The more time I spend working with sandbags—and the more time I make my clients spend with them—the more I appreciate them as training tools (the sandbags, not my clients). The difference in the feeling of a sandbag of a given weight and a barbell of the same weight is remarkable and surprises me each time I attempt to move a bag weighing far less than any barbell that would give me trouble. The reasons behind this phenomenon are those primarily responsible for sandbags’ extraordinary effectiveness as strength and conditioning tools. Spreading the mass out over more area that constantly shifts shape and destabilizes and reducing or eliminating convenient gripping locations very quickly creates an incredibly cumbersome chunk of gear that forces the athlete to exert much greater effort to control the intended movements. Add to this the inexpensiveness and ease of construction of homemade sandbags and you have a training implement that’s hard to beat.

Because Ross Enamait has already done a great job writing a sandbag construction kit, I won’t go into detail here on building the bags themselves. What I will add to his advice is this: In order to allow larger bag sizes without necessarily increasing the weight they hold, stuff any space not taken up by the inside sand packets with old clothing or rags. This will let you determine the size of the bag and how rigid or soft it is independent of how much weight in sand is inside. Generally I like to keep the bags fairly loose to make sure the weight can shift enough to make stabilization difficult, but there is a point of diminishing returns—if the bag is too empty, it will just fold where it’s gripped and be impossible to use for most exercises. This stuffing can also be added and removed—or traded with more or less sand packets—quickly and easily to accommodate different athletes’ strength levels or for different exercises. Finally, this adds a little padding that will reduce the likelihood of the sand packets tearing open.

The selection of exercises possible with sandbags of various sizes and shapes is essentially limitless and contained only by the margins of creativity. In this article, however, we’ll only be covering a few clean variations. Most of the cleans described can be modified in the traditional ways such as starting from hang positions or receiving in the power or squat depths. They can also be scaled down by reducing the range of motion by starting the bag on a box or block instead of the floor.

Big Bags

Bear Hug Clean to Shoulder

The bear hug clean is the result of necessity when working with large bags—the absence of handles, or the presence of handles that will not likely hold up with the weight in question, requires a surrounding grip with the arms. This also forces the athlete to assume a much lower starting position that would be necessary with a barbell clean by limiting the arms’ downward reach.

There are a number of different grips that can be used. The one that should certainly not be used is interlocking fingers—this is a great way to sprain or break fingers, and as any fighter will tell you, is a bad habit to be avoided.

Pictured are a wrist grip, hooked fingers, clasped hands, and free hands. The clasped hands grip is preferred for fighters who will be clinching. Each other grip has its own strengths and weaknesses, and if no particular related goal exists, regular variation of grips is advisable.



The lift begins with the bag standing vertically between the athlete’s feet. Once the grip has been established, the bag is cleaned to the shoulder. The athlete can power clean the bag or receive it in a squat depending on the training goal, the weight, and/or the athlete’s preference. I prefer alternating shoulders on each rep.


DON'T!

After each clean, the bag can be dropped back to the floor, or it can be lowered under control for a greater strength challenge.

Video: Bear Hug Clean to Shoulder

Bag Grip Cleans

If the sand bag is loosely packed enough to allow the athlete to grip a bite of the bag in each hand, this variation is great for grip work and general AKP development. The exercise starts in the same fashion—bag standing vertically between the lifter’s feet. Instead of bear-hugging the bag, the athlete will grip a chunk of the material on each side of the bag at approximately the height of a barbell—mid-shin level for most individuals.

This clean can be received in two ways—on the shoulder as the bear hug clean was, or by shifting to a bear-hug grip against the chest. The latter will prove to be excellent midline stability work with the load place so far in front of the athlete’s base of support. This is a good choice of cleans in preparation for a bear-hug bag carry as well.

Video: Bag Grip Clean to Chest
Video: Bag Grip Clean to Shoulder

Small Bags

End Grip Clean

This variation is most similar to the traditional barbell clean in terms of positions and movement. The smaller bag allows the athlete to grip the ends of the bag, placing the hands near where they would be on a barbell. If starting with the bag on the floor, the athlete will be in a lower position than with a barbell, but there’s nothing wrong with a little greater range of motion.

The bag can be received on the shoulders in a similar fashion to a barbell, but the hands and arms will have to play more of a role in securing its position since the bag will protrude considerably from the athlete’s body. This is a great variation for higher rep, metabolic conditioning situations because the grip remains secured throughout and successive reps can be continuous.

Another option is to release the bag and receive it in a Zercher position—that is, in the crooks of the elbows. This will place the load even further away from the body and provide a little more challenge. The transition back to gripping with the hands will prove difficult and most often the bag will just be dropped to the floor in preparation for a subsequent rep.

Video: End Grip Clean
Video: End Grip Power Clean
Video: End Grip Zercher Clean

Suitcase Clean

The suitcase clean can be performed with one or two arms and bags. The single side variation is again great for training midline stability. If the bag has handles, they can be used, or a chunk of the bag itself can be gripped. The bag will be cleaned to the shoulder with either a power or squat receiving depth. The grip can be released to place the bag entirely on the shoulder and the hand then brought around to hold the bag in place from the top, or the grip can be maintained for subsequent reps.

Video: Suitcase Power Clean
Video: Suitcase Power Clean with Release

These are just a few of the possibilities. Adjust as appropriate for your own application and experiment for variety and improved AKP ratings.