If you haven't worked out with sandbags yet, you should. I love to use my Ultimate Sandbag for various exercises, but especially for overhead movements.
It's probably one of the priciest pieces of workout equipment that I own, but it's absolutely worth its price. I use it every week at least couple of times and I also use it for training my clients. It's durable and nothing has happened to it even after throwing it around for several months.
As always, I try to train the whole body in one workout. Even though today's workout focused a bit more on legs, my arms and core got definitely a good workout too. Every exercise that makes you hold your arms overhead, will also train your core.
For example, when you are doing overhead squats, you need to tuck the stomach in and keep the abs engaged all the time, because if you don't, you will simply drop the weight down. Core is truly your foundation and if you could put your hand on your stomach while doing overhead squats, you would feel how the abs are engaged.
And when you have ever painted a ceiling, you know what holding arms up for extended period does to the shoulders. They get really fatigue!
Here is the workout that I did this morning, using nothing else but a sandbag. I love to incorporate running into my workouts, so I finished each round with a 100 meters sprint (not filmed in this video).
What you should know about overhead movements:
Make sure that you have a proper shoulder mobility before doing any overhead movements! Many of us are struggling with shoulder problems that may also be the reason behind elbow and neck pains. If holding straight arms overhead is hard for you, don't grab anything heavy and try to lift it overhead.
Instead of overhead squats, you can simply hold the weight on your chest level and do front squats. In squat and press, simply skip the pressing part. You will still get a good workout.
Enjoy!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
In 2020, I lost a good amount of body fat by doing exactly these 5…
Before you start using the calories My Fitness Pal gave you for weight loss, here's…
Why is it that people in Northern Europe stay fit without crazy diet fads and…
What are the best foods to buy at Costco when you are 40+ and want…
If you are tracking your food with My Fitness Pal but aren't seeing the weight…
Which protein bars should you buy and which ones aren't worth your money? Check out…