It is believed that sandbags have been used in fitness training for at least hundreds (if not thousands) of years; this makes sandbags one of the oldest forms of fitness training in existence today. And while sandbags have certainly evolved in their design and quality over the centuries, the basic principals behind them remain the same: sandbags can be used in weight lifting exercises such as various forms of squatting and lunging. The use of the sandbag will increase strength dramatically while at the same time building lean body mass.

Benefits of Sandbag Training

One of the biggest draws of sandbag training is the fact that it’s extremely inexpensive to do. In most cases, you can create your own customized sandbag for less than five dollars and a couple of hours of your time. Or, you can buy a pre-made one for cheap on the Internet. Either way, it’s a lot less expensive than having to invest in a monthly gym membership or purchase heavy weight-lifting equipment (weight machines, dumbbells, etc.) for your home. Furthermore, sandbag training doesn’t require a lot of space. You don’t need to have a dedicated home gym to partake in sandbag training that’ll yield excellent results. All you need is a closet or corner in which to store the sandbag when it’s not in use and a little bit of space to exercise with it. No need to take up an entire room of your home with bulky equipment.

Okay, let’s get onto the physical benefits of sandbag training. For starters, when you workout with sandbags, you tend to exercise muscles you didn’t even know existed. That’s because, each time you grip and pick up the sandbag, you’re going to have a different experience than the time before. Therefore, your body will need to use different stabilizers each time you workout with the sandbag; it’s like getting a workout within a workout. Furthermore, as you work out more with sandbags, you’ll also improve your grip strength. After all, in order to successfully pick up a sandbag to perform any workout, you’ll need to have a strong grip, which you can develop over time. With a stronger grip, you may also become less susceptible to conditions such as carpal tunnel and arthritis. Unfortunately, we tend not to spend much time improving grip strength with other workouts, but sandbag training is one that allows you to work on it along with other areas of the body simultaneously.

Looking for a fun and challenging sandbag workout that’ll help you shred body fat and achieve strong, sexy legs? Give this workout a try that we have used successfully with our South Tampa personal training clients at the Tampa Strength Academy

1. A1 Zercher Standing Squat (10 reps)
2. A2 Split Lunge (10 reps per leg)
3. A3 Sandbag Snatch (10 reps)
4. A4 Back Hold Good Morning (10 reps)
5. A5 Sandbag Squat Jump (20 reps)

Go through all the exercises in the above group, taking 60 seconds to rest after you complete the 5 exercises and do a total of 5 sets. You’ll feel it the next morning, but keep up with it and you’ll see results in no time.