Knockout Sandbag Training

8/12/2019 Knockout Sandbag Training

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Knockout!Sandbag Conditioning for

the Combative Athlete

Josh Henkin, CSCSwww.sandbagexercises.com

Introduction:I often wonder if there is an industry that has grown in the last twenty years like theStrength and Conditioning field. It use to be that the sport coach would condition theirathletes and make them lift a little and run the heck out of them. For many years football

was the only sport that made a serious attempt at using the weight room as a means toimprove their performance.

This led to many collegiate athletes to be trained like football players. This made coachesand athletes very cynical about the role that Strength and Conditioning could really maketo the athlete’s performance. However, eventually all collegiate, Olympic, and

professional sports began adapting more updated and appropriate training programs.Even sports that traditionally were very against strength training such as tennis and golf

began to embrace the role of Strength and Conditioning as the top athletes in each ofthose sports were actively participating in such programs.

Even though I said many sports have accepted Strength and Conditioning it has not beenall sports. One genre of sport that actually has a very rich history of Strength andConditioning has been the fighting sports. Although they have a great history, it has beena very conflicted one. This is due to many factors:

There are many different types of fighting sports which each have their ownhistory and traditions.

Where the sport is being used has a great deal to do with training methods. Forexample, an athlete training in the United States is going to be very likely trainingdifferently from an athlete that is Asia or Europe.

Economic factors have often dictated the types and forms of training utilized.

Such differences have really led the majority of combative athletes confused about whatthey should be doing in their training. Some will believe in outdated ideas that the onlyway to train is to practice, run for miles, and perform lots of bodyweight exercises.Others have drifted to more trendy concepts of standing on unstable surfaces performingwacky gym exercises promised to help them to become more agile and stronger.





lesser degree than the other components of preparation (skill, psychological preparation, speed, maximal strength, etc.). In most fighters’ programs theconditioning aspect seems to be the dominant training mode despite the strengthsand weaknesses of the individual. This is why a proper analysis of both the sportand individual are so crucial in providing a truly successful training program.

2. Bodyweight vs. Weight Lifting: Now this is a challenging area to discuss. Themain reason being that identifying what is strength is tough! Is the iron cross ingymnastics a show of phenomenal strength, is not deadlifting 800 pounds also anamazing show of strength? The answer is yes to both! However, these are verydifferent athletes and very different activities.

In truth I don’t think any one would argue with me that fighters need strength andthey often feel as though that is what their training is providing. Still manyfighters tend to shy away from weight training and the value of bodyweightexercises versus weights is hotly contested. Like most things in life the truth is

somewhere in the middle. My argument has always been, “do we have to do oneor the other?” Last time I checked weight rooms are pretty common and you areallowed to perform bodyweight exercises in the same area. Both have pros andcons and by combining both you hopefully minimize the negatives and maximizethe benefits.

What are the pros of bodyweight exercises? Here are a few of them:

Can be done anywhere Easy for group or team training Can help create dynamic flexibility Helps build relative strength Can be done for conditioning Has been suggested to help tendon strength Can be explosive or done for maximal strength Inexpensive Little equipment is needed

Now let’s look at some of the benefits of weight training:

Can be done for maximal strength or explosive strength Can be adapted easily for groups or teams Helps build relative strength Can be done for conditioning Has been suggested to help tendon strength Can help create dynamic flexibility Can be done with limited equipment Can be relatively inexpensive Helps create muscle balance



Both lists could probably be expanded, but hopefully the point you see is thatthere are a lot of similarities to body weight training weight training. I think manyfighters have been disillusioned by weight training because of the popularity of

bodybuilding. Because most of the mainstream thinks of weights as the steroid, medium-well done bodybuilder that looks his next step may be his last.

This is not accurate of many of the great iron athletes that exist in other realms. It has been said that Olympic lifters are second only to gymnasts as far as the most flexibleOlympic caliber athletes. That is a pretty amazing feat!

In addition, whether or not people want to admit it fighters, wrestlers, and all combativeathletes have used various forms of weights for many centuries. Whether it was lifting

bails of hay, stones, chopping wood, kettlebells, padlocks, sandbags, dumbbells, you canfind a lot of these exercises in many of these sports histories. There is not one athlete thatI would train to be a bodybuilder and equally there is not one bodybuilder that shouldsolely train as an athlete. It simply goes back to needs of the individual.

Therefore, really the debate of bodyweight exercises or strength training is really mute.What really needs to be discussed is what is most appropriate for the particular athlete atany specific time in their training.

3. Lack of Maximal Strength: Again this is a tricky concept; we know that maximalstrength is the greatest force one can develop. However, if we take our aboveexample of the iron cross and deadlift, we can find a maximal effort in two drillsthat are extremely different. One is an example of a drill that is maximal strengthin an upper body bodyweight exercise and the other is primarily a lower body freeweight exercise. Yet, they are both tremendous examples of maximal strength.

Wow Josh, that really cleared up nothing right? Well, my point is not to show thatone is more valuable than another. We have already discussed the fact that

bodyweight and free weight drills both have a roll in the training. Where manycombative athletes fail is using ANY type of maximal effort training. Many of theseathletes still tend to lean towards very high repetition work to improve conditioning.The problem with such thinking stems from a lack of understanding of strength.

Strength is not just how much you can lift. It can be related to how much weight youcan lift relative to your bodyweight (relative strength), how fast you can absorb andretransmit force (reactive strength), how much force you can apply in various ends ofrange of motion (flexibility strength), how much force you can apply against a lightobject and heavy object in relationship to time (speed-strength, strength-speed), andhow long you can sustain muscular contractions for (strength endurance). We couldgo on to discuss other forms as well, but hopefully it is becoming abundantly clearthat strength is not just simply heavy of a weight you can lift. It is far morecomplicated.



The obvious next question is, “if there are so many forms of strength then whymaximal strength is so crucial?” Glad you asked! All the forms of strength we justdiscussed are to some degree impacted by maximal strength. Let’s examine a veryimportant concept for all athletes, especially combative athletes. Most coaches andathletes neglect the concept of rate of force development. This means how fast you

can develop high levels of force. Rate of force development is really what determinesthe outcomes in many sporting situations because the action is sport are very fast.Maximal strength can impact rate of force very greatly. If for example my maximalforce output is 500. However, I can produce 300 in .3 seconds versus an athlete thathas a maximal output of 300; I have an advantage in many different scenarios. Thatsecond athlete can not display his maximal force in that short of a time, his poweroutput in .3 seconds may only be 125.

Interestingly enough there has been a backlash from some against using maximalstrength. Some misinformed individuals believe maximal strength is ratherunnecessary. Their argument often arises from the same rate of force development

issue. These people will often state that it is not important how much force you candevelop rather how fast you can develop it. This is correct; however, if your maximalstrength is low you will not be able to generate a great deal of force slowly orquickly! It is also easier to improve some of the other strength qualities if maximalstrength is properly trained.

Let’s take an example of strength endurance, which is very dear to many combativeathletes’ hearts. If we look at the back squat exercise and take two different athletes.Athlete A can back squat 500 pounds and athlete B can back squat 350. We are goingto have a challenge to test how many repetitions these two athletes can perform with225 pounds who would you expect to perform more? In theory we would expectathlete A because 225 isn’t even 50% of his best effort while it is approximately 65%of athlete B’s best effort. Since it is a higher percentage to athlete B’s best we wouldexpect athlete B to tire first.

However, life is not a bubble. So, what happens if athlete B does better? Does thismean athlete B doesn’t need to work on maximal strength to improve his strengthendurance and everything Josh said is bogus? In fact no, just the opposite, athlete Bwould need to work on their maximal strength even more. If athlete B was to win itwould mean they have a very inefficient nervous system. Since the nervous system iscritical for speed and strength development we would work towards making it moreefficient. Being able to perform a high number of repetitions with a load close to yourmaximal weight means that your nervous system needs to be more properly trained.This is often the case with people that try to build their strength from mostly highrepetition training.

Another possible reason would be that athlete B would be more slow-twitch musclefiber dominant. Again though, this would only be another reason to train theirmaximal strength side more. They excel at endurance work and have a problemdeveloping their fast-twitch muscle fibers that are responsible for speed and strength.



You can’t get around it, maximal strength needs to be a cornerstone for mostcombative athletes. How to implement it is another question we will answer later.

4. Novelty versus Effectiveness: Boxing coach Steve Bacardi has a great philosophy

of not using any exercise his boxers can’t learn in 10 minutes or less. Why is thisgreat? Athletes often fall into the same trap that many in the general populationfall for as well. They believe that because an exercise is hard that they need to beworking on it more because if they are not proficient at every exercise it meansthey are out of shape. This could not be further from the truth. Not only is it nottrue, but it is flat out the opposite mentality combative athletes should haveregards to training.

First let’s address the issue of being bad at a drill. Because you are not a pro at a certainexercise may be completely irrelevant. There could be numerous factors that impactedone’s ability to perform an exercise.

a. Unfamiliarity: While it is true that exceptional athletes seem to pick up on almost anything athletic within seconds, even the bestathletes need time for learning. When you are performing a drillfor the first time that is just what is going on, your body islearning. The more unfamiliar the movement pattern, the greaterthe learning time.

b. Fatigue: The more tired one becomes the less coordinated andstrong they will appear because of the fatigue of the centralnervous system.

c. Fear: Like fatigue, fear will invoke startle reflexes that will makethe body “put on the brakes” more so than if you felt confident inyour activity. You can see this in bracing in people’s faces beforethey even attempt the drill.

d. Injury: You may have had an altered movement pattern becauseof a pre-existing or current injury. While this may be helpful forscreening purposes it does not mean you necessarily have to

become top notch at the testing.e. Lack of Interest: If the athlete is not buying into the drill or

thinks it is irrelevant they will not have enough arousalemotionally to really key into their full potential.

In other words, many coaches that go around and show how bad an athlete is at a certaindrill often use these examples as snake oil tricks to begin working with the athlete. Heck,athletes by nature are very competitive and don’t like being shown they aren’t good atsomething. However, because you are not good at the drill still does not mean the drillitself has any value to your performance.

I was once speaking with a great track and field coach/athlete. This gentleman almostmade the US Olympic team in his forties! He mentioned to me that he had never been



able to perform a pistol and yet he still had a pretty successful athletic career. Does thismean that pistols are not a good exercise? Absolutely not, however, it means that we haveto be very careful how much value we place on certain exercises.

Remember the exercises selected are supposed to help you become a better combative

athlete, not an iron game athlete. That is why exercise selection will become an importantissue to be addressed later. We must often ask if our time can be better spent training theactual skills demanded in the sport, or trying to learn every strength training exerciseavailable. This is why we must be critical of what is cool and what actually makes for a

better athlete.

5. Too Specific! At some point athletes and coaches took a good concept andcompletely threw it in the toilet! The idea of sport-specific training is very good;however, it is also very often misunderstood and applied very poorly. Let’s makethis very clear, being sport-specific DOES NOT mean trying to replicate the skillwithin the sport with your general training program.

Let’s look at a classic example. When an athlete punches where does all force begin?Well, hopefully you didn’t say the arm and rather the foot up to the hip eventually to thearm. So, when an athlete stands and simulates punching with dumbbells and bands this issimply a waste of time and a great way to get injured. If you wanted to help the

performance of the punch you would focus more time on the pivot speed and hip andtrunk power.

Unfortunately a very slight deviation from the actual skill can actually make an athleteworse. If we take our punching example again, if we are trying punch with dumbbellsgravity is acting upon us and the application of force is wrong and can start predisposingthe shoulder to injury. The heavier the dumbbell becomes the more the athlete gets awayfrom the actual skill of punching and starts to develop a new and improper movement

pattern. It has been an estimated 2-5% difference in weight of the actual sportingimplement can alter movement patterns. For most combative athletes this means thatmore general means of developing strength in the critical muscles is far more appropriate.

Instead we want to think of stimulating the same muscle actions not simulating them. . InJohn Jesse’s famous book, Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia, he states,

“The use of heavy sandbags and their large circumference forces the lifter to do hislifting with a round back instead of the traditional straight back lifting with a barbell. Itis this type of lifting that truly develops a strong back. It develops the back and sidemuscles in movements that are identical to the lifting and pulling movements ofwrestling.”

This is also true of any other combative athlete that has to deal with the awkwardness andchallenges that a real live opponent poses. So, while we are not trying to simulate theskill of wrestling, rather we are trying to prepare the body for the demands the body willface in competition.



If we follow these principles we can enhance our training and avoid many of the commoninjuries that come from participating in these sports. Allen Hedrick, Head Strength Coachfor the Air Force Academy, has been using odd object lifting for many years. He haswritten and lectured on the idea of using odd objects (often in the form of water filled

kegs) being used to increase performance and decrease the risk for athletic injuries.

“But, applying the concept of specificity, it makes sense that training with a fluidresistance is a more sport-specific method of training as compared to lifting exclusivelywith a static resistance, because in most situations, athletes encounter a dynamicresistance (in the form of an opponent) as compared to the static resistance. Further,because the active fluid resistance enhances the need for stability and control, this type oftraining may reduce the opportunity for injury because of improved joint stability.”(NSCA Journal, Vol.25 Number 4)

Because of the nature of their shape and size, sandbags can provide the same trainingeffect of working with kegs as Hedrick recommends, but has additional benefits as theirversatility is much higher.

Where do Sandbags Come in to pLay?

My goal was not to write an encyclopedia on combative training. There are someexcellent resources that already fill that need. Rather was to give some insight into atraining method that is so invaluable to a combative athlete, but recently has been lost.This long lost method is sandbag training.

Wait! I know I can hear the comments now, “well Josh that is because you sellsandbags!” I wouldn’t blame anyone from thinking that right off the bat but let meexplain my true intentions. You see, I never thought I would ever be involved in such a

business. Most of my time is spent in the trenches working with a wide array ofindividuals. I love learning what works, what doesn’t, and for who. I don’t care abouttrendy, popular, or pretty. Simply, I want to do what works!

I have spent almost my whole life as a competitive athlete and coach. During that time Ihave tried just about every method that I could find. I have trained others with and usedmyself the majority of the techniques that have been popularized through the combativesports performance and the Strength and Conditioning industry. It is through thiscontinual search for better techniques that I came across sandbag training.

Some time before my own discovery of sandbag training I had implemented more andmore of odd object lifting. I found these techniques extremely practical for everyone fromeveryday individuals to elite athletes. This form of training addressed the two conflictsthat most people saw in their training. It allowed people to train their endurance, strength,and movement through these varying exercises.

However, using odd objects present some varying issues.



They can be hard to come by. They can be very expensive. Cheaper versions tend to break. They can be dirty and take up a lot of space. There is a chance for injury with objects like stones.

Wasn’t practical to have in gym type settings or homes.

Sandbags seemed to be a tool that would address many of these issues. In fact, sandbagsnot only address such concerns, but provide some unique benefits. The main advantage ofsandbag training stems from the “uncooperative” nature of sandbags. They are the onlyimplement that actually changes shape as you lift. This means that every repetition isdifferent. This is unlike most training tools that you can get dialed into a specific grooveand the exercise actually ends up losing some of its original effectiveness.

The magnificent Ten

Several years ago Coach Keats Snideman and I spoke at a national conference in LasVegas. Our presentation was “The Myth of Functional Training” which was a criticalanalysis of many of the popular training methods that are called “functional”.

Part of our presentation was discussing what we call The Magnificent Ten Movements .These ten movements listed below should be at the core of your program. They hit the

basic movement patterns of all people and if you were to follow just these you would bein some phenomenal shape! You can also use deviations from each such as lunges fromsquatting, step-ups from deadlifting. However, your focus should still remain on theselifts.

1. Squat



2. Deadlift

3. Vertical Press (overhead press)



4. Horizontal Press (bench press)

5. Clean & Snatches



6. Horizontal Pulling (rowing)

7. Vertical Pulling (chin-ups)

8. Rotation



9. Trunk Flexion

10. Carrying, Dragging, and Throwing

Ok, I admit we were not the first to try to categorize exercises based upon movement patterns. In fact, there are quite a few coaches that have their own versions that are verygood, but this makes it more specific to the coach and athlete. These are drills that have along real world and laboratory tested success in improving speed, strength, mobility, and



muscle balance. I often ask coaches and athletes when they became too good to squat?Again, these should be at the core of your routine.

Obviously you are not going to use all ten movements into your training nor should youfeel completely restricted to only these ten. However, using these ten movements does

allow you a lot of variations. Below is an example split based off of three days of

Training (remember lifting is not the sport of choice here).

Day 1:SquatCleansVertical PressVertical PullingTrunk FlexionCarry

Day 2:SnatchSingle Leg Deadlift VariationHorizontal PressHorizontal PullTrunk RotationDrag

Day 3:DeadliftSingle Leg Squat VariationThrow DrillVertical PressVertical PullAlternate Trunk Flexion Drill

This may seem like a lot to do in one day. It may be depending upon the focus of that particular athlete you may have to remove some drills and focus on even fewer. You maywant to break them up and spend more time on some and very little on others. Theredefinitely is some individuality that comes into play for the programming, but this would

be a terrific start.

Obviously any strength training implement can be used to perform this list of drills.However, as you will see through the course of this book, sandbags lend themselves verywell to all these drills, yet provide some very unique variations. Before we can go toomuch further let’s look at how one can create an infinite number of exercises just bymanipulating the basic sandbag carrying positions.



ZERCHER CLEAN BEAR HUG

SHOULDER HEADLOCK BACK

The positions shown above allow anyone to perform the magnificent ten lifts, but also perform a wide array of new exercises. It is well known that mild changes to an exercisecan be enough of a stimulus to blast through plateaus or cause new training effects. Thisalso allows one to use a standardized weight and instead of manipulating the load canchange the leverage to create a more challenging drill.



Power Circuit Training

One of the reasons people love sandbag training is that they can accomplish manyfitness goals with one tool. Ideally athletes would be strong, agile, lean, and inshape. Being able to accomplish all this while being highly skilled in the sport can seem

overwhelming for the coach and the athlete's perspective However, Power CircuitTraining has helped us accomplish these goals with our athletes and can help you do thesame.

Circuit training is nothing new; however, most relate circuit training to highrepetition machine work that does little to put on muscle or improve high levels offitness. This may improve some very basic general fitness, but motor-qualities such asmaximal strength, speed-strength, strength-speed, and flexibility-strength are allneglected. Not to mention that when one performs most of the work on machines they donot develop the smaller stabilizer muscles to their fullest. This is potentially disastrous asone can develop severe muscle imbalances that can set you up for injury, or at the

very least not allow you to reach your ultimate fitness goals.On the flip side, a typical program that emphasizes maximal strength may require3-5 minutes of rest in between sets. This is one reason combative athletes often have ahard time performing maximal strength work. Yet, we can get around this by performingother forms of training while resting the central nervous system from the core drills. Thisis again where Power Circuit Training can help tremendously.

In developing your Power Circuit Training program you want to consider which and howmany exercises to perform. My general preference is to not exceed six movements for a

particular routine. This may end up sacrificing the quality and this is something we neverwant to end up risking. Remember, more is not always better!

Since we have discussed the exercises, now we should talk about the repetitionsand sets. My first rule with such programming is not to have set rules. Sure, there has

been a lot written about what protocols work best, but I think we would live in a prettysterile world to never challenge these principles. For the most part though, what makesPower Circuit Training unique is that we are emphasizing lower repetition work (1-5).This is done for several purposes.

1. Such repetition ranges allows us to train maximal strength and speed qualitiesthat are heavy reliant upon the Central Nervous System (CNS).

2. We can train multiple movement patterns without a great deterioration ofquality of work being performed on each exercise.

3. Strengh-endurance can be improved even though we are training strengthqualities that notoriously have been stated to be counterproductive.



Using such protocols allows us to use a variety of repetition schemes, includingwave loading, pyramiding, etc. You won’t feel stuck at just performing the same workoutday after day. You can even vary the scheme for each individual exercise.

Now we are down to how many sets? Again, there are no right answers, some will

work better than others. For example, because lifting in not the primary sport you mayhave to perform fewer sets to avoid overtraining. However, if lifting is your primary formof training (which may be the case in the early off-season) then you may be able tohandle greater volume of sets.

In general I often recommend 3-5 sets. Since we are working with sets of smallerrepetitions three sets is often a minimum. This is because the volume of work would betoo low to achieve the desired training stimulus. The only people I would recommendless are those that would be in-season of their competitive sport.

Can you do more? It will greatly depend on how you are feeling and what you

wish to achieve. I would not normally recommend doing more than five sets as we areusing full body lifts that require not only a lot of energy, but can drain the CNS veryeasily. You want to find chart your progress and see if more is necessary or if it isdamaging your progress. This is a very individual variable.

Some ways to see if you are heading towards overtraining are:

Lack of appetite Inability to sleep General fatigue Feeling cold often Lack of interest in training Body aches and pains consistently Not progressing in training High resting heart rate Poor waking body temperature

Finally, one of the most challenging factors is the rest intervals between exercises.Because we are using a circuit style of training we are looking at rest intervals in betweenexercises. We can simply manipulate this variable to make the training program vastlydifferent. By simply reducing the rest between exercises by 5 seconds for 4 weeks willmake the training stimulus and the challenge of the routine greatly. This would mean wewould drop our rest between exercises by 20 seconds! This is will make your program

brand new.

Of course you will have to make the rest intervals appropriate for your goals. Ifstrength is desired then a longer rest interval (within the range of 90 seconds) would be a

better starting point in contrast to someone who was more interested in strength-endurance (which may start with a rest interval of 30 seconds). We may be greedy thoughand want to improve strength and endurance. While this may be possible we would be



sacrificing a little of both. I would recommend alternating phases or routines of both.However, a good way of accomplishing such a goal would be to start at a higherrest interval and then to slowly knock down that time over each week. Usually I wouldrecommend not dropping the rest interval by more than five seconds each week. While itmay not sound drastic, you would find just dropping the rest over the course of four

weeks will feel very different than your first week.

We have covered all of the important components of developing your own PowerCircuit program. Power Circuits are not the only way to implement sandbags, but theyfulfill a lot of people’s needs of not only having an effective training program, but onethat will be time efficient as well. This is also very beneficial for those that might beworking with Bootcamps and team training. I have seen some pretty amazing results withPower Circuits.. Here are a few Power Circuits for you to try on your own!

Circuit AA1. Shoulder and SquatA2. Push PressA3. RDL+RowA4. Shoulder Get-ups

Circuit B

A1. Sandbag Squat PressA2. Jump Rope

A3. Push-upsA4. Sandbag CarryA5. Bodyweight Rows

Circuit C

A1. Power Clean+Front Squat+PressA2. GoodmorningsA3. Shouldering LungeA4. Turkish Get-up Zercher

Circuit D

A1. DeadliftA2. Clean+Split JerkA3. SwingsA4. WoodchoppersB1. Bear Hug Walks



Circuit E

A1. Snatch+Overhead SquatA2. Bent-Over Row+Romanian DeadliftA3. Floor PressingA4. Diagonal Shouldering

Obviously you wouldn’t want to perform more than three of these versions in onetraining cycle. However, you can see how all of these fulfill the requirements of soundPower Circuit Training. Even by using some hybrid training (see section below fordescription) you can further economize your time and enhance your training benefits.

Hybrid Lifting

No, not the cars! Hybrid lifting is actually a very common form of lifting that many oftenforget about. It has seen somewhat of a rebirth the last few years as athletes and coachesare finding them tremendously helpful in improving conditioning and strength. A hybridlift can come in a few different forms.

1. One can perform one lift that flows smoothly into another. The most famous ofsuch lifts is the Clean and Jerk in Olympic lifting. Here the lifter cleans the bar,drops into a full front squat position, arises, and then performs a split jerk. Itwould only take three repetitions of such a drill to humble most athletes.

2. A hybrid can also be a series of drills placed together (also known as a complex).Such an example would include be performing six repetitions of a bent-over rowfollowed by six repetitions of a Romanian deadlift, finished by six repetitions of a

power clean. This is all done without putting down the implement.

Besides being brutally challenging, why would anyone do such lifting? The bestexplanation comes from the man that actually popularized much of this type of lifting inAmerica, former Romanian Weightlifting Coach, Istvan Javorek. “My determination fordoing this experiment with these two complex exercises it was to try and give morevariation to a workout; to try and change the same day-to-day workout routines; to"shock" an athlete's musculature after a hard competition season and to stimulate themuscular growth or endurance in the preparatory period; to try and build up a specificendurance and cardio-vascular capacity, a specific muscle tone, a good muscularcoordination, and a perfectly balanced, well-developed, harmonious musculature. Beingan athlete, I learned that the coaches do not give too much time and attention forrebuilding an athlete muscular-tendon system. Also I learned, that after each competitionseason I had a greater improvement if I introduced in my workout some unusual, non-specific exercises, which were stimulating my whole physiological system. My personal

belief and the other sports conditioning coaches, who tried with their athletes myComplex # 1 and # 2, exercises, is that they can influence considerably any athlete'simprovement.”

Therefore complexes lend themselves very well to being conditioning, recovery, andfunctional hypertrophy tools.



FULL CLEAN SQUAT OVERHEAD PRESS

WOODCHOP LATERAL LUNGE



AROUND THE WORLD SQUAT

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT BENT-OVER ROW POWER SNATCH



SHOULDER SHOULDER GET-UP SHOULDER SQUAT





THRUSTER LUNGE

DECK SQUAT SQUAT THRUST POWER SNATCH



As you can see there are endless variations one could develop with relative ease. Somecoaches have been known to string as many as eight exercises in a row. This is really notmy favor as I believe this cuts down the load too greatly and the one weakest exercisewill too strongly dictate the load throughout. In our example of the classic Clean andJerk, the weight used is dependant upon one’s ability to get the weight overhead.Therefore, one’s squatting or cleaning ability will likely not be the weakest aspect nortrained at a maximal level. While this is suitable for a drill that can still be significantlyloaded, if we extended our series shoulder, shoulder get-up, and shoulder squat you will

see a greater discrepancy of load. The load used for this drill is based upon the ability ofthe athlete to perform a good get-up. The shouldering and squatting motions should be onan easier scale. While this is good for developing speed and mobility you could easily seeextending this series to too many other drills would make it rather futile.

My overall recommendation is not to pair too much more than 3-4 drills within a givenmovement. This helps the load remain at an effective level, but also allows the athlete toreceive the benefits of using hybrids. It is important to remember the goal of hybrids is



not to simply breathe hard; this can be accomplished by many other means. We have tofocus developing strength as well as endurance. This requires us to use a certain minimalamount of loading (typically loads below 60% of one’s maximum have little impact uponstrength development) to accomplish our goal of strength and endurance improvements.

EXPLODE!!

Every athlete would like to be more explosive and faster. However, very few actuallyimplement training that would increase their speed and power. Full body throwing drillshave long been techniques that have helped athletes improve these qualities. Medicine

ball training has long been the chosen form of full body throws to increase athleticism, power, dynamic flexibility, and conditioning. They weren’t always the preferred choicethough, weightlifters use to use kettlebells and barbell throws to help their explosive

power as well. Unfortunately for most, this is not practical for the training environment.This is where sandbags can again prove to be a very versatile and effective training tool.

Sandbags allow an athlete to integrate the hips, trunk, and arms in creating not only anexplosive movement, but one that will transfer easily to about any combative sport. Youcan even train some ranges of motion that can be difficult to reach with other strengthtraining implements.

The awkward nature of sandbags makes them preferred for athletes that have to goagainst live opponents. Not being able to predict the smooth movement of the bag makesthrowing sandbags more specific to the needs of the combative athlete. Sandbags alsoallow us to attach movement patterns and ranges of motions that are hard to achieve withother implements. This means we can more appropriately prepare for being incompromising positions in sport.

OVERHEAD SLAM



PUSH THROW-SINGLE ARM

Key Points:

Keep the weight on the heels.

Explode by pressing into the ground andthrusting the hips forward.

Lengthen through the head and extend back.

Tighten glutes to stabilize low back and tocounterbalance the weight.

It must be a fast drill so don’t use too muchweight.



SANDBAG SWING THROW

Key Points:

Load the bag on the shoulder as well as in the palm of the hand.

Accelerate out of a full squat position and use momentum to carry the weightupwards.

Don’t think about pushing up as much as out in front of the body.

Bodyweight should transition from the heels forward.



HALF MOON SNATCH THROW AND STEP

Key Points:

Begin with weight on the inside leg, rotate trunk towards the sandbag

Violently laterally step and rotate.

The bag will travel in an arch trajectory, follow the sandbagsmomentum.

Finish by landing the lateral step hard with weight on the heel.



Core Training

Use the term “core” training is honestly somewhat nauseating for me. Why? Recently it

has been associated with everything from the ridiculous infomercials to circus tricks performed on various “unstable” pieces of equipment. True core training involves morethan just abdominal training. The “core” should be viewed as all the superficial and deepmuscles along the abdominals, low back, and pelvis. Any of these areas left untrained ortrained in an unbalanced manner will cause major weaknesses in the body’s chain.

Many athletes and coaches focus solely on the abdominal area, this can leave a hugeimbalance between the low back and the pelvic muscles (glutes, hip flexors, etc.)Therefore, such training actually offers very little in the area of stability for the spine or

body.

Even more progressive coaches that train the other core areas rarely teach the athlete tointegrate them in a more functional manner. The ideal situation would be to train all themuscles at once in the manner they are asked to perform in sport. After all, there is plentyof research to demonstrate that isolating muscles in training and then asking them to

perform synergistically in sport does not correlate well. The term intermuscularcoordination refers to the ability to coordinate specific groups of muscles to fire correctlywhile performing specific tasks. Inappropriate intermuscular coordination can lead to notonly poor performance, but overloading of the wrong muscles leading to injury. Sincethis is a function of the Central Nervous System (CNS), it needs to be practiced duringtraining as well as in the sporting arena.

This is why you will see most of the drills outlined in this section done standing. Whilethere are some drills in some floor positions, the majority should be performed in astanding posture. Not only are many of the drills shown done standing, there is also arotational component to many of them. It is important to note that I am suggesting thatyou try to mimic your skill training with your strength training, rather that properimplementation of rotational work can help enhance your skill work as well as preventinjury. Many times we try to perform high speed, complex sporting drills without everhaving trained the movement. By integrating the exercises shown below you can lay afoundation of mobility and strength that will help in all areas of your sport.



HALF MOON SNATCH





RUSSIAN TWIST ON STABILITY BALL

Key Points: Keep the hips elevated by pushing through the heels and flexing the glutes

Twist the shoulder on the ball so that the ball rotates, but stays underneathyour body.

Pull back by using the opposing oblique muscles and hip.





SHOULDER GET-UP

OVERHEAD GET-UP



OVERHEAD SWING

Combining Implements

I would not be an honest man if I sat here and pretended that sandbags were the only toolI ever use. In fact, those that know me, know that I like to have the biggest toolboxes

possible. There are so many different strength tools holding yourself exclusively to onlyone makes you a very limited athlete. Since all implements have pro’s and con’s I like tocombine many different implements to create a more effective and fun training program.

There are three distinct tools I would like to discuss within the contexts of this book. Thatwould include, kettlebells, bands, and sleds. These three implements perfectlycompliment sandbag training and the methodologies behind their use.





seconds you will have a 40 second rest. Perform them in 45 seconds you will have a 15second rest. Perform this for ten minutes.

A1. KB Clean & Jerk X 10A2. SB Zercher Squat X 10

Option B: ComplexesYou can create two distinct complexes using sandbags and kettlebells. This will enhanceyour movement ability, strength, coordination, flexibility, and conditioning.

The movements are continuous and rest is only used after the complex

KB Complex 1

RDL X 6Clean X 6

Front Squat X 6Press X 6Rest for 90 seconds perform 2-3 sets

SB Complex 1Clean X 6Zercher Lunge X 6 each legRows X 6Snatches X 6Rest for 90 seconds 2-3 sets

BANDSHeavy elastic bands have also made a profound impact on the training of athletes. Theirability to provide resistance during sporting type movements makes them a valuabletraining tool. They can also manipulate drills to create unique tension patterns that willchallenge the athlete in new ranges of motion.

LUNGING VARIATIONS

It is well known that lunges are a phenomenal drill for flexibility, single leg strength, andcore power. Adding sandbags and bands cause resistance in two ways. The sandbags willchallenge a vertical component while the bands challenge a horizontal component. Thisresults in training in multiple directions and stability in all planes even though the athleteis actually moving within a single plane of motion. This form of training is perfect forthose that are trying to improve their balance and stability against unpredictable forces.



REVERSE BAND LUNGE

Bands and sandbags also allow for some unique abdominal drills. Ideally we like to trainthe majority of our abdominal drills standing. Using this technique you teach how toappropriately transfer force through the ground, hips, and abdominals. Isolating theabdominal area too much does not allow for functional strength to be developed. Since allthese groups are integral for performing throws, take downs, and stability during highcontact situations, training this manner only enhances the training effect.



With these drills you will need to attach the band to a stable unit. Power racks work verywell, but it can be any object that you know can withstand high forces. Loop the band onetime through the bag and the rack. Use the handles of the bag as a loop for the band thisworks very well.

Since we are integrating the hips with the abdominals it is very important to understandweight transfer and “rooting” through all movements. Through many of these drills youwill have to begin the weight of your body on the inside leg and as the rotation occursyou will shift weight to the outside leg. Rooting becomes important as it will help youmaintain balance with the weight transfer. Think of screwing in you foot into the groundand the force of the drive for the drill should come from the ground up, not from thetrunk downwards. This can assist greatly in learning how to develop force against a liveopponent.

STANDING ABDOMINAL CROSS

STANDING SANDBAG CHOP



SANDBAG MACE DRILL

BAND HIP THROW

Sleds

We can think a combination of powerlifters and sprinters for making sled training popular. Although these two groups used sleds for two completely different reasons, we

can take aspects of both of their training to create a program suitable for our goals.

As with the other tools mentioned, sleds represent a very versatile tool that trains the body in a unique manner. Dragging weight can greatly increase the strength of the hipmuscles while not providing a great load on the low back. This is very useful for athleteswhen used for conditioning purposes, helping athletes comeback from low back issues, oras assistance exercise to some of the other core lower body movements.





FARMERS WALK

X CARRY



BACKWARD WALK

Putting it Together

You can easily use some of the ideas I have outlined here in this manual, but you can alsouse countless other exercises and means. To put together your own program andunderstand the true versatility of sandbag training let’s start at the beginning.

First you must ask yourself your goal. No, nothing like, “I want to be in better shape.” Ithas to follow the rules of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. This acronym is extremely helpful fordeveloping effective goal-setting.

S: Specific-You need to be as specific as possible to get the desired result. Saying, “Iwant better endurance” is very vague yet commonly heard in fighting circles. Does thatmean you want to be able to run 5 miles or have a specific number of takedown or

punches thrown in a specific number of rounds. Obviously the latter is more specific tofighting sports themselves and is also more performance based. Since we are trying to

become more effective in the chosen sport you should ultimately see improvementswithin the competition itself.

However, you can also create performance measures within your training as well. Forexample, you may want to help improve your performance by getting in 50 shoulder andsquats within 5 minutes. You may want to perform ten clean and jerks every 30 secondsfor 5 rounds. In other words, we are being very precise in every aspect of our training, themore vague the less likely you are to succeed.

M: Measurable-Well, this goes hand in hand with being specific. As I eluded to in the previous section you want your measurements to have meaning. You may have several, but make sure they aren’t contradictory. Some athletes and coaches try to accomplisheverything possible within one training cycle and end up not accomplishing very much at



all. It is often recommended to focus on no more than two training goals at a time. If youselect those goals wisely they will have a positive impact on other qualities as well.

A: Attainable-Combative athletes are notorious for trying to achieve goals that seemrelatively impossible or actually are impossible. This often ends up sacrificing the quality

of the training and becomes determimental to the overall performance of the athlete. Avery common example of this is trying to make weight. The fighting sports are differentthan many mainstream sports in that there is a definitive weight class that determines whoand how you compete. Often athletes will try to lose significant amounts of weight in ashort amount of time. Even if the athlete is successful with losing the desired weight itoften comes with a cost to both performance and health. However, rarely are these goalsattainable nor appropriate.

It may seem “too easy” to make a goal that seems very attainable. It may not be “macho”or a tough man’s thing to do, however, reaching even small goals along the way helpsensure that the training plan is going well and the preparation of the athlete is a positive

one. On the flip side, you don’t want to make the goal something that is not motivating orquite easy to accomplish, there has to be a happy medium. Either side of the spectrum cancause the athlete to lose motivation or impede their performance.

Once your goal is clear then we can get into the meat and potatoes of training. What I amgoing to discuss should be thought of in general terms, obviously the ideal situationwould be to have each athlete have their own personalized program. Since writing a

personalized program for everyone is not possible, I am going to recommend somemethods of implementing sandbag training.

You don’t HAVE to use sandbags as the only training tool. In fact, if you have access toother implements I will highly suggest you try to incorporate them into your trainingalong with your sandbag work. However, many of you may be looking to use sandbags asyou stand alone training tool. In such situations I often recommend you have two bagsavailable, one of a moderate weight and one on the heavier side. If possible, a third bag isideal for some of the other training I will be discussing.

My preference and experience tells me that typically performing a three day a weeklifting program is ideal for most athletes. Since energy and time will be expended

performing skill work as well, this should allow the athlete the ability to ample focus intoa strength training program without losing sight of their overall goal of becoming a betterathlete.

R: Realistic-We all lofty goals, but goals are only helpful if they are attainable. Shootingfor the stars is great, but we also need to place our emphasis on things that are attainablein the near future as well as well within our means. This means treading a thin line

between a goal that is challenging, yet possible to attain.

For each athlete this is going to mean something different. It will greatly depend onwhere you are in your athletic career and what means the most to you. A high level





All Performed with minimal rest

Core Lifting:A1. Zercher Squats: 3-4 sets, 15 repetitions, rest 60 secondsA2. Shoulder to Shoulder Press: 3-4, 6 repetitions each side, rest 60 seconds

B1. Overhead Lunges: 2-3 sets, 10 repetitions each leg, rest 60 secondsB2. Bent-Over Rows: 2-3 sets, 12 repetitions, rest 60 secondsC1. Bear Hug Carry 2 sets 90 seconds each, rest 90 seconds

Day 2:10 minutes dynamic warm-up/calisthenicsA1. Sandbag Swing to Back Position: 15 repetitionsA2. 10 Forward Rolls with Vertical JumpsA3. Around the World to Back Squat: 10 repetitions each directionRepeat 2-3 cyclesB1. Zercher Lunge Jumps 15 seconds 60 seconds

B2. Half Moon Snatch 30 seconds alternating sides rest 60 secondsB3. Shoulder Get-up: 6 repetitions each side rest 60 secondsRepeat 3-4 cycles

PROGRAM 2-STRENGTH EMPHASIS

Sandbags can be easily mixed in with a wide array of implements. Such a scenario isideal if one has access to other tools and the coaching to use them appropriately. The

program listed below would be best situated for an athlete looking to improve strength asa primary goal and is relatively early in their off-season.

Day 1:Barbell Deadlift 5/4/3/2/1 rest 90 secondsSandbag Clean and Jerk 4 sets of 6 repetitions, rest 90 secondsBox Single leg Squats 3 sets of 6-8 each side, rest 60 secondsPull-ups 3 sets of 5-7, rest 60 secondsDumbbell Farmer’s Walk 2 sets of 60 seconds, rest 75 seconds

Day 2:Barbell Front Squat 5 sets of 3, rest 90 secondsBarbell Floor Press 4 sets of 5, rest 75 secondsSandbag Squat Thrust to Snatch 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions, rest 60 seconds

Sandbag Around the World to Squat, 3 sets of 10 each side, rest 60 secondsKettlebell Get-ups 3 sets of 6 each side, rest 75 seconds





MEET JOSH HENKIN , CSCS

Josh Henkin is a graduate of Arizona State University where he received his Bachelor ofScience in Exercise Science/Physical Education. At Arizona State, he was also a memberof the Men’s Basketball Team. He is well known in the metropolitan Phoenix area for

being an expert in fitness and sports performance training. Coach Henkin has beeninvited to appear on Good Morning Arizona twice.

His certifications include:

• National Strength and Conditioning Association (Certified Strength &Conditioning Specialist)

• Bachelor of Science-Exercise Science (Arizona State University)• Club Coach with USA Weightlifting• Corrective High Performance Exercise Kinesiologiest, Level 1 – Certified

Instructor• Russian Kettlebell – Certified Instructor

Additionally, Coach Henkin has interned in various programs offered by world-renownedstrength coaches including Charles Poliquin, John Davies, and Paul Chek. A number ofhis writings have been published, and he is a frequent lecturer on matters of fitness and

performance.

Publications Include:

• National Boosters Club Association• Z- health: Life in Motion• Renegade Magazine• Circular Strength Magazine• Power Athletes Magazine• Gen-mag Magazine• Raw Intensity Magazine• The Unnatural Athlete



• Bodybuilding.com• Vitalics

In addition, Coach Henkin has performed various workshops/lectures for Division Icolleges, health clubs, charity events, and local high schools. He is currently working

with various high school basketball, soccer, football, and baseball teams.

Lectures Include:

• University of Arizona Strength & Conditioning Center-Tucson, AZ• Sak’s Fifth Avenue Breast Cancer Awareness Banquet-Chicago, IL• Arizona State University Wellness Department-Tempe, AZ• Staley Bootcamp-Las Vegas, NV• Russian Kettlebell Certification-Minneapolis, MN• Sport Specific Bootcamp-Stamford, CT• Mountain Pointe High School-Tempe, AZ•

Desert Vista High School-Phoenix, AZ• Lifetime Fitness-Minneapolis, MN• 24 Hour Fitness-Scottsdale, AZ

He is available for workshops and private seminars. In addition, Coach Henkin isavailable anywhere in the United States and overseas to do strength and conditioningworkshops. Coach Henkin also designs personalized nutrition and fitness programsonline. Email him at [email protected]

Knockout Sandbag Training

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