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Getting Started with Sandbags

KingBeans

KingBeans

Level 3 Valued Member
Hello friends -

I am a member of my companies first aid response team and picking up or carrying an adult is very likely. That being said I'd like to add more practicality into my strength training with sandbags.

However, I really don't know what to look for. Can someone with some experience provide some insight to the different types of sandbags and their pros/cons?

From what I can gather there are three general shapes, 1) Long with handles, 2) Atlas Stone 3) A bag tied at the top.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
You are going to get a bunch of different responses.
I generally advocate bags with handles since you can do more exercises. That said as you approach your bodyweight and beyond, you won't be using handles anymore.

MTI sandbag getups are possibly the best single sandbag exercise, done prone and supine. After that, cleans and round back pulling off the floor.

I train basic whole body with mine, loaded at 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3 bodyweight, this being a full range of exercises and metcons.

Someone looking to do real heavy pulling would probably start at 2/3 or full on bodyweight and have no use for handles.
 
Brute Force Sandbags and Brute Balls are the best I've used (and I have several brands).

They should be on sale wity Black Friday deals.
 
I think if you want to get stronger for lifting humans, sandbag shouldering with heavy bags is a must. I've been training to throw people in martial arts and the only two exercises I'm really doing are sandbag shouldering and bearhug squats. I'm very pleased with the results.
 
3letterslong said:
I think if you want to get stronger for lifting humans, sandbag shouldering with heavy bags is a must. I've been training to throw people in martial arts and the only two exercises I'm really doing are sandbag shouldering and bearhug squats. I'm very pleased with the results.
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What bags are you using?
 
I've been casually competing in a sandbag based sport for the past year or two. Here is my beginner perspective of the sandbags I've used in that time.

Long skinny with handles (GP Training Sandbag)
These are really general and versatile. I tend to use these for sandbag based conditioning since they are light and easy to pick up. Their downsides are that they are light and easy to pick up. Pick these up, sprint, put it down, sprint, repeat.

"Atlas" sandbags Dual-Ply Sandbag V3
These are great easy to use ones. You can get them in a variety of sizes and are perfect for picks, sandbags to shoulders, loads, that sort of thing. I use them for picking them up off the ground. You have to actually get under them so if you are training to pick up a person, that is a good thing. They have great transfer to Atlas stones too. Downside is they are one size, if you want to change the weight it is either going to be a new bag or a loose fill. Not bad things, but something to keep in mind.

"bag" style sandbags Tough-as-Nails Cordura large sandbag for strength training-www.ironmind-store.com
These are the classic style. They are very similar to the round one above, but also you have a floppy end piece to deal with. *insert joke here*. They tend to fill a wider variety of loads easier than the above one. They are also a lot cheaper. I like these ones just for the value to versatility. I like these, but also have a weird thing for ironmind products. The above version is probably "better", but not enough that I'd pick those over these for my personal use.

Honorable mentions: Throwing sandbags: Throwing Bag V2
These are light and made to throw over a bar, probably not what you are looking for.
Rouge also had a "worm" sandbag for a while. It is basically a bunch of sandbags sewn together. If you can find one it might be a great addition for training for picking up a person since they are (IIRC) 5' long.

My personal opinion is that if you are training to pick people up, get one without handles. People don't usually come with handles. Maybe even venture into the dummy sandbags used for grappling.
 
KingBeans said:
Hello friends -

I am a member of my companies first aid response team and picking up or carrying an adult is very likely. That being said I'd like to add more practicality into my strength training with sandbags.

However, I really don't know what to look for. Can someone with some experience provide some insight to the different types of sandbags and their pros/cons?

From what I can gather there are three general shapes, 1) Long with handles, 2) Atlas Stone 3) A bag tied at the top.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
I have an IronMind bag and it was pretty reasonably priced. Something like $70, you have to tie it at the top. I have a Ceberus bag that is pretty decent. I meant to buy the atlas stone-shaped one but it has to tie in a way that I just ended up duct-taping. And I have a lighter one that I can just throw over my shoulder to take a walk with. The other two I usually pick up and do a bag over the bar with or shoulder them.
 
Get Rx’d has some pretty good sandbag sales for black November. I’ve never used them, just saw them go on sale.

www.getrxd.com

Colossus Sandbags

Get ready to train like the heavyweights with Get RXd Colossus Sandbags. Made from 1000D Cordura, these sandbags are designed to handle heavy loads. Get RXd Colossus Sandbags are available in six sizes: 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, and 400 pounds. Each bag features a velcro and zipper enclosure...
www.getrxd.com www.getrxd.com

I bought a 200# atlas stone sandbag a couple weeks ago and it’s a blast. Brian Alsruhe has some great videos that helped me be able to lap it and get it over a low height bar. The workouts so far have absolutely wiped me out as well. Excited to continue playing with them.
 
silveraw said:
I've been casually competing in a sandbag based sport for the past year or two. Here is my beginner perspective of the sandbags I've used in that time.

Long skinny with handles (GP Training Sandbag)
These are really general and versatile. I tend to use these for sandbag based conditioning since they are light and easy to pick up. Their downsides are that they are light and easy to pick up. Pick these up, sprint, put it down, sprint, repeat.

"Atlas" sandbags Dual-Ply Sandbag V3
These are great easy to use ones. You can get them in a variety of sizes and are perfect for picks, sandbags to shoulders, loads, that sort of thing. I use them for picking them up off the ground. You have to actually get under them so if you are training to pick up a person, that is a good thing. They have great transfer to Atlas stones too. Downside is they are one size, if you want to change the weight it is either going to be a new bag or a loose fill. Not bad things, but something to keep in mind.

"bag" style sandbags Tough-as-Nails Cordura large sandbag for strength training-www.ironmind-store.com
These are the classic style. They are very similar to the round one above, but also you have a floppy end piece to deal with. *insert joke here*. They tend to fill a wider variety of loads easier than the above one. They are also a lot cheaper. I like these ones just for the value to versatility. I like these, but also have a weird thing for ironmind products. The above version is probably "better", but not enough that I'd pick those over these for my personal use.

Honorable mentions: Throwing sandbags: Throwing Bag V2
These are light and made to throw over a bar, probably not what you are looking for.
Rouge also had a "worm" sandbag for a while. It is basically a bunch of sandbags sewn together. If you can find one it might be a great addition for training for picking up a person since they are (IIRC) 5' long.

My personal opinion is that if you are training to pick people up, get one without handles. People don't usually come with handles. Maybe even venture into the dummy sandbags used for grappling.
Click to expand...
Man this is super helpful, thank you so much!
 
I’ve got a mixture of Cerberus Dual Ply (Dual-Ply Sandbag V3) and GORUCK 2.0s with handles (Training Sandbags). I use the Cerberus for the heavy stuff - ground to shoulder, ground over shoulder, bear hug squats, etc. I use the GORUCK for higher rep conditioning. The handles make it easy to clean them into a front rack position for pressing, squatting, lunges, step ups, etc.

If you’re looking for some more conditioning oriented ideas, GORUCK has a quite a bit - News & Stories. They post a new weeks worth of ideas every Sunday I believe.

Edit to Add: Also - GORUCK has their own med ball and tombstone bags now that go pretty heavy. Some of their WODs incorporate them. I use my Cerberus when called for. They work fine.
 
KingBeans said:
Can someone with some experience provide some insight to the different types of sandbags and their pros/cons?
Click to expand...
Atlas style are cool, but can get expensive if you need multiple sizes/weights. The bag style are great as you can buy one (say sized for up to 300lbs) and fill it as you get stronger/more comfortable with lifting. Then, if you decide you want a couple weights you know better what you want and if you want to buy them in atlas style.
 
I have picked up plenty of humans from all kinds of positions, including prone on the floor. Most of the time they really didn't want to be picked up (which I can understand, since I put them down quite hard right afterwards), but then again, I'm a wrestler, not a first responder.
My two cents: picking up sandbags and picking up humans is quite different. You don't learn to pick up a human by lifting sandbags, you learn it by picking up humans. If you are a first responder, familiarize yourself with the ranger roll first, it's designed to lift unconscious humans heavier than the lifter, without hurting either:

(Please ignore the the time stamp, I was too lazy to log out of my youtube account)

Once you can do that with a light-ish person, you can use a simulator for your own training if you prefer (although my coach would say "if you want to be good at picking up humans, pick up a lot of humans"). Building a grappling dummy (they sell unfilled canvas shells for that, for as little as 50$ last time I checked) would probably be best, or else a very long, narrow sandbag.

Of corse, you will need some strength to pull that off, but it doesn't really matter how you get that. For example, the Russian Sambo team apparently employed a strength standard stating everybody should be able to full squat a partner of their weight 40x (in fireman's carry). It would take most people years to get to even a single of that weight with sandbags, but considerably shorter with a partner or barbell.
 
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3letterslong said:
I've just got a basic bag that ties at the top, filled to 160lbs. I've been using it for a year and my only complaint is that in the last few months, dust has been floating out the sides of it when I drop it. It's a Cerberus, which I think is a pretty good brand, so I don't know what that means.
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I pull my filler bags and vacuum the inside of the bag when it starts to get too dusty.

With pea gravel, sand etc, eventually the fines become finer and push past any closures, seams, even the fabric.
 
North Coast Miller said:
I pull my filler bags and vacuum the inside of the bag when it starts to get too dusty.

With pea gravel, sand etc, eventually the fines become finer and push past any closures, seams, even the fabric.
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lol thank you for solving this mystery for me! That makes perfect sense and it never once crossed my mind, but I've noticed several times in life that I'm a terrible detective. Have you ever tried wrapping the filter bags in garbage bags? I might try that.
 
3letterslong said:
Have you ever tried wrapping the filter bags in garbage bags? I might try that.
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I make all my filler bags with Contractor's bags. They're thicker and more durable.

I'll make the intial bag with sand, shape it to the size I need, and seal it with Duct tape. Then I wrap it in a second Contractor's bag sealing it with Duct tape and put it in my outer Sandbag (Ultimate Sandbags and Brute Force).

They have typically lasted me 5-10 years before needing to re-wrap or make a new one from scratch.
 
renegadenate said:
I make all my filler bags with Contractor's bags. They're thicker and more durable.

I'll make the intial bag with sand, shape it to the size I need, and seal it with Duct tape. Then I wrap it in a second Contractor's bag sealing it with Duct tape and put it in my outer Sandbag (Ultimate Sandbags and Brute Force).

They have typically lasted me 5-10 years before needing to re-wrap or make a new one from scratch.
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This is a great tip, thank you! I've been wanting to make a sandbag backpack (around 100lbs, give or take) but have had trouble finding info on assembling the components. Your contractor bag recipe would work great for that. Now I just need to track down a ruck sack that can handle 100lbs.
 
3letterslong said:
This is a great tip, thank you! I've been wanting to make a sandbag backpack (around 100lbs, give or take) but have had trouble finding info on assembling the components. Your contractor bags would work great for that. Now I just need to track down a ruck sack that can handle 100lbs.
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They work great and you can shape them however you need to fit your pack/Sandbag.

It takes a little trial and error when folding them to the size you want/need (the sand doesn't always cooperate), but it's worth it so it fills your pack better.

You'll need a big ruck sack for 100lbs!

My 100lb Brute Force Sandbag (green) and Brute Ball are big!

My 50lb Sandbag (blue) and Brute Ball are about the size of a backpack.

20231109_164037.jpg
 
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