We Have the Edge

Most people are just flat out confused! They are a little familiar with powerlifting, a bit with Olympic lifting, ok, know some "functional" exercises and they try to jam it all together into a big mess. You see most people feel like they don't have the power to change things. They have to deal with the status quo and use what little they may know about different training methods.

However, we have the edge! We are actually seeing the needs of our clients and creating programs, exercises, and tools that address those needs. It makes coaching so much better to use these methods to address specific needs rather than trying to squeeze people into such a confined philosophy box.

Our certifications and workshops are about to launch for the new year and one of the biggest concepts I could teach people is to look at adding complexity to movements. Sure, if you are a powerlifter try to squat 600 pounds, but all the research shows that it isn't the strongest athletes that are the best, it is the most powerful athletes.

One of the most underused ways to develop power, athleticism, and fitness is through more complex movement patterns. Sure, I have seen the goofy exercises, but I am not talking about those where people stand on one leg and scratch their nose while they try to curl a dumbbell. I am talking about adding force from different angles of the body while moving in sometimes explosive means.

The Ultimate Core Strap and Ultimate Sandpack have definitely open the door to a lot of cool new exercises. So, while our new sites are ALMOST here, I wanted to share some initial ideas with the two videos above. We can resist movement, produce movement, and this all results in an amazing training stimulus that nothing else can replicate!

Watch these videos, try the metabolic workout and you will see what I mean.

We are close to our new sites, so until they go up, you can get these great tools here!!!

Ultimate Core Strap: $29.99: Click Here

Ultimate SandPack (back pack): $169.99: Click Here

Are YOU Ready for 2010?

I really hope you had a wonderful holiday season! No matter what you celebrate I hope it brought a lot of happiness to you and your family. It definitely has not been an easy year for many people. I have numerous friends and clients that have been largely impacted by the change in the economy.

Sometimes it seems there is a lot of things out of our control. Yet, I am inspired by the ideas of efficiency and self-improvement expert Dr. Stephen Covey. In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Covey states:

“The way we see the problem is the problem”, our problems all too often are a result of how we choose to see them and how we react to them. We all have them and we often have an opportunity to make negative circumstances into positive ones.

It would be easy to think that people like myself have very little problems. Wow! 2009 was a hell of a year for me not just business, education, or opportunity. Yet, there were many instances where my Ultimate Sandbag faced many challenges that could have easily made me quite.

However, I believe in what I am doing, and even though bad things happen we always try to make something positive in the long run. Yes, those positives may be hard to see initially. Yet, if you have a burning desire to make a change it can happen.

What is the problem with many New Year's resolutions? They aren't meaningful! We have to find something that makes us excited and willing to blast through challenges and negativity. As Dr. Covey says:

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

I hope you will be excited by our efforts and find that fitness is something that can help you take control of how you feel, your confidence, health, and many more factors. I truly hope that you will join us for an incredible 2010!!

Is the King Dead?

I did it, I did it for years! I always made the squat the cornerstone of all my training programs. Who would blame me? There are hundreds of studies and practical experiences showing just how darn effective squat training actually can be for performance. Yet, that doesn't mean there can't be a better way and our thinking can't evolve.

When I think to my own training I can remember times when squat numbers would improve, yet, performance in sports I would enjoy would not see any improvement. Why did this occur? After really taking a look at my own training and to those that I work with I found some interesting observations.

1. Since the squat form of people can vary so greatly it is impossible to make an overall generalization if squatting is good or harmful for one's goals.

2. We live in an era where injuries, muscle imbalances, movement problems, and other physical issues play a large role in what happens during the squat. I could yell and scream about how awesome they are and how you HAVE to do them, but that isn't always the answer.

3. More important than squat numbers going up is whether or not they are leading people to the bigger picture of their overall goal.

I know for myself squatting was definitely a beneficial exercise, but I really didn't understand what I was missing till I started addressing my own weaknesses. Sports such as basketball and Strongman took a large toll on my body.

From these sports I had more than a few days where my hip would ache, I would have altered walking patterns, shoulder tightness and just didn't feel like I could progress in my training. I made the hard decision to take a break from the traditional back and front squatting and make lunging a priority in my training program.

Most people would say that I was "wussing out", but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. The worst case from my own experiment? I would not get any better and possibly lose some strength. The result was much different than I expected.

After about six weeks of making lunging a strength focused lift for me I found that my hips felt better and more surprisingly my back squat went up! Why could this happen? A few things came to mind pretty fast.

1. Squatting is an easy exercise for us to think as a superior strength exercise because simply we can often handle more weight. More weight must mean more strength being built, but it is impossible to say that single leg exercises could not do the same at smaller loads. It would appear that lunges stimulate just as many, if not more muscles because of being slightly unstable. Therefore, we can't simply assume more weight equals more strength.

2. It is far more difficult to compensate on the lunge than the squat. The most common compensation is altering stride length to something shorter to remain more balanced. Outside of this pattern, it is darn hard to cheat a lunge. Many lifters know there are more than a few ways to cheat a squat.

3. You hit your weak points! I can't think of too many people that like to do what they are not good at. So many issues can be addressed with lunging, hip mobility, lower leg stability, and hip and leg strength. These issues can be missed with a lack of focus and time spent on single leg exercises. However, what I like so much about lunging is the dynamic stretch to one of the most problematic areas of the body, the hip flexors.

I also began to be in favor of using suspension training to enhance the training effect of lunges. The beauty of suspended lunges is that you can alter and progress range of motion and stability depending upon the version of the movement you use. Today I wanted to share some very important variations of suspended lunging that we use to take people's training to a new level.

The most difficult part? Being comfortable with not judging the success of the lift by how much weight you lift, rather by the results you obtain.

Beyond Abdominal Training

A lot of people have taken such a great interest in the story of my low back injury, I wanted to talk about really what has made a difference. 80% of Americans will experience low back pain some time in their life, and well, mine was a little more than some slight discomfort.

While most people think I am a powerlifter or strongman, the sport I played most of my life was basketball. It was also the sport most impacted by two herniated discs when playing in high school. Not knowing how to strengthen it, it eventually caught up with me playing in college to the point where I lost use of my right leg for a very brief time.

Even when I regained use of my leg, the pain was immense and I struggled with it for a long time. I did physical therapy and I went to corrective exercise certifications and programs. However, understanding what was weak and wrong didn't occur to me when I switched my philosophy completely.

What I learned about myself is that I suffered from some problems that a lot of people suffer from.

1. I really didn't understand how to move correctly. I didn't know how to produce force, absorb force, use mobility in my hips and spine to produce movement.

2. I didn't know how weak my hips were really! Renown strength coach calls this, gluteal amnesia, but I think it goes into hamstrings as well. When I realized how they didn't know how to work together I knew I had a lot of room to improve.

3. I didn't know how to resist force, I could produce power and force, but I didn't understand how to resist it. When I started incorporating drills that addressed these issues I saw my pain go down and performance go way up!

Many people want to know the drills I used to get better. To be honest, they are the exact same ones I have been teaching for the past four years. Now, I have outlined them in a series so YOU can see the progression of movement and learn how to help others or yourself get out of the same pain and frustration I spent several years with!

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Rotational Exercises

The Armory Challenge

I have gotten a ton of emails from people over the last few military based workouts. It seems people have always been fascintated with the fitness level of those in the military. When people think of being "in shape" they want the endurance and strength that soldiers are able to demonstrate. Yet, even the military has had to update their techniques to keep up with an ever more demanding and challenging world. That is why I was honored to help out our military with a specific program to get their best through the selected process.

The ideas and concepts though that are used in these workouts can be used by anyone. Some of the keys is to "fill in the holes" where most training fails. That is why the TRX and Ultimate Sandbag are so important as they allow us to train ranges of motions and patterns that are impossible with most common implements. Using our "Tough Enough" or this weeks' "Armory" workout can really not only enhance your fitness, but resilency to injury as well.

Check out our Military Sale Special

7 New Exercises=1 Killer Workout

It is back to work at Sandbag Fitness Systems, all the family and events are done and we are creating new exciting things for 2010. My first job, leave all the poor imitators in the dust and show you more great and exciting workouts and exercises with the ORIGINAL Ultimate Sandbag.

Today's workout does just that! This isn't just random exercises, but those that all compliment and build different aspects of functional fitness.

1. Shoulder to Shoulder Suspended Lunge Press: Not a circus trick, in fact, this is one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase overhead pressing strength. By destabilizing the body, but still allowing an appreciable load to be lifted, the body increases the stabilizers and nervous system to allow for more muscles and motor units to be used when you attempt a more stable press. This exercise also teaches the important principle of rooting in overhead pressing and creating a strong foundation. The lower leg training hits one of the most commonly missed areas of training that can give you a huge return in performance!

2. Double Sandbag Bent-Over Row: Rowing movements are important for maintaining muscle balance and the bent-over version trains the muscular endurance of the low back. This is one of the most important attributes of back health according to low back expert, Dr. Stuart McGill. I wanted to show there are many ways to increase the load lifted and this one is pretty fun! Stacking a smaller sandbag on top of our advanced sandbag makes this truly a strength lift!

3. X-Shoulder Squat: Again, some may think that they are limited in performing strength work by the load of the Ultimate Sandbag. While many may find our Advanced Ultimate Sandbag or Burly Ultimate Sandbag to be plenty of weight, some want more of a challenge. The X-Shoulder Squat does that by adding load to the hips in the bottom position and giving the additional challenge of grip strength. Coming out of the bottom of the squat you really have to burst out of the hole! Exactly where many lifters feel weakest.

4. Cable Overhead Throws: One of my favorite new drills for many reason. Showing how if you make a sandbag with cheap material (like many of our competitors) or use a homemade version (sorry you couldn't do this lift) you are just missing out! The cable overhead throw trains all the explosive muscles that usually get missed! People spend lots of time throwing downwards but little the extensors that protect the body and can create even more power!!! This drill may be more important than sledgehammer or medicine ball strikes because of it training all the muscles from head to toe of the backside of the body. The stabilizers and powerhouses of the body.

5. Loaded Suspended Push-ups with Mountain Climbers: Working all patterns of motion is an absolute must. Horizontal pushing does just that, but people often don't give push-ups their due. They either fall into the trap of doing mindless reps or progressions are far too crazy to get any type of strength benefit. Being suspended adds one dimension of load and the Ultimate Sandbag does the other. Adding in the mountain climber adds more core work as well as isometric strength in the arms, shoulders, and trunk. Isometric training is another commonly missed attribute of training.

6. Band Twists: Ok, why can't you just do this with a handle? Adding in our Ultimate Sandbag makes this exercise hard to control and emphasizes grip strength and coordination. Why is this so important? It will add stability to the elbow and shoulder, a problem all too many people suffer!

7. Squat Thrust to Shoulder Throws: I wanted a conditioning drill that did more than make you sweat. The squat thrust is a commonly used, but often incorrectly performed drill. Attention must be paid to the placement of the feet on both aspect of the hip thrust as well as spinal alignment. Done properly this does a great deal to enhance flexibility and power. The Shoulder Throw works the core in a unique way in both producing force, stabilizing, and integrating the hips to develop a well rounded core exercise.

You can perform this workout in a circuit for reps or time, take the challenge though and see how you hold up to our Inferno Workouts!

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!

You Thought You Were Advanced

Alright, Halloween is over, but you know what that means! It means that the holidays are here along with all the temptations of poor food options, stressful family situations, and end of the year demands from work. All reasons that many people fall prey to gaining weight during this time of year.

That is why I wanted to start releasing our Inferno Fat Loss Program now!! The whole idea is to create 30 minute workouts that actually do some impressive changes. What is different about THIS fat loss program? For many, the exercises in these programs are brand new and hit the body in ways they never trained before. The mistake many fat loss programs make is the simply rely on "cardio" type of exercises which burn some calories but do little to improve strength, muscle, or reduce injuries. The Inferno programs implements exercises that do all of this.

Inferno also is the first time that the best training tools; The Ultimate Sandbag, TRX, and kettlebells have all been integrated into a systematic program that is designed for improved fitness in minimal time. Utilizing these tools gives us infinite exercises that we can perform and modify depending upon the various fitness level of the individual. All these exercises require all the muscles to be involved therefore, increasing the amount of calories burned and muscles strengthened.

These aren't circus exercises either! I know some of these might seem like "trick" exercises but let me explain...

Single leg clean and press: If you can progress to having a leg suspended this means we can focus on both stability of the hip and tap into the glutes and hamstrings more! The side to side movement the TRX allows for means the hips have to work harder to maintain balance. It also is a sign that the lower leg must work harder to stabilize the body. One of the biggest deficiencies is in the lower leg. Using the Ultimate Sandbag provides another unstable challenge. Because you can not groove this lift the body has to work harder to perform each rep. Lastly, the gripping challenge of a loosely filled sandbag means the hands and upper body are being challenged.

Single arm row to rotational press: Using the TRX we can make a bodyweight exercise incredibly intense for the elite or helpful exercise for those just starting a fitness program. Just by adjusting how close you stand to the TRX unit dictates the level of difficulty of the exercise. This one arm row variation is nothing like the dumbbell row. Here the TRX takes away a lot of the cheating that often happens on the dumbbell version. Adding in a rotational press of the Ultimate Sandbag gives us even more rotational abdominal training as well as intense arm training.

The Tactical Lunge: An amazing exercise to challenge both the legs and the lungs. The swinging and passing motion of the kettlebell changes the stability of the movement. The more the kettlebell moves the harder the exercise becomes. The tactical lunge should be fluid and smooth. Oh, btw, being in sand makes this drill a nightmare!

The Ultimate Sandbag Cyclone: There may be no other exercise the fills in the holes of the body's strength like the Cyclone. This movement takes in all of the body's core muscles, from the deep ones to the more superficial, no muscle is left unturned.

The Ultimate Sandbag Swing: The swing is known to be a great drill for the hips and low back, however, we can change the implement to add a new twist. Using a loosely filled sandbag makes this not only a great "cardio" challenge, but grip as well, yes more than a kettlebell!

These exercises give great synergy and promises not to disappoint. In only a few weeks our NEW Inferno DVD will be here for those that want to excel during the holidays.

That is No Sit-up!

As much as I give the term “core training” a hard time, it actually is important. It is not the concept that I have a hard time with, it is the crazy marketing and hype. Having a strong core means more than abs, so having a strong low back and glutes are just as important. How you train these areas is more important than debating concepts.

My colleague Cem Eren helped me take some video of incredible core exercises with our Ultimate Sandbag that accomplish all the goals of functional core training. See if you can keep up with this workout as it leaves no muscle unturned! Don't worry even if you aren't a fighter you can still turn your core into the piece of steel that fighters are known for!

This is the last two days of our HUGE Doubles Sale! Don’t miss out on saving big money on our great Ultimate Sandbags. Click Here!

The Interview You Can't Miss

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.

All you have to do is click below.

=> http://kettlebellinterrogations.com/josh/replay.html

Josh, an incredibly knowledgeable coach, gave
some great insights like -

- dispelling the myth of "roundbacked" lifting

- how to satisfy your need for variety and still
make excellent progress

- how to increase your hip mobility with sandbags
and improve your kettlebell results

- and of course, much more...

Catch it all here:

=> http://kettlebellinterrogations.com/josh/replay.html

Keep Training Smart!

Geoff

Are They Better Than Kettlebells

That is the trick question that inevitably comes up during any of workshops, "are sandbags better than kettlebells?" I say a trick question because it is often hard to say whether or not another tool is better than another. There may be instances where a certain tool may be a better option than another. However, getting this question over and over again made me think long and hard about it.

I don't believe sandbags to be better because I would have to be able to prove that they produce a superior result to a nonsandbag or kettlebell related activity. Since such research hasn't been done it seems silly to go there.

Yet, sandbags do offer two distinct advantages over kettlebells.

1. Number of Holding Positions: Any kettlebell enthusiast can tell you that the various holding positions of a kettlebell is what allows a lifter to progress or create new exercises. Manipulating the leverage of the kettlebell follows the most basic of principles, overload! The kettlebell offers four holding positions: down by the side, clean or rack, by the horns, or overhead. Varying these positions alters the body's center of gravity challenging both the body's sense of balance and trunk stability.

Well, the sandbag offers eight holding positions; down by the side, bear hug, zercher, clean, shoulder, on the back, overhead, headlock. These additional options allows the lifter or athlete possibly more options for progression and creating challenging movements.

2. Grip training: Kettlebells are often promoted for their ability to develop grip strength. Holding onto a swinging kettlebell can often be a great challenge or doing bottoms up presses can be a great demonstration of grip strength. Yet, sandbags may still have an edge.

Grip expert, John Brookfield, states there are three types of grip strength. Most people only focus on crushing grip strength where swinging heavy kettlebells would come into play. However, there are two others, pinching and wrist. A properly loaded sandbag challenges all three forms of grip training and is a major reason they have been a favorite training tool of wrestlers and martial artists for centuries.

Want to hear the debate continue and see where I might give some more controversial points that may change the way people see kettlebells and sandbags? Come join Senior RKC, Geoff Neupert, and I for a special interview tonight for FREE!!!

Just visit: http://kettlebellinterrogations.com/josh/index.html

How You Are Missing Out

It is inevitable that once something grows more and more criticisms come about from those that misunderstand. A great example of such a thing is the growth of kettlebells. I remember when I attended my kettlebell certification in 2003, more than half of the attendees had never even touched a kettlebell. Now in 2009 you can find kettlebells in Wal-mart, Target, heck, I even saw them at Best Buy!!!

With the popularity of kettlebells has also come massive confusion from all areas. There are people promoting only one use of kettlebells, others saying kettlebells can't build strength while others claim they can almost cure disease! The truth? Kettlebells are a phenomenal form of strength training that has done so much more changing the mainstream's concept of "functional training". However, the truth of the matter there is no one answer. Kettlebells have been used for centuries for strength, endurance, and yes, bodybuilding.

The problem with kettlebells is the same as any other strength training implement. People get stuck on a few good ideas and don't go beyond the scope of what they are good at. That is why complimenting kettlebells with other strength training tools provides a powerful result, typically better than anything that could be achieved with a single tool.

This was the whole concept behind my Synergy program. While many people assume sandbags and kettlebells are very similar, the truth is in all of our workshops people see the distinct differences.

How you combine these two functional tools can create fun and real result producing workouts.

1. The simplest idea is to take a common kettlebell drill and substitute the sandbag. For example, instead of kettlebell front squats, try the sandbag Zercher or shoulder squat. Instead of kettlebell presses, try a sandbag press or shoulder to shoulder press.

2. Using complimentary movements in alternating sets can bring the best of both worlds to a training program. For example, alternate sets of kb swings and sandbag shouldering, or kb turkish get-up with sandbag get-ups, lastly kb snatch with sandbag half moon snatches.

3. Alternate cycles of each which creates less of a total adaptation therefore stimulating new gains in training progress.

These ideas and many more are what Senior RKC Geoff Neupert and I are going to speak about this Thursday. This interview is FREE and all you have to do is sign-up at the site below to reserve your spot!

Kettlebell & Sandbag Interview: Click Here

More Than a Gimmick

It is always tough to put out new ideas. In this modern era of fitness and performance training so many things are said and done to just grab attention it can make many skeptical. That is why when I launched my Double Sale, I was a little hesitant to how it may be perceived. The idea of using double sandbags in different ways has been something I have been working on for some time.

Yes, the use of a single sandbag is awesome, but using doubles allows for some interesting training effects. For example, any type of shouldering movement challenges the body to resist rotation and lateral flexion of the body. This is a huge reason shouldering is such a powerful movement. However, we can amplify this effect in a couple of different ways.

1. The most obvious would be to increase the weight of the sandbag on the shoulder. This may or may not be the best for the individual.

2. Adding a second sandbag either in a standard position down by the side of the body or by using the much underutilized headlock position. Now we have added an additional force coming through the body at a different angle and position. We have utilized instability training without compromising the overall goal of getting stronger and being more athletic. This can be done with a sandbag of the same size or different size.

This method works really well for shouldering, squatting, lunging, and more broad movements. It can also be used for pressing overhead to stimulate more pressing strength. Try this....

Get a moderately loaded sandbag to the shoulder position, then take a dumbbell or kettlebell that usually you can perform five repetitions and try pressing for 3-5. Then remove the sandbag and try the same press, what did you feel? Easier right?! That is because we stimulated more muscles throughout the body to stabilize and gave our pressing movement a better foundation.

3. Finally, moving two sandbags at once increases coordination of the movements. You can't zero in on your strengths so easily and the instability of the sandbags are amplified when you use multiple sandbags. As you can see in today's video, when I clean or press the two Ultimate Sandbags the feeling is completely than focusing on one sandbag even if it is a heavier sandbag.

These training techniques are pretty new information and it can seem a little overwhelming, but I can tell you the results speak for themselves. Try them yourself and see the difference double sandbag training makes!!!! Don't miss out on the Doubles Sale!!!

Sandbags and Kettlebell Experts

Five years ago is when I began my journey of being the leading coach in sandbag training. I remember well being very apprehensive about releasing my first e-book. I wanted nothing more than to share with people a form of training that I found to be so immensely beneficial. Nothing is more scary than putting yourself out there for others to judge, comment, criticize, and evaluate your work. Before I put the book out to everyone I had sent it to a few coaches to get their opinions, heck, these guys would tell me if it sucked! Fortunately everyone was very kind with their words and feedback, yet, there was one person I wasn't sure about.

Pavel Tsatsouline had become a mentor to me and had helped me in my journey of regaining my own athleticism. After attending one of the very first RKCs, I wanted to send him my book for review. What I got back was more than surprising. Pavel was very encouraging about my project, but also thought I would enjoy diagrams he had from an early 1900's Russian strength training book that had numerous sandbag exercises in it! Unfortunately, a computer crash made me lose all the material, none the less the opportunity to see these exercises was very exciting.

Since my first experience with the RKC I have been a big proponent of the training, even in light of some people's negativity. I believe everything has to do with perspective and place. People are always shocked in our workshops about what they learn about training and themselves! Nothing is better than being able to show people the power of what you coach, however, that is often hard to do over the internet. The next best thing? Talking with another great strength coach about how to create powerful and real training programs.

That is exactly what I am doing next week with Senior RKC, Geoff Neupert. I have known Geoff for about five years and let me tell you he is about as big of a skeptic as you find. Having coached on the Division I level and being a top National Weightlifter, Geoff knows what works. So, next week Geoff and I are going to sit down and break down sandbags, kettlebells, and the most effective training programs.

Sales pitch right? Nope, absolutely FREE for you guys! Simply sign-up at the link after this post and you will get your spot on the teleconference. I suggest you don't miss the opportunity to learn some real secrets to training that our clients pay a lot of money to discover!

Sign-up Here: http://kettlebellinterrogations.com/josh/index.html

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!!!

Tough as Nails Workout

Some people believe that women's training has to be with skinny little fitness models lifting no weight, or super human women that no one can relate to. My goal is to show that women can maintain their feminine side as well as their athletic side. The key is the same with men, trying to discover athletic movements that involve as many muscles as possible. However, one of the common mistakes people make is thinking of challenging people only with weight. Our sandbag program offers many different concepts including changing leverage, balance, or speed of movement. Today's workout shows just that! Check out this workout (yes guys, you can do it too!) and see just what I am talking about.

BTW, don't miss out on our great sale during breast cancer awareness month at: Pink Sandbag with FREE Gymboss