Kept going back and forth with how to “rank” this one (I’d type out one line, and then think “oh yeah advanced” type out the next and think “intermediate” then realized… if you are comfortable with all the exercises in the workout then the “level” is really determined by the weights you choose, and the length of the rest breaks you take… so since I had to pick something, I left it on “intermediate”. It should also be noted that when I did the workout, I used a Power Ultimate Sandbag for some of it, and a Strength Ultimate Sandbag to just test a couple things out… before it felt like I was going to see stars or something. Suffice it to say the difference between a smaller, lighter sandbag and a heavier, bigger, floppier sandbag was stealthily extreme).
Heavily influenced by both the DVRT system of Ultimate Sandbag training AND Zach Even-Esh’s Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning, this was a fun workout for a mind-obliteratingly weird and mildy stressful (understatement) day. Fortunately (or rather unfortunately) my good friend and training partner had had a similar day and was up to this challenge. I knew that with both of our wobbly mental states it would be a good idea to have this one written down with alternatives if we (or the terrain) became uncoopertive. (Example: this workout originally included battling rope throws, but when we got to the designated park found the grass to be very damp).
While this is a full body workout, it does seem to have a good emphasis on the gluteus medius along with some significant strength components too. With moderate to heavy weights it’s also a good opportunity for asserting one’s stubbornness (Example: “I WILL finish this… and no one can stop me”) for you stoics (or aspiring stoics) out there.
More often than not I like to grit my teeth (well not literally, I’ve got couple crowns in there) and just plow through a workout inspired by Zach’s book–while using good form and appropriate weights of course. But I like it when the challenge is sufficent enough for me to have that moment of doubt, “Do I cut this down to 2 rounds and not 3?” before I just keep going. Or I have that thought and look over and see my training partner always seems like she hasn’t broken a sweat or isn’t out of breath. (And BTW, congrats to her on the PR double 14kg kettlebell press is a very significant accomplishment… it’s al up and up from there).
The “Bear Complex” as described in Zach’s book is a ton of fun, basically grab your sandbag, clean it, do a squat, press it (and bring it down behind your head), do a squat (now it’s a back squat!), press it and bring it down to the regular clean position, do a squat, put it down. That’s one rep, and now we see where the name comes from. I did this with the heavier bag a couple of times and that was a very special learning experience on the way to switching over to the lighter bag. It was that or cut the reps.
To ensure we had the maximum amount of fun for our time out there we did a little “bonus” which I did not include on the graphic above… which you will see at the end of the workout fully written out below:
Joint Mobility Warm up, Convict Conditioning Vol 2 Trifecta
20 kettlebell swings (either 2 hand or alternating 1 arm swings, moderate size kettlebell)
Sandbag “Bear Complex” in a descending ladder of reps:
- 5 Reps – short rest
- 4 Reps – short rest
- 3 Reps – short rest
- 2 Reps – short rest
- 1 Rep – short rest
(Just for fun I did a double kettlebell version of it–which was also how I coaxed my training partner into trying a 14kg double kettlebell press for the first time. If you want to try it: double clean kettlebells, squat. Press overhead then bring down, squat, press over head again, squat, stand and safely put the kettlebells down)
Next:
4 Rounds of 12 alternating backwards lunges with the sandbag held in a “Zercher” position (chest height, closely held in the crooks of the elbows…basically)
This fun sort of “free for all” interval pattern you may know by a specific name:
- 20 seconds DVRT Sandbag rotational lunges, 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds sprawls, 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds double kettlebell swings, 10 seconds rest
- 20 second DVRT style Sandbag cleans and presses, 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds (choice! double kettlebell snatches or Sandbag snatches), 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds double kettlebell cleans, 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds kettlebell swings (your choice), 10 seconds rest
- 20 seconds DVRT Sandbag rotational lunges, 10 seconds rest
(I plucked my eyebrows too much in the 1990s and now I get sweat in my eyes from doing this stuff… granted almost anyone could benefit from having a hand towel handy for that combo)
Finally, given that I could figure out how long our overhead walks would be, we had this last little task… originally the overhead walks were going to be shorter, but the smaller sandbags felt light (maybe we were delerious) by this time, and the tree/lampost/etc I would use to figure out the distance with a satalite photo later were conveniently located. If you’ve ever worked out with me and wondered why certain paths were chosen, and that they’re a little longer than intended, its because I’m thinking about measuring them later and I never round down.
3 rounds of:
- 160ft (total round trip) sandbag overhead walk
- 20 kettlebell swings (your choice)
Finally after all of that it was time to finish up with some joint mobility and drag everything home. WHEW!
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