Ultimate Sandbag Training Rotational Power Workout

 Ian Vaugh, DVRT 1 & 2 Coach (Coach Vaughn)

It still blows my mind as I travel to courses/summits, that when meeting new trainers or strength & conditioning coaches they still don’t know anything about coaching rotation. You don’t need a four year to degree to understand rotation is important, just watch people move! I believe it is one of the most unique aspects of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training.

TRX’s Head of Education & Human Performance, Professor Chris Frankel can answer:

“Its not about what you know, it’s about what you can coach”

There seems to be a giant hole in the teaching aspect called the “Ah-HA!” moment. Some of the best presenters and teachers I’ve met not only have the knowledge, but the experience of actually being a current/former athlete to connect with the growing masses of fitness professionals. They’ve honed their craft for years questioning, researching, and walking the talk until it becomes something so rare, very few can do and teach it. They make it about the philosophy, not the one tool.

A great example is when I first met Josh Henkin for the first time at my DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Level 1 Course in 2014. We were talking about stability and why it mattered. Josh picked me out of the crowd and simply asked me to stand tall reach out my RIGHT arm and press down into his arm below mine as he resisted. “Okay so Ian here is obviously a strong guy, but lets see what happens when I take his stability. Ian could you please lift up your LEFT big toe and press down again into my arm?” I pressed down I couldn’t believe how weak I felt compared to the first. It clicked: no big toe, no stability, no strength…AH-ha!

Thus began one of many DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training foundation knowledge bombs. As the course continued, this drill blended when going into rotation as the core works diagonally. Pictured below with performing the Cyclone (as seen in the video) notice from my point of stability (BIG TOE) the way up to loaded Ultimate Sandbag is a diagonal line. Load is on one side, as stability is on the other; just like the drill Josh took me through. If my big toe lifts during that cyclone there’s no way my hips would be able to rotate and transfer that force to the USB as my arms have to constantly push & pull to maintain the accelerated force going overhead.

Name one sport movement that doesn’t involve rotation? Baseball swing/pitcher throw, hockey slap shot, MMA punching/kicking, golf swing, throwing a football and even swimmers need that big toe to push off the pool walls turn back to the finish. All of those are needed to do what I’m doing in the picture.

Captain Jordan Ponder helps us build some important DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training rotational movements. 

You aren’t an athlete or aren’t one anymore. Why should you care about rotational training? Our bodies are actually designed to rotate. Think about the sports examples I just provided. Whether or not you are an athlete, any time we need to develop power or great force, we use rotation.

The added benefit is that rotational movements can burn more calories than any other plane of motion and train the core for what it’s meant to do: controlling & resisting anti- rotation. You’ll notice when planking or crawling dragging a USB its hard to maintain and NOT rotate the shoulders & hips. So training with rotation/anti-rotation involves having a good coach, taking that knowledge, and applying it in your own field. This is why DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training gives me the advantage. I can show you how the body works in rotation in less than 5-10 minutes, even better I can get you moving and performing better in that time as well! Of course the proof is in trying these types of functional fitness program. Now go do it!