Ultimate Sandbag Training for Group Fitness

DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training In the Scope of

Group Personal Training 

by DVRT Master Instructor, Daniel Jackowicz (Two Guns Training Systems)

“I always loved the individualization, progression and depth of writing client’s customized programs. The depth and the individualization you could give a client always fascinates me. This led me to sometimes becoming unmotivated when it came to large group personal training programs because it was hard to create that individualization for each person. We were still doing a good job at it, but it certainly lacked something both from a programming perspective and from a client’s results perspective. The more individual you can get a program, whether customized in a personal program or in a group session, the better the results.

This changed when I found DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training and its depth, built-in progressions, regressions and complexity that was able to add the individualized aspect for the client but still in the group model of training 15-25 people at once. If I were consistently programming for 5-10 people, the way I would structure the group personal training programs would probably be a little different, but logistics rule but that is not to say the following cant benefit groups of all sizes of course.

Our large group personal training program is broken down into what we call Total Body sessions where we emphasize strength and could include a density model, where we do certain exercises in supersets or in tri-sets for a specific amount of reps and get in as many sets as we can do in a given amount of time or we do a 6-8 exercise circuit/rotation with a timed interval of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off or 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.

We also have Metabolic sessions where the goal is a high intensity interval based approach where the goal isn’t necessarily to go up in weight and get stronger, it is the cardiovascular or metabolic effect. These are usually done in circuits and not a density model with the same approach with say a 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off approach or varying the work to rest ratios (which is beyond the scope of what I want to talk about in this article).

The beauty of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training is that it has complete application in both the Total Body or Strength sessions and the Metabolic sessions as well.

The key that we’ve found when it comes to programming for large groups is that you need it to be simple enough so that everyone remembers and knows what they should or shouldn’t be doing but still have ability to progress, regress and program efficiently. We’ve found that one regression and one or two progressions are usually the sweet spot. More than three and people tend to get confused. But in a smaller group of 5-10, more can definitely work.

Let’s get into some details and examples of how we are integrating it into our programming…

Before we became immersed in the DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training programming depth, the old model for say, an Overhead Press station would look like…

DB Overhead Press (abbreviated as OHP from here on…)
Regression – Shoulder Mobility Corrective
Progressions – Add more weight, push press or slow down tempo.

And since we specialize in females and the overhead press is a harder exercise to progress in weight for anyone, this very quickly led to hitting a wall pretty quickly on a weight and then having to keep prodding away at that 15 or 20 pound dumbbell or get buried by a 20 or 25 pound dumbbell, because even though it is “only” a 5 pound increase, that sometimes is a 25% increase in weight, which is a lot.

But now it can look like this… (SM is Shoulder Mobility. ASLR is Active Straight Leg Raise. ILL is In-Line Lunge. We use the Functional Movement Screen and appropriate breakouts on all clients and don’t train patterns they cannot perform functionally and safely)

USB (Ultimate Sandbag) OHP
Regression/SM Contraindication – Shoulder Mobility Corrective
Progressions – Stagger Stance USB OHP. USB Rotational OHP.
— Which progression we would use depends on the client as well as other exercises in the circuit or workout. If there is a core stability difficulty, we would progress to the stagger stance and if there wasn’t, we could manipulate the plane of the movement and the difficulty with a Rotational OHP without adding any weight if it suited the overall exercise selections.

Now let’s look at a couple of ways we are incorporating some of the more popular DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training and USB exercises while keeping it safe, individual and at everyone’s ability level all at the same time… (These apply to a portion of the density workout as well as a station in a strength circuit)

USB High Pull – (emphasis frontal/tranverse plane progressions)
ASLR/Toe Touch Contraindication – USB CE Active Leg Lowering
Regression/SM Contraindication – USB Deadlift
Progression – USB Clean to Press or USB Inside-Out Clean.
Advanced – USB Rotational Clean to Rotational Press.

USB Clean (emphasis clean progressions)
ASLR/Toe Touch Contraindication – USB CE Active Leg Lowering
SM Contraindication – USB Deadlift
Regression – USB Deadlift, USB High Pull
Progression – Back Step USB Clean
Advanced – Back Step USB Clean w/ Slide

USB Rotational Lunge
Regression/ILL Contraindication – Split Squat or TRX Assisted Split Squat
USB Rotational Lunge – First one side at a time, then progress to alternating.
Progressions – USB Rotational Lunge w/ High Pull. USB Rotation Lunge w/ Swing.
– Which progression we choose depends on other exercises in the workout. If there is a KB Swing in the workout, we’d choose the High Pull variation and if there was a High Pull or Clean in the rotation, we’d use the Swing variation.

Once you understand the principles and foundation behind the DVRT programs, the possibilities are endless and once incorporated, clients progress and results will absolutely increase because they not only get better more frequently but now you’ve added an aspect of individualization so everyone can train at their level and progress accordingly.”

Want to find out how to properly program and use all the great aspects of DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training? See some of our workout programs HERE or hustle over to one of our upcoming DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training certifications HERE