Issue 040
August 2008
By Barry Gibson.
Getting old is tough. I’ve had to change pace a little in my training, as I got a tad too big for my boots and aggravated an old back injury by getting carried away when dead lifting. It’s time to ease up on the axial loading to the spine, and start hammering the conditioning instead. To do this I’ve been using lots and lots of bodyweight exercises and, you guessed it, sandbags. My poor kettlebells are gathering a bit of dust at the minute due to the back injury.
If I could only use one sandbag exercise then it would be a clean and press. Most people do the clean and press with a barbell or dumbbells and can move an appreciable amount of weight. Give a strong person a 100lb (approx 50kg) sandbag and more often than not they struggle. What follows is a little series of superset exercises to try, featuring the good old clean and press.
Sandbag superset circuit
- Clean and Press: 10 reps
- Thrusters: 10 reps
- Shouldering: 10 reps (5 per side)
- Bent over rows: 10 reps
- Floor wipers: 10 reps
(Perform the above without rest between exercises)
Do not put the bag down at all if possible and do three rounds. If you need to rest, only do so after each circuit and not for longer than a minute. Hold the bag even during your rest round if you’re a real warrior / Spartan / gladiator / fighter / tough guy or whatever label you attach to yourself. As far as weight of the sandbag goes, you need to be challenging yourself every time. For the first circuit use approximately one-third of your body weight. Up the weight a little if this is not challenging enough. You should be cursing me halfway through this routine, and if you’re not then increase the weight further!
Sandbag and sprints
For this workout you’ll need an area to perform some sprints. You could use a football pitch or a straight track. For this sprint-based routine use a heavier bag than in the previous workout. This should be at least half your body weight. No excuses, just pick it up – the only easy day was yesterday! No whining – just get on with it.
- Sprint 100 metres
- 10 clapping push-ups
- Carry the sand bag 100 metres
- 10 Zercher lunges
- Sprint 100 metres
- 10 clapping push-ups
- Sprint 100 metres
- Carry sand bag 100 metres
- 10 Zercher lunges
(Repeat for 15 minutes, rest as needed)
Sandbag and steps
This one will do wonders for your work capacity and has a very different feel to the others in terms of energy system use. The previous two routines stress the non-oxidative energy systems and also help to build your lactate threshold up to a high level. This workout really forces you to work hard throughout the whole body, but doesn’t hit groups of muscles – it seems to attack every one of them.
- Find some steps in your area, steep ones at that. You’ll need at least 60-75
- Grab your bag in a Zercher hold and carry it up
- Shoulder it at the top and come down
- Put it on your back and go back up
- Shoulder it to the opposite side and come back down
(Repeat for 15 minutes, rest as needed)
Barry Gibson is a kettlebell and fitness instructor based in North East England. A strength and conditioning trainer to MMA fighters, he holds a third dan in judo. Any questions or queries can be directed to [email protected].
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