbag shells or packages, keep on the lookout! Till then enjoy some fun footage I took from this past weekend....
Yesterday I received an email that really struck home. With all the positive emails I receive it usually only takes one negative one to really get my attention. After all I am typically my own worst critic and really try to listen when someone has something that they believe we can improve upon.
Well, this gentleman told me that my recent release of Synergy was "aggressive marketing". Wow, I thought to myself, I have always thought of myself as a really bad marketer. I have never been one to write the long ad copy, must to the disappointment to my business coach. My efforts have always gone to try to be in your shoes, what would I want to hear?
I guess that is why I stepped back and really took a look at what we were doing and selling, the truth is I feel pretty good about things. We have never been one's to really push email after email of sales pitch after sales pitch. Our newsletters try to be content oriented and not talking about a nice walk that I had with my dogs like some.
In fact, one of my proudest things is that we have over 70 free videos for you to watch to learn new exercises or how to incorporate sandbags into numerous different training programs. My goal is to have over 100 in the next month and a half!
This doesn't mean that we couldn't do more and in the near future we will be doing just that! I hope to put up more videos and have teleconferences so you can ask the questions that you really want the answers to.
Meanwhile, check out one of the must see videos I did some time ago talking about how to start a sandbag training program and mistakes to avoid....
In Strength, Josh Henkin, CSCS http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com
Many people still think of me as the "sandbag guy", hey, there are far worse things to be known for! In fact, I am very proud of the fact I have given people a fun and really powerful way to get back their athleticism and fitness. However, to say I am only the "sandbag guy" wouldn't be too accurate.
I have been in the industry for almost 15 years and have tried, seen, and experienced a lot. It wasn't a journey without many challenges including trying to fix many of my own injuries that were severe and limiting. One thing I promised myself though is that I would never be married to an idea simply because I thought it was cool or different. The only way I would incorporate a training concept is if I thought it gave real results, really fast!
There are many tools that could help a training program, however, not everyone wants to build a million dollar facility and the truth is you don't have to. When I began creating Sandbag Fitness Systems my goal was to introduce new training concepts and tools that even ventured outside of sandbags, but would be related in the sense they give fast results and are immensely versatile. I believe that my new training program "Synergy" is a perfect example of this.
"Synergy" is the first time anyone has put forth a training program focused around sandbag and kettlebell training. Both of these tools have been gaining steam as the most innovative and powerful training tools available today. Everyone from elite athletes, runway models, and every day people are using kettlebells and sandbags, but no one is sure how to put it all together. After an exercise by itself isn't too powerful. However, carefully combined in a structured model can yield some pretty amazing things.
This isn't just a dvd though, I wanted to give people more. So, I added two e-books as well. The "Synergy Manual" and "Synergy Diet Lies" gives you just that, more information, more programs to follow and keeps you from falling in the typical pitfalls. Here is a bit of what you can find inside these e-books:
Over 40 training programs to follow
The 10 best foods to drop fat
Three methods to guarantee results
What supplements to take and when
How to make sure your routines never get boring!
In addition, for one week I am going to provide people with five one hour interviews with great coaches such as Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew, Underground Strength Coach Zach Even-esh, Dan John, Brad Nelson, and YES Pavel Tsatsouline! This is what I wanted to give, a complete program. Remember, this is just for one week though and the interviews will be gone! Click on this link to get your Synergy Training Program Today!
You didn't think I would give you a program too, did you?
The New Year means resolutions and the intention of making major changes. The New Year gives us a sense of starting fresh and wanting to attack our goals with excitement. This goes equally well for your fitness goals, but the obvious question is, "where do I start?"
The New Year also means that I have an opportunity to share with you new training ideas that I have been working on. So, my goal is to answer your question of, "where to start". Coming next week is a full program that will really take care of all of your training questions, but I don't want to wait a day longer to share some of the cool things we are going to be doing.
A few years ago the movie "300" not only broke some box office records, but had a profound impact on the fitness industry. Many loved the idea of functional training and the goal of getting 300 repetitions as fast as possible. However, some didn't understand the positive nature of such training.
If we look past the simple hype of looking like an ancient warrior we can see such a method can be used in our density training model. As I have discussed in the past, density training is a very effective training method to improve strength and endurance. The concept is relatively simple as well, it is about trying to perform work in less time. Used wisely one can build muscle and lose fat at the same time because the volume of work is done to achieve greater muscle, but the calories are burned and the rest intervals are short to induce better fat loss.
The 300 workout was about using compound exercises to complete the workout in a minimal amount of time. For those short on workout time and want to maximize their training time, the 300 workout is ideal. However, there is more than one way to create such workouts and that is why we are starting off the New Year by giving you a 300 workout with some of my new favorite training tools.
We have begun to compliment our sandbag training with two other tools that have a long history of producing incredible results as well; the mace and kettlebell. For those that are unfamiliar to mace training, it is a style of training that has been used by some of the greatest athletes in the world's history. Used to develop strength, endurance, core strength, shoulder flexibility, and amazing grip strength. For a long time it has lost favor just as kettlebells and sandbags suffered. Now you can get the benefits of mace training with our loadable mace! Trust me a little bit goes a long ways!
Also, we are introducing the Bulldog line by my friend Anthony Diluglio. Anthony created a line of kettlebells that are loadable which completely changes the feel of kettlebell training. Not only that, he has them in different sizes that will forever change how you approach your kettlebell training.
See how I put it all together in today's video:
In Strength, Josh Henkin, CSCS http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com
Thank you for visiting the Sandbag Fitness Systems Blog. There are hundreds of FREE workouts and training tips throughout our blog and we hope you take the time to see how our Ultimate Sandbag can blast your fitness to new heights. To learn more about our innovative program please check out www.sandbagfitnesssystems.com.
Josh Henkin is a Strength & Conditioning Coach in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is owner of Innovative Fitness Solutions (www.ifsstrength.com). He has trained professional athletes, composed creative fitness programs, and helped clients rehab from serious injuries.
Coach Henkin is also the creator of the Ultimate Sandbag and author of two E-books on Sandbag training. Check out www.sandbagexercises.com for more information on our products and articles.
