Josh Henkin's: Sandbag Fitness Systems

Check Out Our New Sites!

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:58:00 +0000

Check out our New Site: http://henkinfitnesssystems.com !!

Want to save 25% on ANY of our Ultimate Sandbag products? You can do it now by signing up to be a fan on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/sportsperformancetraining

It's GOTTA BE the Program

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:40:00 +0000

I would feel dishonest, unfair, and untrue if I just showed exercise after crazy exercise to you. Just throwing a bunch of exercises together with some reps and sets really doesn't make a program. Sure, you might get results for a little while just by providing a good effort. Don't worry though it won't be long till the progress plateaus and little aches and pains arise.

Yea, I sound like the glass half empty guy right? Well, maybe it is because I am so tired of people online throwing out random workout. Hey, I like variety and to tell you the truth rarely follow a very set routine. However, I do like to look at a training week and plan some goals.

Ask any successful coach that has actually made long-term progress with clients and they will tell you the same thing, planning is key. How might you make a week of training?

I personally think most people can not handle more than four days of intense training. So, here is how a week may look:

Day 1: Priority of volume with intensity. Options: Density or Ladders

This can be followed by some assistance work done in a circuit style, I personally like intervals for this part of the routine.

Day 2: Power Circuit Training. This is an opportunity for people to work in patterns of motion that they typically don't get with strict strength work. Rotational movements, different lunging patterns, crawling, are all great options within this training session. Typically this is higher repetition work but a more moderate intensity.

Day 3: Strength Focus. Why so late in the week? Generally most people need a significant time building tendon and ligament strength as well as fix muscle imbalances before they place too much emphasis on heavy lifting. Ignoring this rule usually leads to some nasty pain or injury. Lots of interesting ways to develop strength with sandbags though.

Waves: Perform a series of reps in compound movements like clean and press: 1/2/3/3/2/1 the first series is lighter than the second series building upwards.

Clusters: Perform one set with approximately 10 seconds in between till all the "mini-sets" are done. For example, Zercher squats of 5 mini-sets of 2 with 90 seconds of rest after. You can repeat this two to three more rounds.

Day 4: Pure Intervals. This time will help speed up the recovery of the strength focus routine because it will have much lighter loads. The idea is to work up to eventually 60 seconds of work but you can start as low as 15 seconds.

Above is a video of what a Day 1 might look like!

What to do first?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:46:00 +0000

What should I do first? What program should I be doing? It should be the first question anyone asks when they begin a training program. Sure you can listen to the grunters and screamers that tell you to "JUST DO IT!" However, often "just lifting" gets you only so far.

Having a plan and goals goes a lot further in long-term success than just trying to beat yourself up. Sure you see some initial results, but then you hurt, you plateau, and eventually become very frustrated.

Where to start then? First is to be realistic how often you can train. I tell people don't try to get every day, just try to see how many days you can commit to and stick with. Decide the best place for you to train. Some people love the gym, it is an escape from everything, others love being at home for the convenience.

Why does this matter? It will depend on what equipment you have available and how you might structure a routine. Some people may have cables, bands, squat racks, bumper plates available, while others may have a few kettlebells, sandbags, and a TRX. Neither is right, it is whatever keeps you motivated and focused.

What is your goal? Do you want to achieve certain lifts, body weight, body fat, heal some aches/pains? I usually recommend people choose two non-competitive goals. For example, it is hard to squat 1000 pounds if you only want to weigh 200 pounds. However, you may want to shoulder a 175 pound sandbag, but lose 10% body fat. That is definitely possible.

Identify what obstacles you may foresee. The truth is we are all going to face challenges to our goals. See how many of these you have control over and what might be things you have to work around.

Tell others of your goals, it often makes people more accountable if they tell important people in their lives about what they are trying to accomplish.

Tomorrow, I will talk about how to structure a week of training that anyone can adapt to have variety and focus!

Get the week off right, identify your goals, know where you are going to train, what obstacles will you face?

In Strength,

Josh Henkin, CSCS

http://henkinfitnesssystems.com

Don't Miss This

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:09:00 +0000

Monday! That is the day our new websites go up and things will change forever! I am so excited about the growth of our program and we are changing things, BIG TIME!! People from all over the world are getting involved and it will be very exciting to show all of your how we are changing for the better. I have to hold myself back from showing you all the great new programs we have coming.

We are also so close to being caught up for 2010 in other ways. You have all been very helpful in assisting us with our Over Stock Sale! That is why we are going to continue it just for a few more days. Monday, this sale will be no more.

Just use coupon code 1976 and save 25% on these products that means $50 on our Advanced Ultimate Sandbag Package!!!!

Advanced Package Black: Buy Now : $149.99

Advanced Package Camouflage: Buy Now : $157.99

Advanced Black Shell: Buy Now : $67.99

Advanced Camouflage Shell: Buy Now : $74.99

Pink Power Package: Buy Now : $82.99

Pink Shell: Buy Now : $41.99

35 pound filler white liners: Buy Now : $18.99

We Have the Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Most people are just flat out confused! They are a little familiar with powerlifting, a bit with Olympic lifting, ok, know some "functional" exercises and they try to jam it all together into a big mess. You see most people feel like they don't have the power to change things. They have to deal with the status quo and use what little they may know about different training methods.

However, we have the edge! We are actually seeing the needs of our clients and creating programs, exercises, and tools that address those needs. It makes coaching so much better to use these methods to address specific needs rather than trying to squeeze people into such a confined philosophy box.

Our certifications and workshops are about to launch for the new year and one of the biggest concepts I could teach people is to look at adding complexity to movements. Sure, if you are a powerlifter try to squat 600 pounds, but all the research shows that it isn't the strongest athletes that are the best, it is the most powerful athletes.

One of the most underused ways to develop power, athleticism, and fitness is through more complex movement patterns. Sure, I have seen the goofy exercises, but I am not talking about those where people stand on one leg and scratch their nose while they try to curl a dumbbell. I am talking about adding force from different angles of the body while moving in sometimes explosive means.

The Ultimate Core Strap and Ultimate Sandpack have definitely open the door to a lot of cool new exercises. So, while our new sites are ALMOST here, I wanted to share some initial ideas with the two videos above. We can resist movement, produce movement, and this all results in an amazing training stimulus that nothing else can replicate!

Watch these videos, try the metabolic workout and you will see what I mean.

We are close to our new sites, so until they go up, you can get these great tools here!!!

Ultimate Core Strap: $29.99: Click Here

Ultimate SandPack (back pack): $169.99: Click Here

Serious Strength Training

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:01:00 +0000

I admit it! I was definitely one of those coaches that believed to have a real, serious, focused training facility I had to have all the usual suspects. Primarily squat racks, bumpers, Olympic bars, etc. C'mon, isn't that what a strength coach should have in his/her facility?

However, if I had to do it over again, I would have!!! While my philosophy of training has not changed how to address it has. If you asked me how to build really solid strength seven years ago I would have said heavy deadlifts, squats, and presses. Now, I would have a completely different perspective. There seems to be so many more options since tools such as sandbags, suspension training, and kettlebells have become available tools.

Now I look at a strength program and not only do I see new opportunities to create strength programs that not only help the weight on the bar, but keep movement abilities as a top priority as well. Too many times when people try to lift more they sacrifice both their athleticism and health. Sure, people can increase the amount they can lift on the bar, but how do you feel? Banged up? Tight? Stiff? I was that person too!

But wait?! How do you get stronger when the weights of sandbags, kettlebells, and suspension units can't come close to what you can put on a bar? Ah, there are numerous ways....

1. Take your same type of movements and change the leverage. For example, start with bear hug squats, move to zercher squats, then shoulder squats. By changing the leverage you change the weight your body feels and can make a lighter weight feel much heavier!

2. Change the speed of movement. Once the tempo of a repetition was really specific. While we have gotten away from that, you can still manipulate a repetition by decreasing how fast you lower a weight, where you add pauses, how fast you try to lift the weight.

3. Alter stability of the exercise. Instead of lifting from a very stable base, try changing the base of support. When you press overhead go from different positions such as a lunge. Rather than just performing a power clean, work on a staggered stance power clean.

Rather than just talking about all the ways, here is a strength workout I performed recently with the same training tools we are talking about.

Out Run the Police?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:22:00 +0000

This week I got a very cool email from one of the most respected people in the fitness and bodybuilding industry, Will Brink. I laughed to myself as one of the first books I ever owned was a Will Brink book!

Well, I was incredibly excited to hear that Will was working with SWAT teams in the Northeast. Even more exciting was that he told me that they were using our Ultimate Sandbag quite a bit as part of their training.

Such news gets me pumped because with all the "warrior" training talk that gets thrown around our military, police, fire, and other emergency groups are the real warriors. Getting fit or healthy is great, but to train when your life REALLY does depend upon it is a whole different thing.

Check out some of the great videos Will sent me of their training!

Don't forget our Over Stock Sale will end soon! Take advantage of it.

Use COUPON CODE 1976 to save 25%:

Advanced Black Packages: Click Here

Advanced Camouflage Packages: Click Here

Power Pink Packages: Click Here

35 Pound Filler White Liners: Click Here

Over Stock Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:07:00 +0000

FINALLY! We are all caught up after spending much of the holiday season setting up things for our big 2010 push. This meant changing fulfillment, organizing new products, and making sure we are setting up our new systems just right. I am sure some of you went through similar things.

For those of you that have, you know you always find the unexpected, sorta like spring cleaning. Well, we found something pretty surprising. Some boxes that were thrown to the side of the warehouse and threw off our inventory completely!!

Well, that messes up a lot so we want to move some of our overstocked items. What are those? We found a good amount of our Advanced Black and Camouflage sandbags as well as our Power Pinks and 35 pound white liners!

So, we wanted to do something special to help us and YOU! For a limited time we wanted to give our loyal newsletter list a special. If you order either one of these products and use COUPON CODE 1976 you will save 25% on any of these four items.

Save 25%:

Large Black Shell: Click Here

Advanced Black Package: Click Here

Large Camouflage Shell: Click Here

Advanced Camouflage Package: Click Here

Pink Power Package: Click Here

Pink Shell: Click Here

35 pound White Liners: Click Here

I know, it is crazy but it is one of those things of running your own businesses. Mistakes happen, but take this opportunity to save big on great products and help us! This will be only for a week as we expect to be caught up fast!!! Don't miss out.

I'm So Proud of Her

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:16:00 +0000

Yesterday was a pretty big day! My wife, Jessica, flipped our 200 pound tire ten times. Normally I wouldn't be so excited, but Jessica is an unusual case. You see Jessica has suffered 5 disc herniations in her back and as long as I have known her has had bad back pain.

She isn't new to exercise either, she has been a physical therapist for quite some time so if anyone knew how to deal with such injuries it was her! However, treating other people and treating yourself can be two very different things.

After hearing about her back problems for some time and really wanting to help I couldn't wait till Jessica gave me an opportunity to share what I knew about bad backs to help her. After all, anyone that has had a bad back knows that having the pain come back is the worst feeling.

Eventually I did gain her trust though and we started with very basic movements. We had to teach her how to activate her hamstrings and glutes. She had to learn how to pivot at her hips and not her low back. Teaching how to lift with the legs and stabilize the low back was no easy task either.

To be honest, we would have some set backs, but she did notice herself becoming stronger and stronger and more stabile. That is why after a year of working on her instabilities, muscle imbalances, and movement patterns she could lift the 200 pound tire quite easily and with no pain.

I write this not just because I am incredibly proud of the work she has put into her rehab, but also because people write me all the time asking what do I REALLY DO? for my training. To be very honest it is the many times the same programs that you see me write about all the time. In fact, in the new INFERNO! DVD some of the workouts and many of the exercises are the same ones that I used with Jessica at different stages in her comeback.

Pre-sale lasts a few more days. Pick-up YOUR copy with a special surprise inside.

Just $24.99

New Inferno DVD

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:31:00 +0000

It is finally on the way! Our NEW Inferno DVD is one of the best "Get in Shape Fast!" workout programs you can perform. I joined forces with my good friend Nick Radonijic to bring real life fitness to all of you! This is a two DVD set that contains full instructions and four follow along workouts that will test every aspect of your fitness abilities. These are no joke workouts that help you shred fat fast and get into incredible shape in no time!

This week is our presale, you can get Inferno for JUST: $24.99!!!

Ships out Friday!

New Workouts for the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:51:00 +0000

Starting to accomplish those 2010 goals means putting them into motion as soon as possible. The past week I began showing you 50 unique upper body exercises, such drills besides being amazingly effective make training fun again.

Being motivated and consistent often means having new challenges, this new year of 2010 has already started off with a bang with new training tools to compliment our Ultimate Sandbag to bring you dynamic training routines.

Nothing feels better than regaining athleticism or actually ACHIEVING your training goals. Using workouts like the one above brings fun new challenges and excitement to training. It is a great way to start off the new year! Wait, tomorrow will be one more new big release!!!

More Challenging Upper Body Exercises

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:11:00 +0000

My challenge continues with another 10 upper body exercises. Now we are up to 20 awesome sandbag training drills. What do I like about these exercises so much? They allow us to train in ways that are just not possible with other fitness tools.

You will see the overhead press with cable attachment is something brand new. We are able to apply force in multiple directions providing a very unique feel of an old drill. Most people don't think of overhead pressing as a great upper back drill, but combining good pressing techniques with the additional load of the cable makes the upper back fire much more. This acts as both a great range of motion enhancement of the shoulder and muscle balance.

Other drills like the three point row integrates the whole body. The traditional row is enhanced with multiple pulling directions emphasizing various areas of the body depending upon the placement of the sandbag.

As you can see many drills can make your workouts brand new and help blast through some training plateaus! Wait till you see the remaining 30 exercises!

50 Upper Body Exercises Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:46:00 +0000

Competition, nothing gets my juices going like it! That is why when I received an email yesterday challenging me I couldn't wait to get going.

Michael C. from New Jersey (of course a good East Coast boy would write me a good challenge) wrote me: "Josh, I know you really are into the sandbags, but they don't seem that good for building the upper body. There aren't THAT many exercises you can perform with them."

Wow! My wheels just started turning in all the ways that sandbags can be used to perform all types of unique upper body exercises. So Michael inspired me to take on a personal challenge. I wanted to show all of you 50 upper body exercises you could do with the Ultimate Sandbag.

Maybe Michael was right, with a homemade or knockoff sandbag you can't do all that much training. However, with our Ultimate Sandbag and our new Ultimate Core Strap there is soooo much that can be done.

What makes sandbags such a great upper body training tool?

1. Change where you grab the sandbag or the position of the Ultimate Sandbag and you change the loading of the weight. Just see how different grabbing the ends is versus the handles, or doing a standard press is to a shoulder to shoulder.

2. We can manipulate leverage to create greater perceived loads. Try performing a press from a lunge position or just staggered stance. The load of the Ultimate Sandbag seems so much greater.

3. The Ultimate Core Strap allows for bands, cables, and leverage all to be used to create very unique upper body exercises that simply are not possible with other training implements.

Choose a pressing and pulling exercise every time you train and you will have great upper body development. Secondly, add in two isolation exercises if you want to build up some weak points, this is the same method the famous powerlifters at Westside Barbell use too! See all week what 50 upper body drills I suggest!

Taking Workouts to the Extreme

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Innovation is often a result of addressing a specific need. That is how I view everything we do at Sandbag Fitness Systems. From the creation of our Ultimate Sandbag to our newest creations, everything is done to make what I want as a coach possible.

Years ago I was introduced to a unique idea by Strength Coach, John Davies. Coach Davies spoke about strength training with a weight vest on the body. Not just your traditional bodyweight drills, but lifting as well. It was amazing the result this had not only your strength, but conditioning as well.

For me this has become increasingly more important. Old basketball injuries to my feet have really taken their toll where running is definitely out of the question. Yet, I have found this "loaded conditioning" to be an excellent way to still get a tremendous cardiovascular effect.

That is why I am excited to launch the presale of our Ultimate Sandpack! Our Ultimate Sandpack was developed to counter all the short comings that I have often found with standard weight vests.

1. Weight vests always seemed to flop around when doing explosive drills or running. This often caused them to be tremendously uncomfortable and limiting. Our Ultimate Sandpack was designed to conform to the body limiting the bouncing and annoying aspects of standard weight vests. Therefore, you can jump, perform calisthenics, and even jump rope with our Ultimate Sandpack.

2. Weight vests can be hard to adjust and work with an array of people and sizes. We have designed these Ultimate Sandpacks and have found them fit perfectly for everyone from 5'5 to 6'5! That is a wide array of people!

3. Having different weight limits can be very expensive! Our Ultimate Sandpack was designed to work with our 15 pound fillers so you can go as little as 5 pounds and up to 45 pounds in a single sandpack!

4. Many weight vests cut into the shoulder and hurt the back, but our Ultimate Sandpack was made with comfort straps not to dig into the body and yet give a tight fit. Women and men use the Ultimate Sandpack very comfortably.

The Ultimate Sandpack has become one of my favorite tools because old basketball injuries have made it hard to run and my current oral issues can make my arms weak. So, the Ultimate Sandpack gives me an alternative to having to run, in fact, one of my favorite activities has become walking my dogs with the pack. On days my hands hurt and are throbbing, I can load more by using the sandpack and take some stress off the parts of my body that hurt. This and the new exercises that are now created make the Ultimate Sandpack a standard in our training programs!

Pre-order the Ultimate Sandpack: Retail-$169.99, Pre-order-$139.99

Are YOU Ready for 2010?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:14:00 +0000

I really hope you had a wonderful holiday season! No matter what you celebrate I hope it brought a lot of happiness to you and your family. It definitely has not been an easy year for many people. I have numerous friends and clients that have been largely impacted by the change in the economy.

Sometimes it seems there is a lot of things out of our control. Yet, I am inspired by the ideas of efficiency and self-improvement expert Dr. Stephen Covey. In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Covey states:

“The way we see the problem is the problem”, our problems all too often are a result of how we choose to see them and how we react to them. We all have them and we often have an opportunity to make negative circumstances into positive ones.

It would be easy to think that people like myself have very little problems. Wow! 2009 was a hell of a year for me not just business, education, or opportunity. Yet, there were many instances where my Ultimate Sandbag faced many challenges that could have easily made me quite.

However, I believe in what I am doing, and even though bad things happen we always try to make something positive in the long run. Yes, those positives may be hard to see initially. Yet, if you have a burning desire to make a change it can happen.

What is the problem with many New Year's resolutions? They aren't meaningful! We have to find something that makes us excited and willing to blast through challenges and negativity. As Dr. Covey says:

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

I hope you will be excited by our efforts and find that fitness is something that can help you take control of how you feel, your confidence, health, and many more factors. I truly hope that you will join us for an incredible 2010!!

FREE Workout, Holiday Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:04:00 +0000

With the holidays growing closer the next few days, I wanted to put out one of our best workout series to help inspire people to keep on their fitness. This quickly turned into one of my favorite training routines.

Train Like a REAL Athlete

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Ask ten coaches about training like an athlete and you are likely to get ten different responses. One thing that all the great strength coaches can agree on is that training like an athlete is the manner in which most should train. I know, you don’t compete at anything, but too often when people say they want to “be in shape”, “move better”, or have “better strength and endurance” they truly are telling me they want to be an athlete in life.

The beauty of the Ultimate Sandbag program is that it addresses all the needs of the athlete in way that no other training program can. The unique nature of sandbag training provides an element of that can’t be replicated. That is why we have been a part of elite MMA programs, NFL, Pro Sand Volleyball, top military, and many more programs.

To help show people how different the Ultimate Sandbag truly is I have posted below the Top 8 MMA sandbag movements. The drills shown aren’t only beneficial for MMA athletes, but anyone interested in maximizing their athleticism.

Is the King Dead?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:58:00 +0000

I did it, I did it for years! I always made the squat the cornerstone of all my training programs. Who would blame me? There are hundreds of studies and practical experiences showing just how darn effective squat training actually can be for performance. Yet, that doesn't mean there can't be a better way and our thinking can't evolve.

When I think to my own training I can remember times when squat numbers would improve, yet, performance in sports I would enjoy would not see any improvement. Why did this occur? After really taking a look at my own training and to those that I work with I found some interesting observations.

1. Since the squat form of people can vary so greatly it is impossible to make an overall generalization if squatting is good or harmful for one's goals.

2. We live in an era where injuries, muscle imbalances, movement problems, and other physical issues play a large role in what happens during the squat. I could yell and scream about how awesome they are and how you HAVE to do them, but that isn't always the answer.

3. More important than squat numbers going up is whether or not they are leading people to the bigger picture of their overall goal.

I know for myself squatting was definitely a beneficial exercise, but I really didn't understand what I was missing till I started addressing my own weaknesses. Sports such as basketball and Strongman took a large toll on my body.

From these sports I had more than a few days where my hip would ache, I would have altered walking patterns, shoulder tightness and just didn't feel like I could progress in my training. I made the hard decision to take a break from the traditional back and front squatting and make lunging a priority in my training program.

Most people would say that I was "wussing out", but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. The worst case from my own experiment? I would not get any better and possibly lose some strength. The result was much different than I expected.

After about six weeks of making lunging a strength focused lift for me I found that my hips felt better and more surprisingly my back squat went up! Why could this happen? A few things came to mind pretty fast.

1. Squatting is an easy exercise for us to think as a superior strength exercise because simply we can often handle more weight. More weight must mean more strength being built, but it is impossible to say that single leg exercises could not do the same at smaller loads. It would appear that lunges stimulate just as many, if not more muscles because of being slightly unstable. Therefore, we can't simply assume more weight equals more strength.

2. It is far more difficult to compensate on the lunge than the squat. The most common compensation is altering stride length to something shorter to remain more balanced. Outside of this pattern, it is darn hard to cheat a lunge. Many lifters know there are more than a few ways to cheat a squat.

3. You hit your weak points! I can't think of too many people that like to do what they are not good at. So many issues can be addressed with lunging, hip mobility, lower leg stability, and hip and leg strength. These issues can be missed with a lack of focus and time spent on single leg exercises. However, what I like so much about lunging is the dynamic stretch to one of the most problematic areas of the body, the hip flexors.

I also began to be in favor of using suspension training to enhance the training effect of lunges. The beauty of suspended lunges is that you can alter and progress range of motion and stability depending upon the version of the movement you use. Today I wanted to share some very important variations of suspended lunging that we use to take people's training to a new level.

The most difficult part? Being comfortable with not judging the success of the lift by how much weight you lift, rather by the results you obtain.

Beyond Abdominal Training

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:15:00 +0000

A lot of people have taken such a great interest in the story of my low back injury, I wanted to talk about really what has made a difference. 80% of Americans will experience low back pain some time in their life, and well, mine was a little more than some slight discomfort.

While most people think I am a powerlifter or strongman, the sport I played most of my life was basketball. It was also the sport most impacted by two herniated discs when playing in high school. Not knowing how to strengthen it, it eventually caught up with me playing in college to the point where I lost use of my right leg for a very brief time.

Even when I regained use of my leg, the pain was immense and I struggled with it for a long time. I did physical therapy and I went to corrective exercise certifications and programs. However, understanding what was weak and wrong didn't occur to me when I switched my philosophy completely.

What I learned about myself is that I suffered from some problems that a lot of people suffer from.

1. I really didn't understand how to move correctly. I didn't know how to produce force, absorb force, use mobility in my hips and spine to produce movement.

2. I didn't know how weak my hips were really! Renown strength coach calls this, gluteal amnesia, but I think it goes into hamstrings as well. When I realized how they didn't know how to work together I knew I had a lot of room to improve.

3. I didn't know how to resist force, I could produce power and force, but I didn't understand how to resist it. When I started incorporating drills that addressed these issues I saw my pain go down and performance go way up!

Many people want to know the drills I used to get better. To be honest, they are the exact same ones I have been teaching for the past four years. Now, I have outlined them in a series so YOU can see the progression of movement and learn how to help others or yourself get out of the same pain and frustration I spent several years with!

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Rotational Exercises

Not Just a Kettlebeller

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:42:00 +0000

"You can't base a philosophy around an implement"-Alwyn Cosgrove

At first I actually disagreed with Alwyn's statement. There is so much you can do depending upon the implement you are using. It is hard to perform functional based training if all you have is machines. Yet, I then thought about it more and thought about the rise of kettlebells. The more they grow in the maintstream the more poor use and implementation I see. That is when I began to see Alwyn's point. It still all comes down to coaching.

That is why I recently asked Strength Coach, Stefanie Tropea, to sit down with me and go over some of her training programs and coaching. Why did I ask Stefanie? Besides having a very successful training business in Norwalk, CT, Stefanie has began being successful in the sport of strongman. When a coach can balance business success, personal training success, and client success they are someone we can all learn from.

One of the things I learned from Stefanie was simple, yet perfect. Even though Stefanie is a big kettlebell enthusiast she explained to me it wasn't about lifting kettlebells, it was about using kettlebells to learn better movement. That is exactly how I feel about the Ultimate Sandbag, but she put it so much better.

Take time to listen this great interview with Stefanie Tropea where we discuss all things related to strength training!

Listen to Stefanie Tropea Interview

More Than Screaming and Yelling

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Unsophisticated, "hardcore", basic, easy, all these are terms I have heard various people use when refer to sandbag training. You see there is a HUGE difference between using a sandbag exercise and using sandbags as a systemized form of training.

I have seen many jump on board the sandbag bandwagon, but that isn't always a good thing. Seeing the random assignment of sandbag exercises to workouts or techniques being anything BUT good, I don't know if these people help or hurt our efforts. A sandbag by itself does not help you training, using a sandbag with great technique and purpose makes a world of difference in one's performance training.

Trust me, when you see the videos of athletes performing crappy sandbag exercises with the mindset of this being "hardcore", or "toughness training" it is anything but!

During the growth of my Sandbag Fitness Systems program I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet many coaches that I normally would have never spoken with. One of these coaches is Vince McConnell of McConnell Training in Fairhope, Alabama. Vince has been a leader in the fitness community for many years. So, I was really excited when he showed interest in the sandbag program.

Recently Vince sent me two videos of two VERY different athletes. The first is a high level athlete performing one of my favorite Ultimate Sandbag drills, the one legged goodmorning. As Coach McConnell told me this athlete can typically perform this drill with over double the weight with the bar on two feet. Yet, it is very obvious that this athlete is struggling to do less than half the weight on one leg with the Ultimate Sandbag.

This is a perfect example how good coaching can identify the needs of an athlete rather than just trying to "smoke" an already strong athlete. Now, the performance of the athlete, rather than the training of the athlete gets priority.

The next athlete is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Here is a young man that needs to build a base of training and instead of just "making him sweat", Coach McConnell provides a well balanced training program that hits patterns and muscles that makes this not just a preparation program, but definitely will provide this young man an edge in performance. It needs to be pointed out that this young man is not rushing through rep after rep, rather much more attention is spent with technique and performance. This may seem obvious, but how many times have you fallen for the trap of racing against the workout rather than remembering the objective of training for a specific purpose! Are you training or working out?

New German Volume Training

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:26:00 +0000

About ten years ago one of the most popular strength coaches, Charles Poliquin, wrote about a revolutionary muscle building program known as German Volume Training. Coach Poliquin based the program off of the off-season training program of German Olympic Lifters that took the off-season as a time to put on functional muscle mass. The program was relatively simple on paper. Ten sets of ten repetitions with a weight you could do 20 repetitions with. Although simple on paper, this was a brutal training program.

Coach Poliquin had a split of:

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Chest & Back Legs & Abs Off Arms & Shoulders Off

This program would definitely put some mass on, but had two main issues.

1. It was great for bodybuilding, but how about those that wanted to have more athletic based training and focused on compound lifts?

2. The recovery from these workouts was brutal and often hard to accomplish.

I had been thinking thought this program could potentially be modified to have some solutions. What I did was create several options that would work for those that were interested in using this style of program with just kettlebells and The Ultimate Sandbag.

1. Still use the 20 repetition weight option as your determination of the correct weight. Alternate sets of kettlebell lifts with the Ultimate Sandbag. For example, if you are alternating Clean and Press and Front Squats perform first series with kettlebells and the second series with the Ultimate Sandbag and Zercher squats.

2. Only perform this GVT once a week and focus on those big lifts that give you the most bang for your buck.

3. Only do 10 sets of 5, where the first 3 sets are with the 20 repetition weight, then move the weight to 15 repetition weight for 3 sets, then four sets of a 10 repetition maximum weight.

I recently used this program with the Ultimate Sandbag rotating the following:

Clean and Press for 5

Shoulder Squat Right for 5

Bent-over Row for 5

Shoulder Squat Left for 5

I used the third option for my program and gave about 60 seconds in between sets. You will find this is perfect for building functional muscle mass, and yep, burning some serious calories! Try it out and send us your results!

Josh Henkin, CSCS

The Armory Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000

I have gotten a ton of emails from people over the last few military based workouts. It seems people have always been fascintated with the fitness level of those in the military. When people think of being "in shape" they want the endurance and strength that soldiers are able to demonstrate. Yet, even the military has had to update their techniques to keep up with an ever more demanding and challenging world. That is why I was honored to help out our military with a specific program to get their best through the selected process.

The ideas and concepts though that are used in these workouts can be used by anyone. Some of the keys is to "fill in the holes" where most training fails. That is why the TRX and Ultimate Sandbag are so important as they allow us to train ranges of motions and patterns that are impossible with most common implements. Using our "Tough Enough" or this weeks' "Armory" workout can really not only enhance your fitness, but resilency to injury as well.

Check out our Military Sale Special

Do You Really Have All Round Wellness?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Being fit is more than just how strong you are, how much endurance you possess, or how flexible you are. In fact, fitness and health are not necessarily the same thing. Many "fit" people are very unhealthy because they don't manage all the components of health well. What is the solution? Recently I got to interview Paula Owens who is an expert in developing both high levels of fitness and health. If you ever wondered the following:

1. I am doing everything I think is right, but I am not losing weight, why?

2. Why do I workout but still feel like crap?

3. Am I doing the right things?

Then you will have to listen to this interview. Don't miss out either, Paula is running a special only on November 20th for her book the Power of 4 which outlines all these important details. This great book will only be $11.99 for this day and it is a steal!!

Listen to Paula Owen's Interview Here: Click Here

Want to pick up the book at this special price? Just go to Amazon.com on the 20th and get this great resource that can really change the way you live your life! I have personally seen Paula work her magic on every body from elite athletes, to those frustrated by not getting results!

Take the "Tough Enough" Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Henkin) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:24:00 +0000

So many people wanted to see the types of workouts I created for the Special Forces candidates. Watch the video to not only see a great workout, but why we are using these exercises and tools! Get the secrets to being elite!

Don't forget about our Military Special going on now!!! Click Here