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the Ultimate Sandbag review

July 5, 2012 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP 16 Comments

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Last Updated on January 29, 2022 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP

As I’ve stated many times here on this blog, I’m a huge fan of functional training.  A few weeks ago, I made my own “sandbag” by duct taping a bag of play sand from Home Depot. Did it work? Sure. But it was heavy, awkward, and I was somewhat limited in what I could do with the sandbag other than use it as one big heavy weight.

A woman uses the Ultimate Sandbag on her shoulders to perform a squat

Enter: the Ultimate Sandbag.

I was over the MOON excited to get my hands on this product and be able to do a review for you guys.  Developed by Josh Henkin, a strength coach and sports performance leader behind Dynamic Variable Resistance Training, the Ultimate Sandbag is a multi use, multi functional piece of equipment that almost replaces everything you would find in a traditional gym.

About The Ultimate Sandbag

The Ultimate Sandbag workouts were designed to:

  1. Build Core Strength In Less Time While Getting a Full Body Workout
  2. Burn More Calories & Fat with Unstable Shifting Material
  3. Improve Flexibility and Retrain Muscles – Forgotten in Standard Routines – Simultaneously
  4. Reduce Pain By Balancing Muscles Movements to Take Stress Off the Body
  5. More Variety of Challenging and Fun Workouts

Check out this workout (obviously an advanced workout) to get an idea of how this thing works:

What is it? :  The Ultimate Sandbag is quite literally a super heavy duty duffel bag (the shell) covered in various handles that comes with filler bags.  It is the most durable sandbag available on the market (30% stronger than any other available materials on the market), made of proprietary military grade materials.

It is waterproof, will not tear, stretch, crack, rot, or mildew.  And further, the material is non-abrasive to the skin.   Depending on how full the filler bags are, as well as how many filler bags you put in the shell, will vary the load in the sandbag.

The ultimate sandbag comes in three sizes:  The Power (smallest, most compact size, great for beginning women and young athletes), The Strength (recommended for beginner men, great blend of strength and conditioning) and The Burly (largest and heaviest, made to replicate Strongman type lifts or heavy barbell lifts)

I reviewed the (pink!) Power shell:

Image of the Ultimate Sandbag inner bag next to the outer shell
Don’t worry guys, it comes in black as well 😉

In addition to the shell and filler bags, the Ultimate Sandbag comes with a DVD clearly demonstrating the various possible exercises, a full size poster with visuals of the exercises, and a program guide.

The Ultimate Sandbag Review:

The bag was relatively easy to fill.  Each filler bag is double Velcro sealed.  It is somewhat tedious to open and seal the filler bags and shell, however, this seems to ensure that the sand will stay in place and not make a mess.

My very handsome/crazy training partner in crime/boyfriend (surprise!) and I took the sandbag down to a local ball field to quite literally throw it around and give it a test drive.  I wouldn’t say I was skeptical at first, as I knew the benefits of this type of training. I was, however, totally surprised at how much harder simple exercises became using the bag.

If you are used to swinging dumbbells around, than the variability and constant shifting of weight of the sandbag is certainly something that takes you by surprise.  What I liked the most about the ultimate sandbag is that it can be used as a traditional weight, doing things such as clean and press or bicep curl, or can be used as a load on your body as you perform more dynamic exercises, such as lunges, squats, or my favorite for Spartan Beast training….running/hiking up and down massive hills:

woman climbs up a grassy hill with The Ultimate Sandbag on her shoulders as a means of resistance training
Image of woman walking down a hill with The Ultimate Sandbag on her shoulders

Little things that would normally not even make me bat an eye, such as 10 squats or lunges, were a whole different challenge using the sandbag.  Not only because of the obvious: the added weight, but because the instability of the bag forced me to use my core and other stabilizing muscles to stay in proper form.

As you can see in the video below, someone who is very experienced in a typical clean & press with barbells becomes slightly unstable with much less weight using the sandbag.

Woman doing walking weighted lunges using The Ultimate Sandbag in a twisting motion to work her core
Woman holding the Ultimate Sandbag in front of her chest getting ready to perform a squat
Man holding the Ultimate Sandbag overhead outdoors on a grassy field
woman holds the Ultimate Sandbag on her right shoulder while walking past a baseball field and fence

Now, for a couple of fitness professionals, we had a field day messing around with the Ultimate Sandbag trying different exercises.  We tried partner ab work, and even burpees (yay burpees!) with the bag.  The possibilities of ways to integrate this piece of equipment into your workout routine are endless.

However, if you are not comfortable with making up your own routine, Josh has put together ultimate sandbag workouts galore.  Each move is fully demonstrated in the DVD and program guide, as well as in over 300 free videos available on their youtube channel.

Man does pushups on The Ultimate Sandbag in a grassy field
Man does abdominal crunches with The Ultimate Sandbag on his legs to provide added resistance while laying in a field
Man does side plank utilizing The Ultimate Sandbag in a grassy field

The Power Ultimate Sandbag package starts at $105 including everything you need but the sand.  Sure it seems a little pricey at first, but you do not need to buy separate weights (think of the cost of a 20 lb kettlebell, a 30 lb kettlebell, a 40 lb kettlbell, etc).  All you need is a $2 bag of sand and you can instantly vary your resistances.

I would absolutely recommend the sandbag for anyone, but specifically those who a) need to workout from home and b) do not want or have room for multiple and/or large pieces of workout equipment.  You can quite literally work your ENTIRE body as well as get in a great cardiovascular workout with this single piece of equipment.

This absolutely will become an integral part of my Spartan Beast training. Stay tuned for more pictures and videos as I continue to put it through the ringer 🙂

Woman hugs her Ultimate Sandbag after a workout in a grassy field in front of a baseball field
Sandbag hugs! Love this thing!

*The Ultimate Sandbag was provided to me free of charge. However, all opinions expressed in this review are that of my own.

Filed Under: Running Gear Tagged With: Obstacle Course Racing, Strength Training for Runners

About Heather Hart, ACSM EP

Heather Hart is an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, UESCA certified Ultrarunning Coach, RRCA certified Running Coach, co-founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and creator of this site, Relentless Forward Commotion.   She is a mom of two teen boys, and has been running and racing distances of 5K to 100+ miles for over a decade.  Heather has been writing and encouraging others to find a love for fitness and movement since 2009.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Krysten

    July 5, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    LOOKS AWESOME! GREAT TOOL and GREAT WORKOUT!

    PS Looking good girlie!

    Reply
  2. Heather @ Better With Veggies

    July 5, 2012 at 6:49 pm

    I’ve heard nothing but great things about this product – glad to see another great review. It’s pricey, which is what has held me back, but I love how functional it is (I’m another big fan of these types of movements). Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  3. mollyritterbeck.com

    July 5, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    Wow! This looks awesome – I really like how you gave us so much to think about!!!

    Reply
  4. curlygirl

    July 5, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    I have the pink sandbag too and LOVE it! My favorite piece of “equipment” 🙂

    Reply
  5. rundirty

    July 5, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    I should probably get around to actually filling my sandbag with sand 😉 Thanks for the reminder

    Reply
  6. Lora @ Crazy Running Girl

    July 5, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    Looks like such an awesome workout tool!!

    Reply
  7. Amanda - RunToTheFinish

    July 5, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    i’ve seen this in the bodyrock workouts, glad to know it has all kinds of uses

    Reply
  8. Erica Elia

    July 6, 2012 at 12:42 am

    Such an awesome post! I will be purchasing one of these this week!!! Erica

    Reply
  9. Charissa

    July 6, 2012 at 2:46 am

    Wow…this is awesome. I want one of these so bad!

    Reply
  10. Casey

    July 6, 2012 at 3:10 am

    Want!

    Reply
  11. Mummy Loves to Run

    July 6, 2012 at 7:20 am

    Thanks! This is perfect timing for me! I got some shipped to Oz when I was pregnant and now I am ready to hit the strength training again you have inspired me to get going with it! I am a fellow “functional exercise” lover. I figure this will be good training for dealing with a wriggling toddler down the track!

    Reply
  12. Courtney

    July 6, 2012 at 3:53 pm

    Very cool! Another thing to add to my fitness “wants” list. I’ve been thinking about a sandbag for a while now – this just might have to happen!

    Reply
  13. [email protected](running)In the Right Direction

    July 8, 2012 at 2:20 am

    wow..very cool. I’m not sure how much sand I would be able to handle at first lol.

    Reply
  14. On the Right Track

    July 9, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    Well how clever! i love the pics and the video demonstrations!!!

    Living on the shore, I guess I have no excuse to not purchase one…I can get all the sand I want for free 😉 and the pink color rocks!!

    Reply
  15. Hope Crawford

    July 10, 2012 at 1:44 am

    I want one of these!!!

    Reply
  16. Canuck Mom

    July 11, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    I want one too!! Love it!!!

    Reply

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