Photo: Fitbodybuzz.com
When you hit the gym, it’s understandable when you go straight for the barbell. It allows you to do compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press and the Olympic lifts, all of which require multiple large muscle groups and promote strength and power development. While these are certainly a better use of your time than isolation moves like curls (don’t get us started on the “beach biceps” brigade), some of a barbell’s benefits – like providing you with a symmetrical load that’s easy to manipulate while retaining balance – can also be limiting factors. We’re not going to tell you to abandon your go-to lifts, but rather suggest that you add a convenient and highly portable tool into the mix: the sandbag.
Why bother? Well, a sand bag gives you asymmetric load that challenges your stabilizing muscles and ability to apply strength to a fairly unstable, changeable object (as the sand slides around inside the bag). This not only stimulates your muscular-skeletal system but also your brain, as it provides a new, challenging and ever-changing stimulus. A sandbag is also more portable than a barbell and plates or even dumbbells. If you’re a surfer, paddler or just someone who enjoys exercising on the beach, you use a heavy duty dry bag instead and fill it with water. Here are some simple, do-anywhere exercises you can use a dry bag or sand bag for:
Three-Position Carry
A staple of Functional Movement Screen and Functional Capacity Screen creator Gray Cook’s programming, the three-position carry is often performed with a kettlebell but can also be applied to a sand or dry bag. To do it:
—Start with a weight lighter than you think you can handle
—Set your phone timer or watch for a 10-minute countdown
— Holding the sand/dry bag by an end handle, press it overhead until your arm is extended. The top of your arm should be just behind your ear to keep the load over your center of mass.
—Walk in this position until you start to fatigue, then slowly lower the bag until the handle is just below your left collarbone. Make sure your palm is turned towards your chest and your wrist remains straight.
—Keep walking until you again fatigue, then drop the bag down until your arm is hanging by your side, with a neutral grip on the bag (hand facing your hip) like you’re carrying a suitcase.
—Once your grip starts to go, switch hands and start with your right arm in the overhead carry position. Repeat the process until the timer goes off.
—In each of the three positions, keep your shoulder blades pinned back and down, and keep looking straight ahead. You can also do the overhead, front rack or suitcase carry by themselves with a heavier load.
See this video for more info (kettlebell version, but the principles are the same)
Photo: T-nation.com
Clean and Press
The clean and jerk is one of the most effective and skilled lifting moves. Doing it with a bag instead of a bar occasionally ups the complexity of keeping yourself and the load stable, and requires a greater degree of control. To do it:
—Place the bag on the floor in front of you
> Pull your hamstrings back, bend your knees slightly and keep your back flat as you hinge at the hips
—Grip both top handles on the bag
> Explode from the hips and extend your knees and ankle to create upward momentum
—Also shrug your shoulders to provide even more lift
— Drop under the weight into a quarter or half squat, as you pull your elbows up and out to catch the bag in the front rack position
—Keeping your abs tight, press the bag overhead until your arms are straight
— Return to the starting position and repeat. Shoot for five sets of five reps.
Photo: Crossfitmanassas.com
Burden Carry
One of the events at the CrossFit Games snd Spartan Race that looks the simplest but is actually very demanding is the burden carry. This is sometimes performed with a heavy log, but using a sand or dry bag adds means that because the load isn’t fixed, it’s more difficult to stabilize it and keep moving. So not to overload you with carries, but do this one as well as the three-position variation for a total-body challenge:
—Set a countdown timer or a choose a distance on your fitness tracker that you think will hard to complete. You could also use a track or soccer/football field and aim to complete a certain number of laps or lengths
—Place a heavy sand or dry bag on the ground in front of you
—With your feet straight, back flat and knees out, squat down, pick up the bag and sling it over one shoulder
—Keeping your abs tight and knees out, stand up
—Start walking
—As you get tired, switch the bag to the other shoulder or try carrying it in a different position, like the one you’d use to carry a heavy box
—To make the exercise more challenging, you could also try jogging instead of walking, making the bag heavier or increasing the distance. Or reduce the distance and try doing sprint intervals with the bag. Masochists can also try going up and down hills.
