5 Advanced Sandbag Exercises to Build Physical Strength

If you're planning on adding sandbag exercises to your workout routine, get ready to build some serious muscle. Sandbags have been used for strength training since the late 1800s. Today, it's a major component of CrossFit and strongman competitions.

Sandbag exercises target nearly every muscle in the body while improving balance, coordination, and stability. It translates well to real-world strength and is, therefore, commonly used by combat athletes and boxers.

There are various other benefits to performing sandbag exercises regularly, including:

• Boosting cardiovascular endurance
• Building serious mental strength
• Increasing strength in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes of motion
• Asymetrical loading helps build serious core strength.

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Advanced Sandbag Exercises for Serious Physical Strength

Here's a look at five such exercises:

1) Sandbag overhead press

If you think progressing on shoulder pressing is difficult, try out the sandbag version to understand the true meaning of shoulder strength. In real-life scenarios, you will not get a stable, balanced weight. The sandbag press is an excellent shoulder, upper back, and core builder.

Instructions:

• Stand straight with your feet slightly wider than hip width.
• Engage your core, and keep your back straight. Avoid lower back arching.
• Choose a comfortable hand position, with the sandbag held over your upper chest.
• Press straight overhead.
• Return to the starting rack positon. Repeat.

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2) Deadlift and Squat Combo

Sandbag exercises are extremely effective for building leg strength and endurance. You can combine deadlifts and squats using the sandbag for an intense full-body workout.

Instructions:

• Stand upright with your feet placed slightly wider than your hips.
• Hold the sandbag handles with an overhand grip, with your palms facing you.
• Hinge at the hips. Keeping your back flat, perfrom a deadlift.
• As you explode back up, use your strength to flip the sandbag into a front rack position.
• Perform a squat with good depth, and return to the starting position to complete one rep.
• Perform 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps for a blistering full body workout.

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3) Sumo squat and high pull combo

Sumo squats are great at developing the leg muscles, especially the adductors. High pulls, meanwhile, help put a ton of muscle mass on the delts. You can combine using a sandbag for a great full body scorcher.

Instructions:

• Stand straight, and hold the sandbag by its handles with an overhand grip.
• Keep your feet wider than hip width. While keeping your back straight, descend into a squat, with your knees pointing outisde.
• As you explode back up, use the momentum to perform a high pull. Return to the starting position. Repeat.

This combo is among the best sandbag exercises to help build the side and rear delts.

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4) Sandbag lunge

This exercise is great for beefing up the hamstrings and glutes.

Instructions:

• Place the sandbag across your upper back. You can place it over one shoulder instead.
• Drop into a lunge. The thigh should be parallel to the ground at the end of the lunge.
• Press back up, and repeat on the other side.
• Take care to not hunch your back during the movement.
• Keep your core engaged and chest held high.

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5) Sandbag Bear Hug Carry

If you want a total body scorcher to round off your workout, try this one out.

Instructions:

• Stand upright while holding the sangbad securely against your chest and upper abs with a bear-hug style.
• Brace your abs; take a deep breath, and walk as long as possible.
• You can increase the weight to perform shorter but heavier walks.

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Takeaway

Sandbag exercises are a superior alternative to barbell movements to build serious physical strength that can translate to real-life scenarios.

Due to their asymmetrical loading pattern, sandbag exercises can also help develop core stability and coordination. Add the aforementioned exercises to your exercise regimen for great results.