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This Sandbag Program Changed Me (FREE 2-Phase Program) — Transcript

by Gym Free · 3,226 words · 440 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00With just one of these guys, you can
0:02create an impressive physique that's not
0:04just for show. I mean, look at these two
0:05pictures side by side. Only one year
0:08apart. The only difference, I started
0:09lifting these bags. But programming for
0:11sandbags, it isn't quite the same as
0:13other strength tools like barbells and
0:14dumbbells. And getting started lifting
0:16them, just like anything, there is a
0:17learning curve. I mean, think back to
0:19the first time you tried deadlifting a
0:20bar. It took some time to perfect. So,
0:22in this video, I want to give you a full
0:24beginner's guide. First, a complete
0:25two-phase program where we'll break down
0:27each movement step by step. And then
0:29we'll finish with things like what
0:30weight to buy, brands, and other
0:32details. This is everything you need to
0:33go from complete newbie to training hard
0:35and building a body you're proud of with
0:37just one tool, a bag filled with sand.
0:39Let's go.
0:43Phase one is technique building. Trust
0:45me, many people with a lifting
0:46background look at sandbags and think,
0:48"How hard could this be?" That was me. I
0:51didn't take the time to do this stuff,
0:52and I had to unlearn some bad habits
0:54later, and I probably could have avoided
0:55some dumb injuries along the way. So,
0:57I'll be breaking down the techniques as
0:59we go through the phase. And if you want
1:00to follow along, take a screenshot of
1:02the phase on screen right now, but I'll
1:04pop it on screen later, too. If you feel
1:06like you already know what you're doing
1:07with the bag, you can skip directly to
1:09phase two. Session one is geared towards
1:11power because you've got to learn to
1:13move the bag with some serious speed and
1:15force to get the most out of it. But
1:16first, we've got to warm up. Of course,
1:18do anything you'd normally like to do
1:20before lifting weights. But there is one
1:22sandbag specific warm-up. I recommend
1:24always warming up with the sandbag flip
1:27because you're going to have to get the
1:28sandbag from where you store it to where
1:30you train anyways. And picking up the
1:32sandbag cold can be pretty abrupt. So, I
1:34like to flip the bag end over end to get
1:36it there. Warming up all the muscles
1:38you're going to be using. It's just like
1:39a deadlift. Back as flat as you can get
1:41it, hands underneath and flip. Don't
1:43over complicate it. Okay. The first
1:45exercise is the row because it's
1:46literally the technique that you're
1:48going to use every single time you pick
1:49the bag up off the ground. Hands under
1:51the sides of the bag. Back as flat as
1:53you can. Using leg drive as well as
1:55upper body strength. Pull the bag to
1:57your chest. It's okay to drop the bag,
1:59but lowering it under control will
2:01eventually lead to more strength.
2:03There's two main ways to grip the bag.
2:04Crimp or false. Crimp is when [music]
2:07you grab the bag with just your fingers.
2:09It may sound weaker, but this is my
2:10favorite grip. False grip is when you
2:12try to get as much of your palm
2:14underneath as you can. The benefit is
2:15more friction, but the drawback is you
2:17have to bend down further. I'd say play
2:19with both and figure out which one you
2:21like. And for this first session,
2:22there's no sets and reps. You're just
2:24going to put on a five minute timer and
2:26practice. Trust me, I know it sounds
2:27weird to not have sets and reps, but
2:29think about it like this. A skater
2:31doesn't say, "I'm going to go do three
2:32sets of 10 kick flips today." They just
2:34go practice and get good at it. So, do a
2:37few reps, step back, think, tinker with
2:39the form, and repeat. And that goes for
2:40every exercise in this session. Next up,
2:42we've got the lap to stand. So, of
2:44course, we're going to have to get the
2:45bag to the lap first. We already built
2:48the technique with the row. Row the bag
2:50from the ground as [music] you
2:51simultaneously stand up and set it on
2:53your thighs. Get the bag as close to
2:55your hip crease as you can. It should
2:56feel pretty easy to hold it there. Now,
2:58we grab the bag. There's a bunch of
3:00different ways to do this, and much of
3:02it just depends on your anatomy. You can
3:04just squeeze the bag with your hands.
3:05It's the hardest, but it also creates
3:07the most strength. Then, there's
3:08interlocking the fingers, the S-grip,
3:11gable grip, or wrist grab. Really,
3:14you're just going to have to play with
3:15them and see which one you like. [music]
3:16Okay. Now, squeeze the bag hard. Drive
3:18the hips forward and stand. Pause for a
3:21couple seconds and get used to holding
3:22the bag while standing up straight.
3:24Then, guide it back to that hip crease.
3:26Try to string together a decent amount
3:27of reps before dropping the bag. But
3:29remember, the goal isn't to gas out.
3:31We're still just building technique.
3:33Same thing here. 5 minutes of practice.
3:35Now, we put it all together from the
3:37ground all the way to standing. Get the
3:39bag to the lap, stand up, guide it back
3:41to the lap, and drop it. Think about
3:43everything from how you approach the
3:44bag, where your feet are, how you set up
3:46your grip, the timing of the row and the
3:49legs, how hard you squeeze the bag,
3:51where the bag is on your thighs or your
3:53chest, what muscles you're firing to
3:54stand up. Getting to the point where all
3:56this stuff is on autopilot makes sandbag
3:59lifting so much easier, especially when
4:00we get to the shoulder, which is coming
4:02soon. And do this for 10 minutes. And
4:04last for the day, we have the power
4:06highpool. This is the real deal, the
4:08foundation for generating enough power
4:10to throw the bag to your shoulder. It's
4:12the basic lap to stand, but now we move
4:14fast, [music] driving through the hips
4:15and try to literally throw it up in the
4:17air. The key is what I call the hip dip.
4:20Just like how if you were jumping, you
4:21wouldn't bend down and then stop and
4:23then try to jump. You dip down and then
4:25bounce to generate power. We do the same
4:27with the bag. A momentary drop of the
4:29hips backward and then bounce out of
4:31that position, driving the hips and
4:33knees open to throw the bag up. At
4:35first, just get the bag moving up
4:37quickly and then drop it. But once you
4:39feel confident enough, practice catching
4:41the bag on your lap or even stringing a
4:43few reps together. Practice this for 5
4:45minutes and that's the end of your
4:46session. Session two is strength. And in
4:49this one, we're going to be doing a lot
4:50of accumulations. Meaning, instead of
4:53sets and reps, I'm just going to give
4:54you a total amount of reps to get done,
4:56and you break it out however you want.
4:58But come in with an intention. Are you
4:59still building technique or are you
5:01ready to start stringing a lot of reps
5:03together? First exercise is rows, 15
5:05[music] reps. Then the floor to stand,
5:0915 reps. And then a new movement, box
5:11squats. Find something extra sturdy to
5:13sit on that's around midshin to knee
5:15height. The higher the box, the easier
5:17it will feel. Get the bag to the lap and
5:18then sit down on the box. What's unique
5:20about this movement is the bag sits on
5:22your thighs, giving you a rest between
5:24reps. Squeeze the bag hard and drive up
5:27to standing. Then control the way down.
5:2930 total reps. And we finish the day
5:32with a bear hug carry. Get the bag to
5:34the chest and take it for a walk for two
5:36sets. Each set only pushing to an eight
5:38out of 10 intensity. Not complete
5:41burnout, just learning how to move and
5:42breathe with the bag. My main
5:44recommendation is never fully exhaling.
5:46Because once you exhale too much, the
5:48bag will press your chest down, making
5:50it harder to get air back in. And
5:52there's three main ways to hold the bag.
5:53Low on the belly, medium on the bottom
5:56of the chest, or high way up on the
5:59chest. I'd say when you're getting
6:00started, do a little bit of all three,
6:02especially in this next session. Number
6:03three, conditioning. Not just the lungs,
6:05it's conditioning for all the weak links
6:08most people need to bring up the back,
6:10the glutes, the biceps, and the grip
6:12with just carries. Set a running timer
6:14anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. And do
6:17bear hug carry repeats. Each carry only
6:20to a five out of 10 intensity, but the
6:22goal is to only need around 30 seconds
6:24of rest to go for your next carry. This
6:27is your introduction to density
6:29training, trying to get more quality
6:30work in less time. One of the main
6:32benefits of sandbag training is you can
6:34lift heavy but still get in incredible
6:36shape. This is where it starts. For each
6:38phase, the program is simply designed
6:40for you to do the sessions in order, no
6:42matter how many sessions you do in a
6:43week, and I personally do two to three
6:46sessions per week. Run phase one for at
6:48least 2 weeks. But keep going with it
6:50until the sessions feel pretty easy
6:52because this next phase is a pretty big
6:54bump up. Now, in phase two, you've got
6:56all the skills. It's time to start
6:57pushing. This is basically the exact
6:59program I ran for 6 months as a
7:01beginner. Session one again is power.
7:04And these first three exercises are
7:06simply preparation for what's to come.
7:08So, treat them that way. We start with
7:10one set of rows for [music] 5 to 10
7:12reps. Then a set of lap to stand for 5
7:14to 10 reps. And finally, some power high
7:16pulls again for 5 to 10 reps. [music]
7:19And now we get to what everyone wants to
7:20do with the bag, shoulder it. We worked
7:22that power high pull so much to create
7:24the foundation for shouldering, getting
7:26that bag moving quickly upward. But
7:28actually catching it on the shoulder is
7:30a pretty big step and can be jarring if
7:32you've never done it before. I like to
7:33break it down into what I call the
7:35spectrum of shouldering. This is the
7:37process I go through every time I lift a
7:38new weight that I've never done before.
7:40Now, to be clear, the shoulder starts
7:41with the exact same mechanics as the
7:43power high pull. But for some reason,
7:45when many people go to shoulder the bag
7:47for the first time, they forget all of
7:49this. Get your hip dip and power up. The
7:51first level is just a power high pull
7:53where you guide the bag towards one
7:55shoulder. You tap the shoulder, but then
7:57you let it drop. No actual weight into
7:59the shoulder yet. Just feel the bag
8:00moving in that direction. Tap the
8:02shoulder and [music] let it go. The next
8:03level is actually letting the bag push
8:05down on your shoulder just a bit. It
8:07gives you a sense of what it will feel
8:09like to actually catch it, but then you
8:10still get to drop the bag. The next
8:12level is the catch and drop, where you
8:14intend to catch the bag and actually do
8:16it, but just for a brief moment, 1
8:18second or less. [music] feel the weight
8:20push down on your shoulder and you
8:21actually respond by pushing back. But
8:23without the pressure of needing to
8:24actually catch and stabilize the bag, it
8:26won't feel so intimidating. And finally,
8:28last step, the full catch. Trust me,
8:30everyone's first shoulder is pretty
8:31sloppy. You'll fine-tune it later, but
8:33the only real mistake you can make here
8:35is trying to save a bad placement. You
8:38want the bag to land pretty damn close
8:40to where it feels balanced on your
8:41shoulder when you're first learning. So,
8:43move the head out of the way to create a
8:45large platform for the bag to land. A
8:47slight dip in the knees as you catch can
8:49make the landing feel nice and soft. And
8:51look, if you try to save a bad
8:52placement, you can run into trouble. So,
8:54just be willing to let the bag drop if
8:56it doesn't feel right. And simply
8:57practice these for 15 [music] minutes
8:59continually fiddling and fine-tuning.
9:01I'd highly recommend recording yourself.
9:03And you'll know you need a heavier bag
9:05when you can do 15 shoulders on each
9:07side in that 15 minutes. And to be
9:09clear, there are plenty of other
9:11techniques for shouldering. I call this
9:13a power shoulder, straight from the hip
9:15to the shoulder. And I start everyone
9:16with this because it teaches you how to
9:18create that upward power with the bag,
9:20which you'll need no matter what
9:22technique you move to later. Then we
9:24move to power box squats. Same as
9:26regular box squats, but now we focus on
9:28getting up from the box as quickly as
9:30possible. Start with a little rock back
9:32and then as you rock forward, slam the
9:34feet into the ground to get that extra
9:36power. And then focus on a slow and
9:38controlled descent. Do three sets here,
9:41going to the point where you have around
9:42one to two reps left in the tank. But in
9:45between reps, don't take too much rest
9:46on the box. No more than a second or so.
9:49And the last exercise of the day is
9:51power rows, where you explode out of the
9:53bottom and really try to slam the bag
9:55against the chest. These will make
9:57getting the bag to your lap feel so much
9:59easier, and they're super fun.
10:00Accumulate 15 reps. Session two is
10:03strength, and it starts the same way as
10:05the last session with that prep work.
10:07One set of rows, lap to stand, and power
10:09[music] high pulls each for five to 10
10:11reps. Then we do some shoulders, but now
10:13we add a 10se second carry on the
10:16shoulder to every rep. Three reps on
10:18each side. If you don't have shouldering
10:20down yet, just put a five minute timer
10:22on and keep practicing the technique
10:23where you're at. The [music] next
10:25section of this workout is one I have a
10:27lovehate relationship with. It's a bit
10:29grueling, but my strength and leg size
10:31have gone up tremendously just with
10:33doing this a ton. E-OM squats. Every
10:36minute, at the beginning of the minute,
10:37you start a new set. Start with four
10:39reps for five minutes and then every
10:42session add a minute until you can get
10:44up to 10 [music] minutes. Then add a
10:46fifth rep and start back at 5 minutes.
10:48Repeat until you can do six reps for 10
10:51minutes. If you do that, you're ready
10:53for a heavier bag. I personally like to
10:55do these with no box. It's a different
10:57feel. It shifts the work more towards
10:59the quads and allows you to go deeper.
11:00If you don't feel comfortable with
11:01these, just use a box, but I'd recommend
11:04taking the time to get good at them. And
11:06then the last exercise for the day is
11:08static
11:08>> [music]
11:08>> rows. Intentionally slower, less
11:10explosive. These will get your upper
11:12back and biceps burning. Accumulate 15
11:15reps. And the last session of this phase
11:17is again conditioning. This time with
11:19box squats, but at the top of each rep,
11:22you hold for 3 seconds. So we get to
11:24work both the squat and the carry in
11:26one. Just like last phase, 10 to 20
11:28minute running timer. Looking for that 5
11:30out [music] of 10 intensity each set. No
11:32more than 30 seconds rest between sets.
11:34working on that repeated effort with
11:36short recovery windows. Okay, that's the
11:38full program. Be sure to grab the
11:40screenshots of each session so you can
11:42do the program yourself. [music] Now,
11:43let's talk weights. I take a more
11:45conservative approach than many people
11:47with sandbag weights because to me, the
11:49worst thing you can do is grab a bag
11:50that's too heavy, so you can't get
11:52enough volume in or at worst you get
11:54injured. These recommendations are for
11:56the average male. If you're a woman or
11:58if you carry some excess body weight,
12:00then I would [music] skew towards the
12:01bottom of each category. If you don't
12:03have much of a strength training
12:04background, I would start with a/4 to a
12:07third of your body weight. If you're a
12:09recreational lifter, you hit the gym a
12:11few times a week, then I would start
12:12with 1/3 to 1/ half of your body weight.
12:15For an experienced lifter, squat and
12:17deadlift respectable 1/2 to 3/4 of your
12:20body weight is a good place to start. I
12:22think 2/3 is a [music] sweet spot. And
12:24if you are an advanced lifter, squat and
12:26deadlift impressive, you know you are.
12:28Then up to your body weight is [music]
12:30good. I personally started with around
12:31half my body weight for three months
12:33before moving up closer to my body
12:34weight. Now, one thing you can always do
12:36is buy a bag that you want to grow into
12:39and underfill [music] it, just not too
12:41much. Anything less than 80% filled gets
12:43a little too floppy. And with sandbags,
12:45you get what you pay for. I started with
12:48some cheaper bags and I got some good
12:49work in, but they busted pretty quickly.
12:52I personally recommend spending a little
12:53bit more if you can afford it. The
12:55better bags are only 10 to [music] 20%
12:57more expensive, but they'll last much
12:59longer. I personally buy Freedom
13:01Strength. They're a small business. The
13:03owner, JB, is an awesome dude who just
13:05loves sandbags and thought he could make
13:06better ones and went out and did it. He
13:08gave the Gym Free audience a 10% off
13:10discount. And I get a small kickback at
13:12no cost to you. Link in the description.
13:14But some other quality bags to check out
13:15are Rogue and Cberus. No matter what bag
13:18you buy, it's important to treat it well
13:20to make it last longer. Try not to drop
13:22it directly on abrasive surfaces like
13:24concrete. They can scuff and tear the
13:26bag over time. That's why I always work
13:27on these rubber mats and store them out
13:29of the elements. Moisture and sunlight
13:31will degrade the bag quicker. [music]
13:32Okay, that's everything you need to know
13:34to get started with the sandbag and get
13:36quite proficient with it. If you have
13:37any specific questions, I'll keep an eye
13:39on the comment section and try to answer
13:41as many as I can. And I've seen a lot of
13:42people ask for a full program that
13:45incorporates all of the things that I
13:47personally do. sandbags, gymnastics
13:49rings, clubs, maces, ropes. So, [music]
13:51I'm getting started on that. And if
13:53you're interested, let me know in the
13:54comment section what you want to get out
13:56of a program like that. All right, guys.

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