Buckets, Bears, & Buns of Steel

Buckets, Bears, & Buns of Steel-DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training

DVRT Master Chief, Troy Anderson

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One of the first ‘workouts’ I can ever remember doing, was actually more ‘work’ than ‘out’.

Happened when I was about 7-8 yrs old on the farm of course; as cliche’ as it sounds was to carry buckets of water to the hogs.

No kidding, I used have to ‘slop’ the hogs.

Now at that age I was just a little guy, so the buckets were almost as tall as me. I could only fill them about 1/2 way, 20lbs or so. This meant I had to make multiple trips more of a ‘workout’ I guess.

Now if I got greedy and tried to fill the buckets too full I’d get drenched and have to make even more trips, this really sucked in the winter time when the water was ice cold.

** There’s a lesson about less is more in there somewhere **

Nowadays, while ‘urban farming’ is a new trend, I mean who doesn’t love the smell of goat, sheep, and chicken waste wafting over your suburban wall.

Most people’s ‘workouts’ occur in the comfy and sanitized confines of the gym or ‘box’.

If those people happen to be working with a trainer who is worth a ‘plug nickel’ they’ll be doing some sort of squat.

Now, just programming someone to squat isn’t enough, getting them to do it well is the challenge! Especially for all of those that have simply never even learned what a great squat really looks like.

Enter DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Bucket squats, where we’ll hope to ‘perk’ up your squat and make it actually work for you! 

While my ‘bucket’ workouts where miserable and cold; Your bucket workout is going to use either a Core or Power size USB.

By default the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Bucket Squat will:

-Keep you in a vertical torso position (takes the load off the back and actually puts it through the legs)
-Naturally allow her to push knees out then butt back (getting rid of all the times they feel horrible knee pain)
-Avoid the ‘drinking bird’ effect (where everything seems to go wrong in a well intended squat)
-Allow for tush perking full range of motion (yea, even you guys! If you want a low back that doesn’t ache every time you get out of the chair you need strong glutes!)
-Let your client work with soft yet appropriately loaded resistance training implement while working towards mastering one of the primal movement patterns. (sometimes taking away the intimidation is the fastest way to get people to believe they can be successful!) 

For your next work out let’s fast forward a few years in my life to my 1st day of wrestling practice. (I literally spent my entire 5th grade year getting my ass kicked)

Na, we’re not going to have you singlet up, strap on the head gear and roll around on questionably cleaned mats.

But there is a lesson or two from wrestling-ville that we can use.

In wrestling there’s a lot of upper body engagement that occurs while the lower body is actively moving. Pretty complex techniques really, so how do we make it accessible to you?  

The other lesson from wrestling is understanding tension and pressure as movement occurs while working awkward positions against something with‘dimension’. This may seem a bit abstract for some, but if can use just a few essential cues we can make you stronger and more resilient at the same time!  

Enter the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Bear Hug Squat, pretty slick name right kinda like the old circus act of a man wrestling a bear.

While your ‘bear hug’ workouts won’t involve a live bear or any real wrestling; your bear hug workout is going to use either a Strength or Burly size USB.

Again much like the ‘bucket’ workout the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Bear Hug Squat will by default:

-Introduce here to dimension as feedback loop for keep her T-spine engaged. (one of the biggest “secrets” in getting people to squat well!) 
-Expose her to compression and the added ‘different kinda cardio’ deep squat and hugging can provide. (the deeper you can go with good form the more muscles you can use) 
-Keep you in an even more vertical torso position (remember why this is important from our discussion above!)
-Naturally allow her to push knees out then butt back (yup, been there, done that)
-Avoid the ‘drinking bird’ effect (at this point no excuse for this happening!)
-Allow for tush perking full range of motion (building flexibility and strength at the same time? Yes, please!) 
-Let you expand her loading prarameters without creating any mental ‘weight’ obstacles. Which in turn will allow her to work more seamlessly towards mastering one of the primal movement patterns. (building success for any of us can’t be talked about enough) 

How might this look in an actually workout for Sally let me give you a couple options:

Bucket Squat Workout: 150 Club

Bucket Squat Ladder Up – 1 thru 10 reps
Body Rows – 10 thru 1 reps
Plank – 10 sets of 15 – 30 seconds

Bear Squat Workout: 10 Min of Every Min on the Min

Bear Hug Squat x 3
USB Bent Row x 3
Push-up or Ecc Push-up x 3

** You should be completing all “9” reps each min and have a little bit of ‘rest time.

While the ‘bucket’ and the ‘bear’ might have odd roots for some of you, especially those just looking to ’tighten’ and ’tone’ those legs and buns. When put into play with a little bit of ideas that I learned from handwork on the farm and the mat, you will be well on your way to pain free squatting, a strong and functional core, and some good looking a ‘capable’ legs, all without a waft of animal poop, spilling water or having to wrestle a bear.

Troy M Anderson
Farm kid, Driven to to spread the good word of ACCESSIBILITY of Kettlebells, Sandbags, Bodyweight Training, and UNApologetically Living | Creator of ALL things Alpha Kettlebell (CLICK HERE for more of Coach Anderson’s great workouts!)