DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training for Ultimate Athleticism
2018-08-28
Joel Gunterman MS, CSCS
As a collegiate strength and conditioning coach and former collegiate athlete, using the Dynamic Variable Resistance Training (DVRT) has changed how strength and conditioning should be done. Think about taking a exercise like a lunge, and adding a simple transverse load. Now you have turned a simple strengthening exercise into a more functionally dynamic movement, working all planes of motion. Just like we move in life and sport which is why I love DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training for developing athleticism.
Most people think of athleticism as only something that athletes need. Being a former college athlete I still want to feel all the great attributes that being athletic has to offer. That doesn’t mean I need to be a competitive athlete to be mobile, agile, strong, coordinated, reactive, and basically the things that make us truly feel ready for anything life throws at us. To me, that is what functional training really has to offer both athletes and those of us that want to live strong lives. Again, why DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training has become a big part of what I use with both my athletes and myself alike!
Imagine the true power of the Ultimate Sandbag Training MAX lunge! Having to stepping back into a reverse lunge, while holding a 40-60lb bag with your arms fully extended in-front of you. Grabbing and pulling the bags handles apart, you can feel you forearms, shoulders, lats and back fully engage. Then you step back, you drop the Ultimate Sandbag to the out-side of your front leg. During this simple movement you need to decelerate the Ultimate Sandbag, having to work against that external force, fighting to balance and the urge for your hips to rotate with the Ultimate Sandbag. That is a lot of the true beauty of these DVRT Ultimate Sandbag exercises. The “little” things that have a profound impact upon how you move and perform.
Your at the bottom of the lunge, the placement of the load has changed to the out-side of your front leg and your body needs to adapt. Next, you have to drive your feet into the ground, producing force to pull the bag in the opposite direction. As you step forward toward your front leg, you now need to decelerate the bag again as you return to a standing position to complete the rep.
Athletes are in a constant state of chaos while they are performing during their sport. So why don’t we have then train that way? In many ways life and sport are similar in that they demand us to be reactive to unpredictable environments and situations. The instability and unpredictable nature of Ultimate Sandbag Training gives us so many of these same conditions!
Athletes need to perform in situations in which they need to act/react, accelerate/decelerate, plant/pivot, load/explode, all in a setting that is in an erratic environment. In which, the athlete needs to be able to produce time, and time again, multiple days a week, for an entire season. The DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training system helps prepare and progress athletes and their bodies, teaching them to become “functionally” stronger.
The ability to move with fluidity, coordination, and being strong in more than up and down positions is what true athleticism is all about. The truth is that training to be an athlete isn’t too different than how many of us should train to be strong in life. Being functionally strong isn’t about replicating sport or life, but the qualities that allow us to excel in both! Being stuck in lifting in one posture, in one direction, or even one way doesn’t build us the type of fitness that really makes a difference in how we live or perform.
Josh Henkin has developed a system that will help teach foundational movement patters like a hinge, lunge, squat, pull, etc. More than just teaching these singular patterns, progressing to move sophisticated forms of each movement pattern is what makes me love working with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. Teaching athletes how the body works a a single unit, instead of individual muscles. The DVRT system helps create a functional foundation, at which athletes and coaches can build upon. More than making better athletes, we are teaching people how to be better humans. One of the reasons that I love being a strength and conditioning coach is that I am teaching young men and women how to love movement and skills that will go with them the rest of their lives! Strength, fitness, and functional training are things that I want them to carry with them well after their playing days are over.
The DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training system creates stability with bridging the gap between strength and movement. Athletes have to deal with being pushed off their axis with intentional and non-intentional hits during competition and need to adapt. In traditional strength training, this is not addressed in the weight room, but is more on the field or court. The DVRT system, with the use of the Ultimate Sandbag, helps create that unstable environment, helping prepare the athlete to adapt to these unpredictable situations so that they can be better prepared for their sport. In other words, whether you looking to dominate in sport or life, DVRT teaches you skills and principles beyond exercises that give you a real edge. The principles and thought process of DVRT is what makes it a program that I love to to build strength that really comes to life!
Find out more about how we build fitness and strength training that prepares you to live and perform your best! Save 25% on our DVRT online courses HERE with coupon code “summersale”
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