Todays Workout - Sandbag Strength

5 Heavy Sandbag Bear Hug Squats,
Max Sandbag Overhead Press.

Rest for 2 - 4 minutes and repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

5 Heavy Sandbag Shoulder Get Ups,
Max Pull Ups.

Rest for 2 - 4 minutes and repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Aim for the heaviest sandbag you can handle for the required reps.

Record your score.

Train hard!

Todays Workout - Skips 'n' Stuff

100 Sandbag Overhead Press.

Each time you need to rest you get a 100 Skip penalty (50 if you opt for Double Unders). A rest is classified as any time the sandbag drops below chest height or leaves the Front Rack position.

Men should aim for a sandbag at approximately 40% of bodyweight, women 30%.

Record your time.

Train hard!

Todays Workout - Over The Top

10 Chin Ups,
15 Sandbag Thrusters,
20 Sandbag Cleans.

Complete 5 rounds as fast as you can.

Record your time.

Train hard!

Todays Workout - Death By Sandbag Clean & Press

Perform 1 Heavy Sandbag Clean & Press in the 1st minute, 2 Heavy Sandbag Clean & Press in the 2nd minute and so on. The workout finishes when you can no longer complete the required number of repetitions within the specific timeframe.

Complete as many rounds as possible.

*If you manage to complete 15 rounds with a sandbag at 50% of your bodyweight then you win! Just send me a link to a video of you completing the challenge and then you can choose a free ebook version of any of the books here.*

Record your score.

Train hard!

Sandbag Fitness AMA #1 - Why I started, Sandbag Training for MMA and Bodyweight Callisthenics

Todays Workout - Obstacle Course Racer Strength & Endurance

I recently received a message from Rob asking what a good sandbag training session for an obstacle race athlete would look like. While it's a challenge to provide a one-size-fits all approach for any athletes I wanted to provide a few ideas surrounding some key elements:

1. Your strength and conditioning training should be focused on compound movements - big multi joint movements that use lots of muscles. A healthy dose of non-gym specific movements are also great for OCR athletes. Carries, throws, crawls and climbs will serve you well. The grind required to get through this type of movement is not always developed with regular exercises like Presses, Pulls and Squats.

2. Your strength and conditioning training should support your event specific training, and not detract from it.

3. Where possible you should aim to replicate the physical demands of the specific race you are competing in. Don't overthink this. You can do a lot worse than basing your training program around the actual obstacles that you'll be facing on the day. If you don't know exactly what you'll be facing then check back on previous races for a good idea.

You should never get to race day hoping that an obstacle that you are bad at comes up. If there is something that you struggle with, like Rope Climbing, then your strength and conditioning programme should prepare you for it. Adding in some Lat Pulldowns and saying "it works the same muscles" is a waste of your time. Just do some damn Rope Climbs.

4. Where necessary, supplement your strength and conditioning training with some exercises designed to support recovery and/or injury prevention. Mobility, stabilisation and flexibility training can be used to safeguard against injury.

The following workout was originally featured in Outdoor Fitness magazine in an article about Tough Mudder:

Complete 5 rounds of the following sequence:

1 Sandbag Hill Sprint (top to bottom),
10 Sandbag Thrusters,
10 Sandbag High Pulls,
10 Sandbag Chest Throws.

Use a sandbag weight that challenges you to complete all 5 rounds.

Todays Workout - Get Up, Stand Up

20 T-Push Ups,
10 Sandbag Front Squats,
5 Sandbag Shoulder/Hand Get-Ups (each side).

Complete 10 rounds as fast as possible.

Record your time.

Train hard!