Six Reasons to Take Up Sandbag Training
While sandbag training does seem to be growing in popularity, there are still millions of people who have never heard of it. Or, they’ve heard of it but thought it was too “out there”, ineffective, or whatever.
I’ve thought up a short list of reasons to get going with sandbag training.
- Cheap. You can make a sandbag for less than $20.
- Strength or conditioning. Depending on the weight of your sandbag and your program, you can use them for building either strength or conditioning.
- Adjustable. If you make your sandbag by using smaller inserts, you can add or remove the inserts to adjust the weight of the bag. You can make each insert 10 pounds and easily get the weight you want.
- Stabilizers. Because the sand moves around inside the bag, you end up working muscles you forget you have. The small stabilizers muscles that come into play for balancing and such get a workout more than with a nicely-balanced barbell.
- Safety. Granted a 100+ pound sandbag still weighs 100+ pounds and you can still hurt yourself by doing something wrong. However, you practically remove the risk of impact injury with a sandbag. Drop a sandbag on your toe and you’ll be fine. With a barbell… not so much.
- Versatile. The purpose of the sandbag is to build functional, real-world strength and/or conditioning. As such, it lends itself to very creative workouts that can remain effective.
I’m sure there are plenty of other good reasons not listed. If you want to give sandbag training a try, just get started. If you’re new, or you’re tired of free-form training and want a more thought-out approach to sandbags, check out The Caveman’s Guide to Fitness or Sandbag Strength.
Popularity: 39% [?]
The Cardio Machine that Sucks
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne.
The Cardio Machine that Sucks
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Recently, I was in Tampa, Florida, at a seminar. Between sessions, a physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall and said, “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting better results with the bodyweight circuits.”
It’s always great to meet clients, and I was curious to find out how he heard of me. Turns out, he found me through Google, landing on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines (crosstrainers) suck for fat loss”.
That’s right, I think those machines are almost a complete waste of time.
“I was using one of those machines for a long time and was wondering why I wasn’t getting any results,” the physician continued, “I’m so glad I found your program and Read more
Popularity: 27% [?]
Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle Mass
Millions of people today want to lose weight. However, the average person doesn’t know how to burn fat without losing muscle mass. Not only that, they don’t realize that simply burning fat isn’t enough. You also have to keep your muscle mass, or you’ll end up soft and weak.
Your body will adapt to the stimulus you give it. So, if you give your body a reason to keep or build muscle, it will. If you don’t, it won’t. Maybe oversimplified, but valid. And that’s the reason you can lose muscle mass if your main mode of exercise is traditional cardio, like walking or jogging. Low intensity exercises like these can help you lose weight, but Read more
Popularity: 33% [?]
Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD – Review
If you’re not aware, Mike Mahler has produced a new 3-DVD set, with over 7-1/2 hours of instruction, featuring Mike Mahler, Steve Maxwell, Steve Cotter, and Nate Morrison. I’ve been wanting to write a review of Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD since I got it a few weeks ago, but it’s just taken a while to watch the whole thing. So, you might want to grab a drink and sit back, this could be a long one.
Let me say that at first, I was a little skeptical about the quality of the video. Since it was shot at a kettlebell workshop, I was expecting poor quality video and sound. However, Read more
Popularity: 100% [?]
More Than a Kettlebell Workshop DVD
Mike Mahler has produced a new set of DVDs. It’s over 7 hours worth of training information from some of the most respected instructors in the industry: Mike Mahler, Steve Maxwell, Steve Cotter, and Nate Morrison.
It was filmed during a workshop in Las Vegas, and is MUCH more than a kettlebell training DVD set. It ain’t cheap, but if you’re serious about your training, or are a personal trainer looking to expand your knowledge (and business), I highly recommend you check it out. You can read all about it here: Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD.
I didn’t want to write up a formal review until I’d seen it. However, since Mike currently has special pricing on it, I really wanted to tell you guys about it so you can take advantage of the discount.
I did get my copy a couple of weeks ago. I’ve only been able to watch about half of it so far, but it’s excellent – and not the same stuff you’ve heard before. New snatch and clean techniques (straight from Russia) by Steve Cotter to really raise your numbers. A different approach to pressing from Mike Mahler to improve your speed and explosiveness.
Before I ordered, I was concerned about the video and sound quality – since it was shot during a workshop. However, I have no issues at all. The workshop was indoors, and both the video and audio are great. Here’s a teaser video:
I won’t say any more about it here, you can find out for yourself at:
Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD
And remember – order now for special pricing!
Popularity: 69% [?]
