3 of the MOST Common DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Mistakes

3 of the MOST Common DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Mistakes

How hard could this be, it is just a bag of sand right?! 

I can understand that sentiment if the Ultimate Sandbag was just a bag of sand. Instead, being a specifically designed fitness tool there are a lot of considerations. In fact, the most challenging part of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training is knowing how to start. Even from the smallest considerations to the more unusual ones, there is no doubt that DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training has a lot of options and sometimes that can be seen as  a challenge rather than an opportunity! 

That is why I wanted to take a post to talk about the 3 most common DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training mistakes people make. If you avoid these mistakes you will truly be able to unleash the power and fun that comes with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. 

Mistake #1: How Heavy Do I Make This Thing? 

Now, if you just bought a barbell set would you know how heavy to make it? I remember buying a 300 pound barbell set as one of my first pieces of equipment. Now, if I told you that I just loaded it up to 300 pounds and started going to town you would probably think I was rather foolish or incredibly strong! The reality is I put about 95 pounds on it, yea, I wasn’t that strong yet;) I really changed the weights depending upon the exercise I was doing and if I was training more strength or conditioning. My point is that I couldn’t expect 95 pounds to cover ALL of my needs. 

This isn’t too different than DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. We have recommended loading levels for each size of Ultimate Sandbag, but these recommended weights have to be somewhat modified for your goals and training background. The biggest challenge is that you aren’t going to change the weight of the Ultimate Sandbag nearly as often as you would my barbell set. The best part is you don’t HAVE to and getting great results with the Ultimate Sandbag don’t require it! Spending time watching your DVD and booklet will give you some ideas of how we make subtle changes to how a weight feels that are far more productive and challenging. 

However, weight is still a consideration. DVRT Master Chiefs, Steve Di Tomaso and Kari Negraiff, have longed tried to find an optimal system for loading the Ultimate Sandbag and they came up with something pretty great. A simple stop light system that allows you to look at the weight of the Ultimate Sandbag depending upon the size and challenge you want to provide. Green represents the easiest recommend weight, yellow is intermediate, and red is the most difficult. Giving you these three levels keeps you from feeling you have to change your Ultimate Sandbag weight all the time and also when you DO need to change the weight!

The team at Envision Fitness in Maple Ridge, BC use DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training with a VERY wide array of clients to make them successful!

Oh my goodness! Your Ultimate Sandbag doesn’t currently match up with these loads! Don’t sweat it! These are RECOMMENDED loads that really optimize your Ultimate Sandbag. They give you a reference point based on training of almost thousands of people. So, if you want your Strength to be 70 pounds you would have to consider it a “red” light weight. Same if you want to go heavier than 100 pound on the Burly Ultimate Sandbag. Do you HAVE to go green, yellow, and red on Core and Power Ultimate Sandbags? That is up to you, but our coaches usually are working with a wide array of people and having these weights accessible let’s them know they can address ANY fitness level!

Most importantly, this keeps people from instantly going to the heaviest weight possible on their Ultimate Sandbag. A 50 pound Strength Ultimate Sandbag is incredibly versatile and valuable even though it can go heavier! So many people don’t think they can handle the Burly, but if they used the three fillers at 20 pounds instead of 40 pounds they would see it is very possible and useful! Understanding how to manage load in DVRT is very important and a bit more challenging than other systems. 

Mistake #2: Which Handle Do I Use?

I’ve learned over the years giving people more options isn’t always the same as giving them better options. Handles on the Ultimate Sandbag aren’t just thrown on there for random sake. The Clean (neutral grip) handles are going to be the handles you use MOST of the time on a lot of your DVRT drills. I realize this is not the grip you use on the barbell, but just one thing. The Ultimate Sandbag is not a barbell! Using the Clean grip puts the shoulders in a better position for drills like cleans, presses, deadlifts, rotational lunges, etc. Having the shoulders in the right position gives stability to the rest of the body. 

The snatch grip handles are used, well, mostly for snatching! Yes, you can do some curls and rows (which I actually love) with these handles, but the majority of the work is snatching. That means we don’t clean, deadlift, or do much else with them. The reason? Because gripping in that manner does that exact OPPOSITE that holding the Clean grip handles allow for. In other words, they often make you move worse and destabilize your body. 

The last one is the suitcase handle, it is how we do suitcase deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, etc. It is NOT how we do one-arm exercises, that is our off-set grip shown below!

Mistake #3: Which One Should I Get?

I get it, the Ultimate Sandbag is a very solid investment. We made it so that it would last you a lifetime of serious training and give you EVERYTHING you could ever want in your fitness. However, knowing which one to get can be difficult. I mean, what does a 100 pound Burly actually feel like unless you pick one up (btw, the answer is heavy!). 

For most women starting out, the Power Ultimate Sandbag is your best bet and guys, it is the Strength. Does this mean ladies CAN’T start with the Strength and men wouldn’t benefit from the Power or such? Of course not! However, to maximize what DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training can be and how it can be used, these Ultimate Sandbags are going to get most of you starting off the furthest. At 6’4 and 240 pounds I still use the Core Ultimate Sandbag for some drills and spend a lot of time with the Burly. However, that is ten years of working with the DVRT system, day in, day out. 

We want you to think more than just how heavy you can go with an Ultimate Sandbag, we want you to think about how you can move and do a host of functional movements so that you can truly bring strength to life! 

A lot of people often laugh to hear our staff actually recommend the cheaper Ultimate Sandbag to start with, why? Because we want you to actually have success and USE the Ultimate Sandbag you are investing in!

Does this mean you can get EVERYTHING you ever wanted from one Ultimate Sandbag?! Well, you can do a heck of a lot of good, that is for sure. However, just as you probably need more than one dumbbell, kettlebell, etc. EVENTUALLY you are going to probably want another Ultimate Sandbag. Not just because of the different weights, but the dimensions of the various Ultimate Sandbags will give you an opportunity to do different things! 

Don’t worry though, it isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg! Even if you got one of each size (our Total Gym HERE) you would be less than most current barbell sets! I just checked one of the most POPULAR fitness equipment companies and their CHEAPEST barbell set that gave you a barbell and 160 pounds of weight was $500!! So, for one piece of equipment, with VERY limited load options, and you can really move only up and down with is actually MORE than four of our Ultimate Sandbags. In other words, DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training is one of the most economical ways of training, not to mention fun and versatile! 

If you can just avoid these three DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training mistakes you will find the training becomes so easy and focused that you will wonder why you didn’t start sooner!!! Even for you DVRT veterans, I hope this made using our Ultimate Sandbag and DVRT system even easier!