Building Muscles with Sand is Better, Fitness Pro Says

50 years ago, the majority of careers were made up of physically demanding occuptions that required a high output of energy throughout the day. Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling were the most common activities done in an average days work. It was a time where strength training and exercise prescription were not as necessary for the general population because most people received their exercise daily while at work.

Today, however, we live in a very different world. With the acceleration in technology, now most of the day is spent sitting, typing, or driving, no matter what job you may have. As a result, we have lost a connection with the way our body performs physical tasks. Despite the opportunity to recognize this significant change, the exercise industry has failed to accommodate the now sedentary lives most people lead.

Instead, gyms are flooded with fixed-path training machines like the elliptical and recumbant bike and packed with fancy, expensive machines that have us sitting in a comfortable position isolating muscle actions and joint movements. Unfortunately, this is NOT what the body wants when it is asked to pick up children, move furniture, carry equipment, climb stairs, lower boxes from shelves, pave a driveway, etc...

All of these tasks require the body to move dynamically as a unit, to mobilize and stabilize mutliple joints at the same time and to initiate multiple muscle actions through various planes of movement. Thankfully we have found innovation through simplicity in a training eloquently termed a dynamic variable loading mechanism (SANDBAG TRAINING). Below are some very specific benefits training with this highly functional tool:

1. Sandbag Training Offers Improved Core Strength

Strength and conditioning professionals have noticed that the biggest difference between sandbag training and traditional barbell or dumbell training is the way the loads react relative to the body's movements. With a barbell or a dumbell, the load is fixed meaning it holds the exact same shape no matter how advanced you make the movement. This can allow for the muscle stabilizers to "cheat" or relax during certain points of different lifts unless you are acutely focused the entire time you are under that load.

But with a heavy sandbag, the load will not retain its shape during any point of a movement pattern signaling the body to stabilize constantly through movement. If not stabalized, the sandbag will be dropped or the mechanics of the body will falter. The person training with the sandbag will be constantly of what his or her joint stabilizers are doing. When we look at creating the optimal training environment for functional living, this is the ideal scenario.

2. Sandbag Training Mimics Functional Activities

When performing everyday activities--such as picking up children, carrying groceries, gardening--these tasks almost always include loads that move and shift during the course of movement. When looking at barbell or dumbell training, the barbell/dumbell stays in a fixed position and retain its shape throughout all movement patterns, thus not allowing for a significant functional carryover to the demands of these daily tasks.

With a sandbag, you are forced to manage a weight that mimics the objects you will move in your daily tasks much more closely. This ensures that when you are doing these daily tasks at a high volume or on a repetitive basis you are less likely to incur injury because your body has been properly trained to manage these variable loads through many different patterns of movement. 

3. Sandbag Training Offers Safer Alternative for Training Power Based Movement

There is a growing trend in the fitness world of training olympic style weightlifting techniques amongst the general population. These are lifts that require an extreme amount of technical skill and also a large amount of mobility and stability within the body.

Many of these movements are performed with a barbell, but using a sandbag can offer just as much intensity along with a greater level of safety. If you look at some of the more traditional power-based barbell movements (clean, snatch, jerk, front squat, push press, etc.), these movements are highly demanding and can also be potentially dangerous if the individual executing the lift needs to drop the load or "bail out".

With a softer load, like a sandbag, the lifter can feel more comfortable about "bailing out" because when the load hits the ground it will simply disperse and stop when it lands whereas a barbell has the potential to bounce roll and potentially hit the lifter, or worse, someone else. 

At BT Fitness we highly recommend the Hyperwear Sandbell and Henkin's Ultimate Sandbag. To try these tools for yourself contact info@bt-fit.com for more information.