The Top Five Sandbag Exercises for Football Training
By
Steven Morris
You hear about powerlifting programs for football, Olympic lifting, and even
Strongman style training being done exclusively by major college football
programs. All of these people are missing the point. The goal isn’t to be a
powerlifter or Strongman but to become as strong, fast, and insanely explosive
as humanly possible so you can dominate on the football field. Weights are
certainly a huge part of this equation.
However, too many players and coaches have overlooked a simple but
devastatingly effective football training tool. It makes my job easier and makes
my players into football Gods. What is this tool? Is it a super expensive
machine that was used in some remote gym in Kyrgyzstan? No, this tool is
actually quite affordable and super easy to use.
Giant bags of sand
The ignorant will balk, and the weak will retreat in fear, but the motivated
will learn to love them—sandbags. Sandbags allow you to work from odd positions
and at strange, awkward angles. Because the bags are packed loosely, they change
shape on ever rep. There is no such thing as an easy rep or settling into a
groove. Sound familiar? Are any two blocks or tackles the same? Don’t you have
to spring forward, jump, tackle, and block from less than ideal positions on
damn near every play during a game? Of course. So why focus on only weights?
Sandbags caught some attention when Dinosaur Training was published. However,
simply filling a duffel bag with dirt left a lot to be desired. They ripped,
leaked sand, and simply fell apart with rough use. Football players, as a whole,
are not known for being nice to training equipment.
When I found Josh’s sandbags a while back, it completely changed the way we
use sandbags at Explosive Football Training. No more sand showers or ripped
bags. Even when I use them, they don’t rip, and I’m notorious for breaking
things! Since we made the switch, I’ve discovered the top five sandbag exercises
for football training.
These five movements will:
· Make your core as solid as a rock.
· Prevent strength leakage.
· Make your shoulders virtually injury proof.
· Teach you to transfer power from the ground up.
1. Bear hug and duck walk
The sandbag bear hug is definitely old-school. It’s also widely practiced
because of the great training effects on the back, legs, pecs, and grip. While
it’s a good exercise, we’re always looking for something more. That’s what this
sport is all about—always striving for more.
I noticed that a lot of lineman, backs, and linebackers could keep a good
football position when in a T-shirt and shorts, but once the pads, helmet and a
live opponent were thrown in, they began to lean forward, get into a bad
position, and get beat. Seeing a strong, 275-lb lineman thrown to the ground
because he was leaning forward isn’t pretty.
To prevent this, we do a sandbag bear hug and duck walk combination. This is
an excellent football training movement that will strengthen the back, legs, and
entire upper body for many football specific tasks (tackling, blocking, and
pre-jump position). The only difference we make from the standard bear hug is
that instead of wrapping our arms around the bag like Ken Patera would, we grab
the bag by the handles and hold it close.
From this position, you start duck walking. Shoot for three sets of ten yards
to start and gradually increase the sets to six. Keep your back extremely tight,
sit back, and don’t lean forward. If I catch any of you leaning forward during
this, I’ll personally throw you down.
2. High rep clean and press
Ah, the high rep clean and press (C&P), a football conditioning masterpiece.
Actually, this is great conditioning for any sport. The high rep C&P is a great
exercise, but it can be difficult to do with a barbell. Plus, the barbell stays
the same the entire time. With a sandbag, you are literally wrestling the damn
bag by rep five. It’s less about form and more about guts.
This movement builds mental toughness as well as physical prowess. It’s a
great finisher—an exercise used at the end of a football training session to
really put the finishing touches on and ensure that you’ve pushed yourself to
the limit. Remember, if you leave something on the table in training, you’ll do
the same in a game (or in life).
Load up a sandbag and do full cleans followed by the best press you can
manage. If you want to get fancy, use different grips during the set or try
different straps or different handles, or grab the bag itself with no handles.
What is a high rep? Ten is the bare minimum. Again, this is about toughening
yourself mentally and physically. If the bag is very heavy, ten might be the
limit. Experiment and use both heavy bags and medium with mixed rep ranges.
3. Zercher Romanian deadlifts with chains or bands added
My athletes are sick of hearing this, but most football training programs
don’t put enough emphasis on working the hamstrings. Sure, posterior chain
training has gained popularity, but most assume that a few sets of leg curls and
some standard deadlifts are sufficient to make the hamstrings and glutes strong
enough to make you faster. The truth is that the hamstrings have an amazingly
high work capacity. Exercises like deadlift variations, squats, and even leg
curls are needed because the hamstrings must be worked in both of their
functions (flexion and extension).
Zercher Romanian deadlifts are a great way to hammer the hamstrings. However,
doing these with a bar can be painful, especially when you start using big
weight. Using a sandbag is less painful yet harder. Always a good combination.
The only problem is if you are a bigger athlete or you are using heavy
sandbags, it can become difficult to effectively hold the bag in the Zercher
position. By adding chains or bands, you can use a smaller sized bag but work
the legs and back even harder. Plus, anytime you use chains and/or bands, you
are using accommodating resistance, and this is always good for athletes
(teaches acceleration).
You can use this as an in the weight room hamstring training exercise, done
after your main exercise for the day. Go with 3–5 sets of 4–8 reps.
4. Sandbag high pull with chains
This one’s a bit different than most are used to. It’s a great way to thicken
the traps, build the upper back, and use sandbags as an explosive movement,
again teaching the transfer of power from the ground up. But unlike the
traditional high pull, this version saves the shoulders. As someone who always
had shoulder pain while doing high pulls, this variation has allowed me to do
the movement pain free.
You’ll want to go with a medium to light load for this. Grab a sandbag by the
handles and drop into a half squat, just like you would be in a stance. Now do
an explosive high pull. Think of it like a clean pull except you’re using a
sandbag. If you have shoulder problems, grab the outsides of the bag so that
your palms are facing each other. Think speed and pull hard. Go for 3–4 sets of
6–10 reps.
5. Clean and push
This is a cool variation of the clean and press that is perfect for football
training because it is highly specific, especially for lineman. It will require
great let strength, or the transfer of power from the legs through the hips and
to the upper body, as well as muscular coordination. And all you need is a
sandbag and a little bit of room.
Load a bag and clean it in any way you see fit. Use the various handles or
mixed grips, or just grab the bag itself. Now clean it to chest height. When I
say clean it, I don’t mean end up in one of those “split the legs eight feet
apart” kind of clean position. No, I mean finish the clean in the good football
position, just as you would pre-block, tackle, jump, or sprint.
For the first few reps, hold that position. Then pop the hips hard and push
the bag as far as you can. Think if it like a standing bench press. It’s the
exact motion used when blocking, making it an excellent movement for lineman. It
is maybe one of the most football-specific training exercises in the world.
After you get the motion down, begin to do the entire movement as one
complete exercise rather than pausing with the bag at chest height before
pushing. This is an ideal time to video the lift or have a coach/teammate watch
you and critique your form. There aren’t many guarantees in football or football
training, but I can damn near guarantee you that this exercise will improve your
blocking and tackling.
Use this exercise for conditioning, as a finisher, or as a total body
accessory lift. Vary the sets and reps from high to low with appropriate changes
in the weight of the bag.
Putting it all together
Now that you have the top five sandbag exercises for football, how do you put
them to work in your football training program?
If you are considering adding them to your conditioning program, they can be
easily inserted into just about any form of conditioning. Add them to the end of
your sprint training or simply take a day and do only sandbag exercises for high
reps. Think of it as a mini-Strongman training session.
If you’d like to use sandbags in the weight room, treat them like any other
barbell exercise. Cycle them on and off, make small changes, and don’t get
obsessed with any of them. Variety is the lifeline of the athlete. Avoid
becoming crazed with the idea of cleaning a sandbag with a weight of “X.”
Instead, keep the movements changing so that you’re hitting the body from all
angles.
A great way to start would be to use the Zercher good morning with chains
directly after your big leg movement for the day (box squats, deadlifts). Use
them as an accessory in this instance, and I’m betting you’ll feel the
difference the next day! For the absolute best sandbags, check out Josh Henkin’s
sandbags. They’re pretty much indestructible and will withstand the abuse that
even the roughest football players can dish out.
Steven Morris is a personal trainer and strength coach in the Philadelphia
and South Jersey areas and the owner of Explosive Football Training. He has been
lifting weights for over 15 years and has been helping people achieve their
fitness and strength goals for over a decade. Learn more about his methods and
services at www.explosivefootballtraining.com. Check out his new training manual
at
www.explosivefootballmanual.com.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
