My New Favorite Exercise

Believe it or not, I am not really big on new exercises. No, seriously!!!

In fact, I have told our DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Master Instructors that we don’t need more exercises, we need better solutions. So, if we do anything new it isn’t because we are bored, or happen to be looking through an old book and thought something looked cool. 

Rather, anything new is always introduced with a really specific intent. Today’s DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training drill is a great example. When DVRT Master & Firefighter, Jordan Ponder (check out his site HERE), first showed the Lap Up Drill (you can see it HERE) I was excited not as something new, but something that solved a significant issue. 

What was it? The real world isn’t perfect and you can’t just Clean and Deadlift everything in the real world. Teaching people other lifting strategies means we were prepping them from real functional fitness. 

Life isn’t always as “clean” as the real world. 

As great as the Lap Up drill is, there were people that loved the idea, but missed technique with ANYTHING rules out. There were several big mistakes people could make in the Lap Up. 

1. They lift with their backs and not their hips.

2. They don’t have mobility in their hips to get in the right position.

3. They round their upper back. 

Fortunately, Jordan came up with an awesome solution. I love this DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training drill so much because not only does it solve the issues mentioned above, but helps some specific problems for myself and I know you probably have faced as well. 

Due to my back injury, I’m still hesitant on doing much power based movements. Especially, with any type of serious load. It isn’t the lifting up as the coming down that makes me a bit nervous. 

However, in using this Lunge Lap Up drill I could not only teach my body how to use my hips to create power, it was a self-limiting drill that if I wasn’t in the right position on the way down I would have to slow down. It helped me identify some weaknesses that still exist in my rehab, yet, jacked up my heart rate BIG time and left me with some really sore glutes and hamstrings (which I really hadn’t felt since the surgeries). 

For a lot of you that want to teach Cleans, Swings, Snatches, and so much more, you have the same concern for yourself and your clients. Learning how to absorb and produce force effectively and safely is so important! 

Don’t see “just another DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training” drill, I hope you will look to see another great problem solving strategy to take your training to the next level! 

Love these ideas? Don’t miss our upcoming New York and Chicago DVRT educational programs HERE!