It's GOTTA BE the Program

I would feel dishonest, unfair, and untrue if I just showed exercise after crazy exercise to you. Just throwing a bunch of exercises together with some reps and sets really doesn't make a program. Sure, you might get results for a little while just by providing a good effort. Don't worry though it won't be long till the progress plateaus and little aches and pains arise.

Yea, I sound like the glass half empty guy right? Well, maybe it is because I am so tired of people online throwing out random workout. Hey, I like variety and to tell you the truth rarely follow a very set routine. However, I do like to look at a training week and plan some goals.

Ask any successful coach that has actually made long-term progress with clients and they will tell you the same thing, planning is key. How might you make a week of training?

I personally think most people can not handle more than four days of intense training. So, here is how a week may look:

Day 1: Priority of volume with intensity. Options: Density or Ladders

This can be followed by some assistance work done in a circuit style, I personally like intervals for this part of the routine.

Day 2: Power Circuit Training. This is an opportunity for people to work in patterns of motion that they typically don't get with strict strength work. Rotational movements, different lunging patterns, crawling, are all great options within this training session. Typically this is higher repetition work but a more moderate intensity.

Day 3: Strength Focus. Why so late in the week? Generally most people need a significant time building tendon and ligament strength as well as fix muscle imbalances before they place too much emphasis on heavy lifting. Ignoring this rule usually leads to some nasty pain or injury. Lots of interesting ways to develop strength with sandbags though.

Waves: Perform a series of reps in compound movements like clean and press: 1/2/3/3/2/1 the first series is lighter than the second series building upwards.

Clusters: Perform one set with approximately 10 seconds in between till all the "mini-sets" are done. For example, Zercher squats of 5 mini-sets of 2 with 90 seconds of rest after. You can repeat this two to three more rounds.

Day 4: Pure Intervals. This time will help speed up the recovery of the strength focus routine because it will have much lighter loads. The idea is to work up to eventually 60 seconds of work but you can start as low as 15 seconds.

Above is a video of what a Day 1 might look like!

FREE Workout, Holiday Sale

With the holidays growing closer the next few days, I wanted to put out one of our best workout series to help inspire people to keep on their fitness. This quickly turned into one of my favorite training routines.

Take the "Tough Enough" Challenge

So many people wanted to see the types of workouts I created for the Special Forces candidates. Watch the video to not only see a great workout, but why we are using these exercises and tools! Get the secrets to being elite!

Don't forget about our Military Special going on now!!! Click Here

Modern Fat Loss Training

Today I wanted to provide another installment of our Inferno Fat Loss program. Holidays are here and so is intense training. You will notice we are integrating the TRX and kettlebells with our Ultimate Sandbag. These are perfect compliments to the Ultimate Sandbag and make training fun and challenging. Infinite variations are possible when you use these three simple tools.

Today we have the following:

Renegade Rows with One Leg Suspended: Adding one leg suspended causes the trunk muscles have to brace harder and uses the ab muscles even more. A nice progression on the classic renegade row, plus shows which side can stabilize. The use of the Ultimate Sandbag makes it more challenging to row without simply increasing the weight of the sandbags!

Alternating Kettlebell Snatch, Squat, Swing: A great hybrid with the kettlebell that gets you flowing fast and hits just about every muscle in the body! The alternating makes it a little harder to completely groove the lift so you have to work just that much harder!

TRX One Leg Burpees: Ok, a burpee is bad enough, however, being suspended and in sand makes it that much worse! If you don't have the sand available one leg being suspended is good enough. This adds more flexibility training, lateral instability, and exposes any weaknesses to your cardio, mobility, or lower body strength.

TRX V-Flye and Biceps Curls: Hey, isolating muscles isn't a bad thing, it is only bad if it makes the bulk of your training program. Adding in some isolation movements can enhance the body's stablizers and "fill in the holes". Many great lifters have used this technique to bring up weaknesses and prevent injuries. Heck, who doesn't like good arms;)

Sandbag Hand to Hand High Pulls: No, these aren't your classic high pulls, you will want to deliberately throw them at angles to greatly challenge the core, hips, and grip! The sandbags are hard to grab and ripping them up is practical for just about anyone who wants great strength. Changing up the angles makes it impossible to groove this lift!

Sandbag Ski Jumps: No joke on this one, especially in sand!! However, if you are just using the floor it is still a powerful drill. Jumping laterally often throws people for a loop, however, adding in a rotational pull of the sandbag makes it one of the best exercises for building lateral stability of the body. Not to mention, doesn't take long to smoke the legs.

Just as with all our Inferno programs, it isn't about just making you tired. It is about making your body strong, mobile, and athletic. Take our challenge of performing these programs yourself and email me at josh@sandbagexercises.com!

Can YOU Keep Up

Accountability, if I had to nail down success to one trait that would be it. Far too often I hear clients tell me, “YOU are going to get me to lose weight”, or “YOU are going to get me faster”, or “YOU are going to take away my back pain”. Right off the bat I have to explain to people that I can’t do anything for them. I can educate them on the best techniques to be used, but ultimately they have to be proactive in their own performance and progress.

The same applies with my Sandbag Fitness Systems program. I can direct and give ideas to people, but ultimately they have to apply the principles to get the reward. People often ask about motivation? I feel if you have accountability you have some level of motivation that should be growing inside. However, a great coach can bring out the best in you even if you are on the right track.

That is the route I took myself when I worked with Cem Eren yesterday. Cem is a coach with amazing enthusiasm and passion and that only makes you want to train harder. Add in his innovations and you have someone that any coach or individual is excited to train with. Cem showed me some of his contagious training ideas and emotion with his Warrior Den workout. Check out this workout, the great thing is that it is based around mixed martial arts, but anyone who performs it would only see a rise in athleticism, fat loss, and awesome strength gains. But who really wants that? See if you can keep up with Cem!!!

Better Than Slamming

I get asked all the time about slamming sandbags.."Josh, why can't I slam the sandbags, it would be awesome!!" The reasons are many, but here are a few of my standard responses....

1. All power that a slam would develop is created in the extension (where the body goes back) not in the follow through of the body. If the lifter can extend properly they can develop a ton of power. If the lifter doesn't get the extension of the body the slam is almost rendered powerless.

See how these fighters perform power throws:



While a slam may sound loud without the extension of the torso, the only ones that hurt are those that get back into proper extension prior to the movement.

Soccer players do this every time they perform an overhead throw as well, yet, this is a motion we rarely train! That is why one of my favorite drills to show in our workshops is the back/body throw. When done properly it trains this motion and builds unreal strength in the trunk and hips.



2. There is a limit for every piece of training equipment. Most people would never think of slamming a kettlebell, barbell, dumbbell or other strength tools. A sandbag too has limits, even though the Ultimate Sandbag is made of top of the line materials it isn't invincible. The bigger the sandbag the more compressive forces that go through the bag and those forces could be HUGE!!!!

If you want to train the strength to perform impressive body throws or tosses try the Back/Body Throw and my other favorite drill below!

I Don't Get the Joke

The past few days have been just weird! I have been getting flooded with emails from customers asking if I had seen this sandbag or that sandbag. It seems like all of a sudden people found sandbag training to be an effective training method, almost overnight. I knew of course that companies one day would see what we were teaching and want to get in on sandbag training. Almost sad though what has just happened.

Most of these companies are straight up trying to take our design and resell it. Of course, if you aren't actually a sandbag user you don't pay attention to the details. Everything is important in the creation of the Ultimate Sandbag. There is a specific reason our sandbags are the size they are, remember in sandbag training you have to concern yourself with not only weight, but the dimension of the sandbags as well. People think our power sandbags are only for light sandbag training, the truth is everyone that attends our workshops finds the power sandbags phenomenal for rotational power development. You can see some of these examples below.



The construction of a great sandbag has to be right too! These other companies are selling cheap sandbags that the threading starts to fall apart and the material is thin and weak. Sandbags are different from any other training tool, most strength training implements are made out of metal. Pretty much metal is metal and as long as you can get the right price that is all that matters. However, with sandbags you have to concern yourself with getting strong enough fabric, the right threading, and the right type of stitching. Listen from a man that knows!


"As a Sports Performance Coach and US ARMY Veteran I am very particular when I make an investment in my fitness and training equipment. One thing that I can say is first and foremost is that nothing comes close to the Ultimate Sandbag and YES that even means the military issue duffel bags. The stitching on the bags far exceeds military standards and there was a lot of thought and planning in the design, function, and durability of this bag."-Nii Wilson

Nothing is perfect, but you don't get much better than this! Being cheap doesn't pay as a well used sandbag will fall apart in days if you don't make them right. Don't worry though it is obvious who makes sandbags and who actually uses sandbags!!!

Then there are "sandbag like" products. I actually thought when a customer sent me a link that it was a joke product he was making a spoof, I was wrong!! This thing is being promoted as the Ultimate Sandbag (ok, we won't talk about the trademark violations), what a joke! Imagine that someone made a barbell that you could throw and slam, but you couldn't squat, deadlift, press, or row. That is exactly what this thing is, a somewhat glorified medicine ball. Hey just because you fill something with sand, doesn't make it good for sandbag training. You can't shoulder, clean and press, zercher squat, or perform hundreds of the sandbag drills that you should and when you only go to 50 pounds is it still strength training? Don't even get me started with the price!!!! To me, it is comparing apples and oranges.

Why do I bring this all up? Yes, I can admit, I am human and it ticks me off to see rip offs (don't worry we are taking care of it;), and I hate it when companies make products just to market and not to help people. Don't worry though, we are hard at work making exciting new DVDs and products that actually do something!! In the mean time see what our sandbags can do!!!

Can YOU Keep Up with Pink?

This workout can make even the toughest men feel very humble, see if YOU can get through it!

The Innovations Keep Coming

One thing I can not stand is a program or coach that simply shows new exercise after new exercise for the sake of doing something different rather than having purpose. People that often attend our workshops and certifications are shocked by the amount of exercises you can perform with our Ultimate Sandbag. The difference is that we have to take people through our progressions and teach them why they are doing different movements so that their is purpose behind their training and the training of their clients.

One such example is the "Cyclone" lift. The Cyclone is a combination drill that integrates components of the rotational deadlift and around the world drills to create a movement that builds the entire core of the body in very unique ways.

Very few core drills start the lifter in a position of rotation. This is a demanding position because the body can not use its normal dominant stance. Such a position also requires that the lifter be very efficient in their movement to create and absorb the forces of the lift correctly and safely.

The large range of motion that occurs with the Cyclone makes it a functional drill for just about anyone and an absolute necessity for athletes and weekend warriors alike. The benefits are:

1. Explosive hip power in new ranges of motion that aren't trained in standard cleans, snatches, swings, or chops.

2. A powerful core that can not only produce a great deal of force, but resist force as well.

3. Because it trains both the glutes, hamstrings, low back, abdominals, and muscles of the upper body we are truly getting an all round core drill. Very few exercises can train the entire pelvis and spine structures at one time.

However, just as with any exercise there are a few cautions. Firstly, is that one needs to be very proficient in both the around the world and rotational deadlift exercises. I would suggest spending time on half moon snatch and shoveling as well.

Size of the sandbag plays a big role. Smaller sized sandbags make it easier to maneuver through this movement, but our bigger ones make this a power house. A really easy way to use the bigger sandbags and make that progression is to change from sand to a lighter material for the filler bags. This gives you time to adjust to the different size and also slowly progress to higher weights.

Check out the Cyclone below!!

Don't miss out on the last few days of our BIG sandbag sale: Click Here

Want to see the power of sandbag training in person? See us in Orange County Oct. 17th: Click Here for more information

They are so full of it!!

I have to admit, this is going to be one of those posts where I can't help my personal feelings really get the best of me. Recently I had a well known strength coach write me and say how much he enjoys the sandbags for conditioning, they are a really great tool for that. WOW! Is that all you think this training can be for, conditioning? 

This doesn't surprise me, the industry as a whole is generally full of contradictions. We love to refer to the training of old-time strongmen, but very few actually perform any sort of the training these amazing athletes did. They were not only well conditioned, but possessed amazing flexibility and strength. Listen to what the great John Jesse wrote in his book, "The Encyclopedia of Wrestling Conditioning"...

"Sandbags, heavy stones, and war clubs were used for the development of strength by wrestlers of many nations for several hundred years, long before the invention of the iron barbell."

I think most of us can agree there are few athletes that can match the amazing all-round athleticism of wrestlers (this is coming from someone who played every team sport, but never wrestled). 

John Jesse goes on to say...

"Sandbags over 100 pounds are awkward to handle and provide a true test of all-around strength, particularly in lifting them overhead or brining them to the shoulder with one hand. Some of the old-time strongman wrestlers would shoulder a 180 to 220-pound sack of grains to the shoulder with one hand and then walk several hundred yards with the bag on their shoulder. A few were capable of pressing the same bag overhead with one hand after bringing it to the shoulder."

Let's face it very people really do understand the amazing all-around strength these athlete possessed. It almost seems impossible by today's standards. 

That is why I have placed challenges such as the "3 Rounds of Hell", or "The Warrior Challenge". I have received hundreds of emails of people trying to accomplish these challenges and not coming even close. So, I am DARING you to get into the best fitness of your life! Don't be want of the cheesy infomercial fitness gurus that most people (whether or not they admit it) are trying to emulate. Challenge yourself to be so much more!!!

              

Don't Be This               Become Super Human

Don't Miss Out on Our Sale on The Ultimate Sandbag that Can Help You Become Super Human: Check It Out Here Now!!!

The Newest Fitness Challenge

Having something to train for is so much more fun than just working out. It is easy to just run through the motions when you don't have a goal, but let's face it training with a goal in mind completely changes every aspect of fitness training. That is why I wanted to come out with a new fitness challenge for all of you. This one is slightly different, it is just a challenge, but one with a special reward for those that dominate it!

Now till the end of the month the Warrior Challenge is going to reward one winner with a prize valued over $200s! That's right, one winner can take home a FREE Burly or Advanced Package, let me explain how and why!

For the last few years I have had to listen how sandbags are great for conditioning, but if you want to get really strong you have to use barbells and dumbbells. People quickly forget load is load and a shifting load is far more difficult than a stable one. That is why those that have worked with our Burly and Advanced Packages write in on how challenging these sandbag are in every respect.

I didn't want to try to convince people though, I simply think having people experience this type of training is the best solution. Why the Warrior Challenge? It is no secret that complexes and flow exercises have become very popular for their ability to train a lot of fitness qualities at once. Well, I wanted a drill that could strengthen the ENTIRE body in a way that was impossible with any other training implements. The Warrior Challenge encompasses the best of sandbag training, shoulder, shoulder squat, shoulder to shoulder press. These drills entail explosiveness, head to toe strength, core power, and endurance.

The challenge? Perform 30 total repetitions of the entire complex; shoulder, shoulder squat to shoulder to shoulder press. Dump down the bag and repeat, this is one repetition. The challenge is to use either our Burly or Advanced sandbag package and perform this drill in as little time as possible. No easy task to say the least and really makes you feel like you can conquer any challenge, exactly why I named it the Warrior Challenge.

How do you win? A person needs to sends us a video with the weight of the bag and them performing the Warrior Challenge. The person with the best relative score (that is the weight of the sandbag compared to their bodyweight) and time you can win your choice of either a Burly or Advanced Package.

For those that want to take the challenge, but don't have our Burly or Advanced yet, I have decided to put them on special until the end of the month. Not only is there a discount, but if you pick up a Burly or Advanced during this time you will receive two FREE workouts with our heavy duty sandbags. Below is the Warrior Challenge in action and beneath is the very special discounts! Don't miss out on becoming your own fitness warrior.



Burly Black-Save $30!!: $178.99

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Burly Green Camouflage-Save $30!!: $188.99

Buy Now Here

Advanced Black-Save $30!!: $170.99

Buy Now Here

Advanced Green Camouflage-Save $30!!: $180.99

Buy Now Here 

Is Your Workout Dumb?

“Tough”, “hard”, “improves coordination”, “powerful”, these are all terms people throw around as though they actually mean something. Program after program, person after person, I hear references to these terms that end up meaning nothing.

For example, swimming 2000 meters is hard for me, however, does it mean I should be trying to accomplish it? Does it have any relevance to my fitness goals? Performing ten minutes of kettlebell snatches is tough, again, does it have any meaning to my goal? People often mix up very specific training for general fitness. In the two examples I just gave both would be useful, but to two completely different types of athletes. Improving in both of these fitness tests would require very specific training and if getting better at them had meaning to your fitness goals then spending considerable time training for them would be worthwhile.

However, what I often see is the random testing of ones self to these relatively meaningless tests. A test is only good if it provides feedback upon a desired outcome that has meaning. That leads me to my other two favorite statements, “improves coordination” and “builds lots of power”. Again, two of the most vague statements that one could possibly say.

Let’s take a look at “improving coordination”. My favorite definition of coordination is, “the harmonious functioning of parts for effective results.” In strength training terms we have two slightly more scientific definitions of muscle coordination, intermuscular and intramuscular coordination. Intermuscular coordination refers to the ability of the muscles to work together to perform a task efficiently while intramuscular coordination has more to do with maximal motor unit recruitment, rate coding is optimized (firing rates of motor units), and syncrohonization, activation of motor units in a synchronized manner. Ok, I am not saying all this to be a jerk, however, I do find it important to realize that we use terms commonly without much meaning behind them.

Most times people refer to coordination to my first definition, basically, they learn how to move better. In this respect, coordination is very important, however, many coaches are prescribing programs that do very little for coordination. Why? Many programs fall into the trap of being very redundant, same patterns, same speeds, same ranges of motion.

Let’s look at some classic patterns. Here is a program commonly prescribed for upper body strength:

Military Press x 5
Chin-ups x 5
Bench Press x 5

A quick look at this type of routine and you may find nothing really that wrong with it. I hate to say wrong, but more lacking imagination and training a lot of fitness qualities we need. During our L.I.F.T. certification in Sweden we talked extensively why it was important to build complexity and to analyze many needs into a routine. Let’s look at the same routine with three different L.I.F.T. types of programs.
Workout Option A
Sandbag Shoulder to Shoulder Press x 5
Body Row with Hands Pronated x 12
Band Horizontal Presses x 30 seconds

Workout Option B
Eccentric Pull-ups x 3
Suspended Pike to Push-up x 10
Sandbag Clean and Push Press x 15

Workout Option C
Single Arm Suspended Push-ups with Arm Extension x 5 each side
Single Arm Band Row with Pause for 2 seconds x 10 each arm
Sandbag Around the Worlds x 30 seconds each side

You can see how quickly we add some much needed sophistication to a relatively simple concept. We have not taken away from the general idea of an overhead, horizontal, and upper body pull. Instead we have changed a few important variables.

Not every repetition and set scheme is the same. Since the body needs to be challenged with some higher strength intensities, moderate, and endurance, we have organized the exercises to reflect this. The first exercise in the series is designed to provide the higher intensity levels and will be performed when the body is more fresh. The intermediate schemes are in between, and endurance is laid at the end of the routine when fatigue is at the highest.
We have shown many different patterns in which to stay true to the idea of overhead, horizontal, and upper body pull. This goes very well with the Pavel Tsastouline idea of “same, but different”. Changing the rep/set schemes, implements, and patterns allows us to train these natural patterns of movements in a way which our body’s “encyclopedia of movement” grows.
Speeds and ranges of motion have been manipulated to stimulate other fitness qualities and coordination patterns. Simply changing speed or the range of motion can often provide a completely new stimulus to the body. Plus, we have added in the much neglected part of isometric training with some of these movements.
A workout like this can be easily modified to any fitness level simply by adjusting patterns or levels of progression. This means we can make some of these “corrective” in nature or even high level of performance.

Hopefully you can see now that most of the routines and programs that we are following are not building us long-term success. They are sacrificing some immediate specialization for the sake of long-term progress and results. Don’t be fooled into performing a routine just because someone said it was “hard” or “tough” make sure that the programs you are following are matching the goals YOU have set forth.

Next week I will share some videos demonstrating these concepts in further detail and releasing a NEW sandbag challenge!

In Strength,
Josh Henkin, CSCS
http://sandbagfitnesssystems.com

The New Age of Group Fitness

I went into great detail last time about the fact we have to evolve or perish! That means everything from our training methods to our business models. As renown strength coach, Alwyn Cosgrove, states, the future of fitness is in group training. How you structure your group training models can vary greatly. Sure, lots of methods work from large bootcamps to smaller semi-private training models are all means to help both the clients and instructor enjoy the coaching processes that much more. Let's face it, coaches and trainers get into the industry to help people, but if you are so exhausted from the extreme long hours of one on one training, how much benefit are you providing your clients?

It is great that many coaches and trainers have found that group training is the way to go for longevity, however, just as with one on one, group training can be good and very bad! Planning far ahead and having a strong training philosophy is key in making these programs a long-term success. That is a major reason that I love The Ultimate Sandbag so much. The challenges that face a coach working with a group are numerous. From working with various ability levels to teaching fun and innovative exercises, the work is actually much more, fortunately so is the payoff!

I find that educating people on the versatility and power of these programs is of the utmost importance. That is why two weeks ago I was in Long Beach for the Perform Better three day summit. With some of the top names in attendance (Mike Boyle, Robb Rogers, Alwyn Cosgrove, Eric Cressey, etc.) you couldn't help but learn something helpful.

I did as well especially when I got to speak with many of the coaches, both who were lecturing and those in attendance. One in particular was Cameron Hedges of Results Fitness. Cameron is the head of group fitness at Results Fitness and has been implement our Ultimate Sandbags for some time. Listen to how Coach Hedges implements our Ultimate Sandbags and get a sneak peek into my presentation on the proper use and programming of sandbags.

You Evolve or Die

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.

A Powerful Combination

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!

Listen to the Dino Man!

I make no claims about "inventing" sandbag training. In fact, I like to give credit where credit is due and one of my biggest inspirations was Dinosaur Training legend, Brooks Kubik. Many years ago I was very frustrated with my training and the pain I still had in my back. After reading Dinosaur Training I was so inspired to try something new, something that really worked with my personality. 

It was Brooks' writing where I first read extensively about sandbag training and he states in his book how sandbags are the best odd object training tool. Why? There are many reasons mostly though their safety and versatility range supreme. However, a friend of mine recently sent me on of Brooks' classic Dino Files packed full of training advice for combative athletes. 

Why send me this information other than it reinforced all the training we all love?! Tip number 30, "sandbags are one of the very best training tools for combative athletes".  There is no hidden message there, but if it is perfect for a combative athlete, why would it not be perfect for anyone interested in elite fitness. After all it is hard to argue that combative athletes are not the most well-rounded athletes. 

Many of the exercises described are ones you are all familiar with, shouldering, carrying, and so on. However, there was one in particular that I haven't talked about yet, watch the video to see this incredible drill!

Q & A

Something that I've been meaning to do is really get our Q & A blogs going. So many people write me in with great questions that I want others to learn from their questions. Please, please send in those questions that you have been hesitant to ask because it could really help others! Today is one of our first Q & A blogs.

Hi Josh,

I just purchased the Strength Package, including the High Octane DVD.  I did Program One yesterday.  I want to make sure I'm starting off correctly, and I have a few questions.

 

1.  I am 48 years old, just under 5'7", 140 lbs.  I have always been thin and relatively weak, and have had trouble maintaining an exercise program.  I think I will enjoy the Sandbag and stick with it.  I am interested in long-term cardiovascular health, as well as building, toning and defining my body.  What weight do you suggest to start?  I chose 45 lbs., which seemed comfortable yet challenging.  Will I see benefits at this weight, or do you think I should increase it right away?

 

2.  Is it safe and beneficial to do the workouts on consecutive days, or should I go every other day?

 

Thanks for your help.  I love the Sandbag and will tell everyone I know about it.-Mike C.

Weight is always relative! Without knowing it you used one of the most common methods of assessing weight which is RPE (rate of perceived exertion). I have long said that sandbag training weights should be dictated by how challenging it feels, not by the number on the scale. A sandbag generally will be lighter than any other strength training implement you have used in the past because of how awkward and "noncooperative" they are. If the weight feels challenging, but allows you to maintain good form then it is the right weight. 

The programs on the High Octane DVD were designed to be performed every other day. Now, COULD you do them on consecutive days? Yes, however, you may need a few days after this to recover. Most people don't realize that sandbag training greatly fatigues the nervous system because of all the muscle coordination needed and this is far more fatiguing that just tiring out the muscles. That is why generally I give a day in between for workouts, yet, I realize that some people's schedules do not allow for this. So, to be realistic you can do back to back days but give time for recovery especially if you are beginning to feel very tired or excessively sore. 

 

A Special Situation

Ok, this was COMPLETELY unplanned!!! When I launched our new filler bags last week I wasn't anticipating getting slammed with so many emails from customers who already had our product just wanting our new white liner. The question quickly became, "can I buy just the white liner" and to be honest my initial answer was no!

Not because I am trying to be a tough guy, just the opposite. We have quite a few people email daily confused about which Ultimate Sandbag is right for them, adding the white liner option would make things even more confusing. Additionally, the new filler bags are not cheap! Keeping things in the USA is very important for me, but it does come with a higher cost. Yeah, you may see that our prices were raised slightly, but we actually decided to eat some of the cost because selling a superior fitness tool is more important than doing it for cheap and making more money! Doing them together did make it a little more manageable. 

However, since I want to give you guys what you really want and thank you all of you that have been such strong supporters, I am going to do a one week special on the white liners. Here is the deal though....you will only be able to purchase them buy themselves for one week, they won't ship out till a week from tomorrow as we will only order as many as we need. So it will take 2-3 weeks to get your white liners. In addition, they must be used in some type of canvas filler, we won't guarantee any of them that were used by themselves. 

Believe it or not, all that we do is with you guys in mind and we want your sandbag training experience to be the best it can be. So, you can choose from the three sizes below:

Buy Your 10 Pound Liner

Buy Your 20 Pound Liner

Buy Your 50 Pound Liner

The Best Just Got Better

People generally don't understand that I take Sandbag Fitness Systems VERY seriously. It isn't a "side project" or something that I do recreationally. That is why I am constantly striving to make my program and The Ultimate Sandbag the best training tool available. I believe that goal was accomplished with our innovation of our filler bags. A great concept that other companies have tried to copy, but have made poor copies. 

While our filler bags were very effective, I knew they could be better. Want to see what we have done check out the video below:

These new bags will be shipped out starting Monday with all our packages!!!

It Is VERY Different

I can say it over and over again, The Ultimate Sandbag is sooooo different than anything else! Really, I can say it all I want, but I know the reality, it sounds like the old tiresome marketing that we all get hit with almost daily! So, what does one do? I get great people like all of you to write in with your experiences and it makes things seem so much more real. The greatest gift I get is getting emails from all of you on how my program has impacted you! Today is no different.

Note: Even dogs love our

Sandbags!

A few days ago I received an email from Anthony. Unfortunately, I have never met Anthony, but he was kind enough to share with me what he thought of our Ultimate Sandbag and the programs...

 "I had my first park session with the Ultimate Sandbag a short while ago. I have been doing thrusters (squat with a push press) in an interval fashion for fat loss; and I was thinking that the sandbag training wasn't going to be as brutal (and I was a little concerned about that). After a month of rain, I finally got to the park; and enjoyed the session very much. I did 15:15 interval of the lateral shouldering movement (bag dropped to the outside of the foot). I chose the small bag so I could concentrate on form. I was very surprised at the result. I was very sore in the external rotators, glute max, hamstrings and adductors. I have never been sore in that range of muscles before; the thrusters hitting the quads only with the shoulders being a weak link. I think this is the best exercise (movement) I have done and can't want to go heavier.

Thanks Josh
All the best"-Anthony S.

Anthony experienced simply everything I had talked about. The difference? He had to experience it for himself! One reason I have found myself traveling so much is because I found people needed to experience what this type of training does. You can't "sorta do the same" with any other piece of training equipment. The unbalanced weight, varying shapes, and all the variety make this a devastating piece of fitness equipment. Sounds like a sales pitch right?! Not really, all of what Anthony said he felt was with a small sandbag that is under $100!!! Shoot, a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells of equivalent weight are easily going to run you over that price. It isn't about the sales pitch, it is about changing people's perceptions of fitness and making it dynamic and exciting again!

I loved what Anthony wrote me, but was even more pleasantly surprised when he sent me a follow up email. 

 "Just back from a session. My core feels like it is made of rubber now :-) Anyway I thought I would share a little story since I have a minute.

I was talking to my uncle the other day. My father and his family had a fruit and vegetable business 70 years ago. They are always talking about the old days and how they would be loading and unloading trucks by hand all hours of the day and night. While we all have similar builds, one thing I have noticed about them is that they have much thicker hands than I do. I guess it is from lifting all those 140 pounds bags of potatoes. It is not so different from lifting sandbags. It really tickled my fancy thinking about history repeating, or the more things change the more they stay the same; and just after I purchased the Burly Bag.

By the way, I am really enjoying lifting the sandbag."

No, in fact, in the age where being "old school" is viewed as cool, this is the most old school type of training anyone can perform. Sure, people didn't do it for exercise 100 years ago, they did it for work! However, people were so much more fit then than we see today. Read any old time strongman book and what is the key? It is the amazing tendon and ligament strength that was created with such training. 

Yes, there are a lot of tools that are awesome, but not all are very versatile. What I love about sandbag training is it can produce everything the famous old time strongmen talked about, but can also be used for our modern techniques as well. It gives such a unique feeling that this will become a staple of every fitness program. 

Next week we are going to be releasing some very cool new projects and updates. Keep your eyes out for it and please, keep the great emails coming!!