00:00:00
the sandbag to shoulder is more than
00:00:02
just a simple exercise it's a sport a
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skill like the snatch for a weightlifter
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or the deadlift for a powerlifter the
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sandbag toh shoulder is the driving
00:00:11
force behind all Heavy sandbag lifting
00:00:13
it gives your training purpose working
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with it makes you strong in every sense
00:00:17
of the word and builds muscle like a
00:00:19
wrestler or a strongman there are many
00:00:21
different techniques you can use to
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shoulder a sandbag and they all work but
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today I'd like to take a closer look at
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my preferred technique and discuss why I
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think it may be the ultimate blend of
00:00:31
all lifting Styles bringing together the
00:00:34
best parts of each variation before
00:00:36
going any further I'd like to give
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credit where it's due I first saw this
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lifting method used by the modern Stone
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lifting Legend Andy Crawford I highly
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recommend you look them up if you
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haven't already moving on when you see
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this video what comes to
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mind in my experience there are three
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different responses to this one you're
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UNAM familiar with heavy lifting in
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general and you cringe at the thought of
00:01:03
the back destruction the exercise must
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cause two you are familiar with heavy
00:01:08
lifting but haven't done much if any odd
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object lifting your thoughts probably
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center around that underhand arm
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position and a fear of snapping a bicep
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tendon three your thought is simply okay
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this is pretty cool you've either lifted
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sandbags before or maybe you just
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haven't accepted the general consensus
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that the human body is this fragile
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thing ready to break at all times let me
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just briefly address each of
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these one the back while this usually
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ends up being less of a concern for
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seasoned lifters as the back is
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incredibly adaptable and will likely
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become the strongest part of your body
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quickly the fear is not unfounded you
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can get into trouble if you're not
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prepared to keep your back safe when
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shouldering a sandbag my recommendation
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is to focus most of your attention at
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all times on breathing and bracing
00:01:58
proper bracing protects your spine and
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will also make you significantly
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stronger before every step of the
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movement every transition along the way
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you must take a deep breath as deep as
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you're able and Brace your stomach hard
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this is known as the Val Salva maneuver
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and it's the foundation of all heavy
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lifting two the biceps this technique
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does require you to catch a sandbag with
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a bent arm underhand grip position
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that's the part that scares people and
00:02:24
rightly so the risk of bicep injury when
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lifting heavy will always be there but I
00:02:29
don't believe it's it's actually much of
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an issue when using this sandbag to
00:02:32
shoulder technique I considered many
00:02:34
different Arguments for why this is I
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could talk about absolute load and how
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sandbags are self-limiting in the best
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kind of way forcing the entire body to
00:02:42
get strong preventing any one specific
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area from becoming overburdened I
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considered mentioning arm wrestlers and
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levers detailing the insane amounts of
00:02:51
force arm wrestlers can handle going
00:02:53
through their upper arms and how that
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force is magnified because the weight an
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arm wrestler fights against is in their
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hand which is is as far away from the
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elbow joint as you can get increasing
00:03:02
the lever and making the tension even
00:03:04
greater like the strong man who
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leverages a hammer towards his face by
00:03:08
holding the very end of the handle I
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consider discussing underhand power
00:03:12
cleans and Yates rows making an argument
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that there are much more dangerous
00:03:16
things being done in a typical gym
00:03:18
setting every day I also thought that
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maybe making a point about how the arms
00:03:22
are incredibly strong in a static flexed
00:03:25
position might be a good idea and how
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this is the natural instinctive way we
00:03:29
shape bodies when preparing for anything
00:03:31
strenuous like a wrestler who sets
00:03:33
himself up in an athletic stance by
00:03:36
flexing many of the joints in his body
00:03:37
storing up tension but I realize none of
00:03:40
that matters the truth about this
00:03:42
sandbag toh shoulder lifting technique
00:03:44
is that the biceps aren't really there
00:03:45
to do the heavy lifting or to absorb the
00:03:48
weight of the incoming sandbag at all
00:03:50
yes your hand will wrap around the
00:03:52
sandbag as you catch it to help guide it
00:03:54
and there will be some small amount of
00:03:56
force transferred onto the biceps
00:03:57
because of this but the majority of that
00:03:59
force is actually absorbed by the entire
00:04:02
body the elbow is flexed the arm is in
00:04:04
an underhand position but the sandbag
00:04:07
actually lands at a point that's above
00:04:08
the elbow joint directly onto the bicep
00:04:10
itself the only way the bicep would be
00:04:13
in danger is if you somehow manage to
00:04:15
catch a sandbag in your hand or on your
00:04:17
forearm forcing the bicep to prevent
00:04:20
movement at the elbow joint but that
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just wouldn't work sandbags are bulky
00:04:24
and trying to catch one like that it
00:04:25
would just fall back to the ground
00:04:27
anyone new to this sandbag to shoulder
00:04:29
lifting St style should spend some time
00:04:31
practicing with lighter weights to
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master the form done wrong there is
00:04:35
always that risk of injury but when done
00:04:37
correctly it's much less of a concern
00:04:39
than you might assume at first glance
00:04:41
three the final response this is cool I
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want to try it myself let's get into
00:04:49
it begin by lifting a sandbag from the
00:04:52
ground and placing it in a horizontal
00:04:54
position on your lap from there draay
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both of your arms over top as far as
00:04:58
you're able with a double overhand grip
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initiate the next part of the movement
00:05:02
by reaching your hips back like a spring
00:05:05
storing up energy then violently extend
00:05:07
with everything you have imagining as
00:05:09
you do your intention is to
00:05:11
simultaneously jump into the air and
00:05:14
throw the sandbag up and over your head
00:05:16
as the sandbag reaches Max height reach
00:05:18
one of your arms underneath and catch it
00:05:20
with an over undergrip from here
00:05:23
continue moving the sandbag up towards
00:05:24
the shoulder on the side of your
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underhand arm rotating it as you do with
00:05:29
every heave your intention should remain
00:05:31
jump and throw it's a simple movement
00:05:33
but it will take some practice to master
00:05:36
now let's go over why I think it's
00:05:38
possibly the best shouldering technique
00:05:39
there is keep in mind that most of what
00:05:42
I have to say is about the endgame a lot
00:05:44
of this stuff won't apply until you're
00:05:46
already pretty Advanced and it may be
00:05:48
years before any of this really matters
00:05:50
you can use many of these ideas straight
00:05:52
away but they probably won't have as big
00:05:54
an impact with lighter weights even so
00:05:57
there aren't many videos talking about
00:05:58
shouldering true truly heavy sandbags
00:06:01
and I think we're all capable of making
00:06:02
it much further along this path than we
00:06:05
might allow ourselves to believe so
00:06:07
hopefully this will be useful to you if
00:06:09
not at first then maybe somewhere down
00:06:10
the
00:06:14
line a horizontal position on the lap
00:06:17
will always be easier to get to than a
00:06:19
vertical position it's a simple matter
00:06:21
of gravity regardless of how you choose
00:06:23
to lift a sandbag from the ground
00:06:25
regardless of where the sandbag ends up
00:06:27
after you lift it you can always move it
00:06:29
to a horizontal position on the lap if
00:06:31
needed with relative ease the same
00:06:33
cannot be said for moving a sandbag to a
00:06:35
vertical position it takes considerably
00:06:38
more effort to move a sandbag from a
00:06:40
horizontal position on the lap to a
00:06:42
vertical one than it does the other way
00:06:43
around to explain why this is important
00:06:46
and to make my case for the horizontal
00:06:48
lap position being optimal in the long
00:06:50
run let me briefly go over each of the
00:06:52
three main lifting styles from the
00:06:55
ground lifting from a horizontal
00:06:57
position on the ground is
00:06:58
straightforward and at first glance
00:07:01
probably seems like the obvious choice
00:07:03
when the goal is bringing a sandbag to a
00:07:05
horizontal position on the lap just lift
00:07:07
the sandbag straight up from the ground
00:07:09
to your lap and you're set but what if
00:07:11
you can't lift the sandbag off the
00:07:12
ground from that position for many
00:07:14
lifters the horizontal lift from the
00:07:16
ground is significantly more difficult
00:07:18
than the other techniques as you get
00:07:20
stronger the sandbags you lift get
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longer which means a wider grip and a
00:07:24
more bent over torso angle it's like
00:07:26
deadlifting a barbell with a standard
00:07:28
shoulder width grip versus using a
00:07:30
snatch grip the snatch grip will always
00:07:32
be harder because of this problem with
00:07:34
difficulty scaling the stronger you get
00:07:36
the more difficult the exercise becomes
00:07:39
it's very likely your strength from the
00:07:40
lap to the shoulder will eventually
00:07:42
outpace your ability to lift a sandbag
00:07:44
from a horizontal position on the ground
00:07:46
up to your
00:07:48
lap moving on to the second lifting
00:07:51
position from the ground lying
00:07:52
vertically if you're strong enough all
00:07:54
you need to do is lift the sandbag to
00:07:56
your lap then push it over in a perfect
00:07:59
world that would be all there is to it
00:08:01
but I would argue this technique has a
00:08:03
problem with difficulty scaling as well
00:08:05
as you become stronger again the
00:08:07
sandbags you lift become longer and
00:08:09
using this lifting technique the sandbag
00:08:11
will have a tendency to run into your
00:08:13
body on the way up the only way to
00:08:15
overcome this is by either moving the
00:08:17
sandbag further out in front of you
00:08:19
dramatically increasing the strength
00:08:20
requirement or by trying to kind of
00:08:23
shimmy the thing up once you reach the
00:08:25
halfway mark which in my experience is a
00:08:27
very difficult thing to do and best case
00:08:29
scenario even if you do manage it it
00:08:31
will leave you worn out taken away from
00:08:33
the rest of the shoulder
00:08:36
attempt that leads us finally to the
00:08:38
lift from the ground to the lap with a
00:08:40
sandbag starting and an upright standing
00:08:42
position unlike the previous two this
00:08:45
technique uses the increased length of
00:08:47
heavier sandbags to its Advantage the
00:08:49
longer a sandbag is the taller it will
00:08:51
stand meaning you won't need to bend
00:08:53
over as far to lift it which means a
00:08:55
lower strength requirement if you have
00:08:57
the strength to lift the sandbag all the
00:08:59
way up up from the ground to the lap in
00:09:01
one continuous motion again all you'll
00:09:03
need to do is push it over from that
00:09:05
vertical position to a horizontal one
00:09:07
letting gravity do the work for you and
00:09:09
you'll be good to go this will work up
00:09:11
to a certain point but there's more to
00:09:13
it the trick is as you become very
00:09:15
Advanced with the sandbag to shoulder
00:09:17
there will come a point where your
00:09:19
strength from the lap to the shoulder
00:09:21
will outpace even this most advantageous
00:09:23
lifting position from the ground
00:09:25
eventually you will most likely need to
00:09:27
alter your Technique one final time
00:09:29
unless you happen to be one of the few
00:09:31
who is uncommonly strong off the ground
00:09:34
the only realistic way to lap a very
00:09:36
heavy sand bag will be to decrease the
00:09:38
range of motion by leveraging it against
00:09:41
one leg and moving it to a horizontal
00:09:43
position on your lap it won't be easy
00:09:45
you'll have to fight pretty hard for it
00:09:47
but at a certain point this becomes the
00:09:49
only viable Way Forward for many it's
00:09:51
the only way to even attempt shouldering
00:09:54
very heavy weights this means lifting
00:09:56
from a horizontal lap position sets you
00:09:58
up for success in the future where more
00:10:00
likely than not a horizontal LP Position
00:10:03
will be mandatory because the leveraging
00:10:05
technique is your only option for
00:10:07
lapping truly heavy
00:10:12
sandbags next let's move on to why
00:10:15
lifting from the lap in a horizontal
00:10:17
position is more powerful anyway
00:10:19
remember back to what I said about this
00:10:21
lifting technique you should initiate
00:10:22
the movement by reaching your hips back
00:10:24
storing up energy like a spring then
00:10:27
extending with everything you have
00:10:28
thinking jump and throw now while you
00:10:31
can do this with a sandbag in a vertical
00:10:33
position using a bare hug grip at a
00:10:35
certain point once you reach your hips
00:10:37
far enough back the sandbag will begin
00:10:39
falling away from you forcing you to
00:10:41
focus more on keeping hold of it and
00:10:43
less on being as explosive as you can
00:10:46
with a sandbag resting horizontally on
00:10:48
your lap however you're able to easily
00:10:50
maximally load your hips and then extend
00:10:52
with every ounce of power you have
00:10:54
without fear of losing hold of it now
00:10:56
add to that the double overhand grip
00:10:59
this grip makes it very easy to throw
00:11:01
the sandbag and allows it to naturally
00:11:03
roll up your body following the path of
00:11:05
least resistance a neutral grip or an
00:11:08
over undergrip can work for this too but
00:11:11
they often lead to an over Reliance on
00:11:12
the arms which can hold you back with
00:11:15
the double overhand grip the arms are
00:11:17
simply there to guide the power
00:11:18
generated by your lower body without
00:11:20
getting in the way following this train
00:11:22
of thought you can see why a horizontal
00:11:24
double overhand Position will let you
00:11:26
bring a sandbag higher up on your chest
00:11:28
than any other
00:11:29
this is the key element to this lifting
00:11:31
style for one simple reason the higher
00:11:33
you can bring a sandbag from that
00:11:35
powerful starting position on the lap
00:11:37
the less distance you'll have to travel
00:11:39
later on when the sandbag is in a less
00:11:41
powerful position on your chest when a
00:11:43
sandbag is on your lap you can rely on
00:11:45
the entire lower body for power you can
00:11:47
make full use of the ankles knees and
00:11:50
hips to generate Force when the sandbag
00:11:52
is on your chest however you have to
00:11:54
rely mainly on the knees and ankles as
00:11:56
you can't bend much if at all at the
00:11:58
hips or the sandbag would fall forward
00:12:00
setting you off balance the higher you
00:12:02
can lift a sandbag from your lap the
00:12:04
more likely you are to shoulder it a
00:12:06
horizontal double overhand starting
00:12:08
position lets you bring the sandbag
00:12:10
higher than any
00:12:13
other now let's look at moving a sandbag
00:12:16
from the upper chest to the shoulder
00:12:18
this is another huge component to what
00:12:20
makes this particular lifting style so
00:12:22
powerful when lifting a sandbag straight
00:12:24
up from a vertical position you must
00:12:27
rely entirely on the strength of your
00:12:28
body body to move the weight either you
00:12:30
have the raw brute strength to do it or
00:12:33
you don't when moving a sandbag from a
00:12:35
horizontal position though you can make
00:12:36
use of rotation to lower the strength
00:12:39
requirement think about it with a
00:12:40
sandbag horizontal on your upper chest
00:12:42
your goal is essentially to rotate one
00:12:45
side of it up to the shoulder rather
00:12:46
than trying to move the entire thing
00:12:49
this takes more skill and precision but
00:12:50
means you don't need to be nearly as
00:12:52
strong to do it add all of these things
00:12:54
together and you have yourself an
00:12:56
extremely powerful lifting technique to
00:12:58
recap one it's easier to get to a
00:13:01
horizontal position on the lap than a
00:13:02
vertical one and for many lifters this
00:13:05
position will eventually become
00:13:06
mandatory once the standing upright
00:13:08
leveraging technique from the ground
00:13:10
becomes the only realistic way to lap a
00:13:12
sandbag two the double overhand grip is
00:13:16
very powerful and with it you're able to
00:13:18
make full use of the potential for power
00:13:20
you have when lifting a sandbag from the
00:13:22
lap meaning you'll have less work to do
00:13:24
later on when your potential for power
00:13:26
isn't nearly as high three rotating the
00:13:29
sandbag to the shoulder rather than
00:13:31
moving the entire thing up in a straight
00:13:33
line lowers the strength requirement and
00:13:35
lets you push further than you otherwise
00:13:37
could by adding an extra skill component
00:13:39
to the movement and that's all I have
00:13:41
for why I think this technique has the
00:13:43
potential to be the best there is I hope
00:13:45
you'll try it
00:13:47
out if you're interested in the sandbag
00:13:49
to shoulder and want to learn more about
00:13:51
how it fits into a complete training
00:13:53
routine I just released a book and
00:13:55
training program called sandbag
00:13:57
hypertrophy the complete sandbag
00:13:59
training manual it's currently for sale
00:14:01
over on Amazon if you'd like to check it
00:14:02
out I'll have it linked in the
00:14:04
description below in the book I go over
00:14:06
everything you could ever need to know
00:14:08
about training with sandbags from
00:14:10
technique and exercise placement in a
00:14:12
program to Theory and the sandbag
00:14:14
lifting mindset I also made a 25-minute
00:14:17
video detailing one of the two complete
00:14:19
programs from the book I'll have it
00:14:21
linked below as well a quick thank you
00:14:23
to everyone who already got the book
00:14:24
hearing how much you enjoyed it has
00:14:26
really motivated me to keep working on
00:14:28
these videos I'm fired up and there is
00:14:30
much more on the way also thanks to
00:14:32
those of you who left a aiew over on
00:14:34
Amazon that helps me out immensely if
00:14:36
you got the book and haven't already
00:14:38
letting me know what you think over
00:14:39
there is a great way to continue
00:14:41
supporting the channel and I appreciate
00:14:43
it more than I can say good luck on your
00:14:45
quest to shoulder heavy sandbags thanks
00:14:47
for watching and as always I'll see you
00:14:49
in the next one
