Woohoo, summer! It's about time, honestly.
So yesterday night I was planning to go to the YMCA and lift (for the first time in a few days, unfortunately), but when I got there the DeskMan informed me that they had officially switched to summer hours, and they would be closing in about 15 minutes.
Irritated, I went home and finally assembled the materials I needed to construct my training sandbags (I had been putting it off, go figure). I built it, trained with it, and I'm quite pleased. Buying training sandbags online usually costs around $100, and I made these for like $15. Totally worth it.
They're very difficult to work with, and they'll be excellent Odd-Object Training for my clients and myself. I'll put up some sandbag routines and pictures in a later post.
So the first step to make sandbags of your very own is to get the "ingredients," which are:
Some Sand-- I bought 3 bags, or around 100 pounds (estimate). That was too much, but whatever, I'll make 2.
Some Bags-- I highly recommend investing in these. I got the ZipLock Heavy Duty 1 Gallon Freezer Bags. Get the 1 gallon ones.
Some Duct Tape-- To seal the bags. Plus it's handy. (by the way, both "Duct" and "Duck" are correct)
A Trowel-- This isn't really required, per se, but it'll make the process a LOT easier
A Bag-- You want a heavy canvas bag, if possible. I'm using a duffel bag for traveling right now, but I'm going to buy a canvas bag off the internet.
So the second step is to actually make the lil' sanbags (so cute!). Tear open the first bag of sand, and use the trowel to fill a ziplock bag about 3/4 full. This is important- do NOT fill them more than about 3/4. They'll tear open, I guarantee it. Once you've filled a bunch of bags (only 3/4 full!), double bag them.
Again, worth it- and you only really need 1 package of ziplock bags. I used 2 of my big bags of sand to fill (3/4 full) about 10 one-gallon ziplock bags, which is more weight than I can really use anyway, so you don't need to buy too many ziplock bags. Once you've double-bagged them, use the duct tape to tape the end closed. Depending on how much tape you have and how much you care, you can tape around all the edges, or maybe even just make a giant wad of duct tape. Up to you.
Once you've made all the lil' bags, load them into your canvas bag. I have.. like 7, I think, in my bag right now, and that's plenty of weight. Zip/Click/Seal your canvas bag, and get started!
Random ThoughtsYou want a minimal canvas bag if possible. You don't want a whole bunch of pockets or straps or anything flying all over the place, since they'll just get in your way. Also, I prefer not to use the straps at all. I feel that actually having to grab a fistful of bag helps build the grip, which is just an added benefit. However, I DID leave the straps on, since they can be useful for things like Sandbag Rows or Sandbag Swings.
Another nice thing, if you're using them for clients (like I am) is that you can adjust the weight quite easily. Just add or remove some of the lil' sandbags, and you're good to go! You can do a ton of fun things with sandbag(s), and I'll have another post that details some of them. Or I'll just edit this one. Whateva.
More fun training tools? (Answer: Yes)
Would love to see how you use these.
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