The sandbag is one of the best multifunctional training tools there is. The sandbag builds a unique strength that carries over to any sport or daily life activity. The sandbag can pack on some serious muscle and it becomes an awesome fat loss tool.
The constant shifting of weight is why the sandbag is so effective. Plus if you have a sandbag with no handles on it then you have a great grip strengthening tool as well. Anyone who has trained with a sandbag knows that it is no joke.
If you are looking for something to help take your strength and conditioning to new levels then I highly recommend adding in some sandbag work into your training. Don’t have a sandbag? No problem, I will show you how to make your own.
You could easily buy an expensive sandbag with a ton of handles, but they are very easy to make and a lot more affordable. The thing I don’t like about the fancy sandbags is that they come with nothing in them you have to fill it yourself. Plus they have a ton of handles on them, which defeats the purpose of training with the sandbag.
One of the main reasons to train with a sandbag is to work the grip plus it gets you familiar with lifting odd objects. Last I checked balls, people, stones, and couches don’t have handles on them.
Alright with that said let’s dive into the meat and potatoes of making a sandbag. The first thing you will need is a heavy-duty duffle bag. I prefer the top-loaded army duffle bags. They are made out of a nice thick canvas and come in different sizes. You can get these at any army surplus store.
Next, you will need some heavy-duty zip ties and duck tape.
Then of course you will need the filling. Even though we are making a sandbag I have never used sand to put inside of them. The reason I don’t use sand is that if the bag does break I don’t want to have to deal with cleaning up the mess. Instead, I like to use rubber mulch or wood pellets. The wood pellets take up less space and weigh more. The rubber mulch is lighter and takes up more space. Both are great choices for sandbags. Depending on how heavy of a sandbag you want will determine how much you need.
In this example, I am using wood pellets because I am making a 120lb sandbag.
The first thing to do is cut off the metal piece used to hold the bag together. Then cut off the strap and the handle.
Next, fill the bag with your choice of stuffing rubber mulch or wood pellets.
Once the bag is filled zip tie the top together. I use two heavy-duty zip ties and it works like a charm. If you want to use more than that go for it. Another option is that you could use a heavy-duty rope instead.
Cut the excess part of the zip ties off.
Then duct tape around the zip ties. The reason for this is to cover up the sharp plastic ends of the zip ties. So give it a lot of layers.
There you go now you have your sandbag ready to play with!
Easy peasy right? You also just saved a lot of money by switching to Rockfit! Sorry, bad pun but I just couldn’t resist. These sandbags will last forever. Out of all the sandbags I have made I had only one break open with a small hole at the bottom. A quick and easy fix for that is just buying another bag and put the new bag over your old bag. Then you will have a double-lined bag making it even stronger.
Like I said sandbags are great to train with, they are easy on the joints, and they are soft so if it falls on your foot no worries. Now you know how to make a sandbag. So go ahead and start adding them into your training and you quickly find out how they can improve your strength and conditioning.
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