Ultimate Sandbag Training for Pain Free Exercise

To give you a better understanding of why I got into DVRT the way I have, I want to tell you a little story. I’d like to take you back to 10 years ago when I was broken and hurt. It was around 2008 when I worked for a 5 star hotel in the Mediterranean carrying luggage as a porter. That time I wasn’t exercising at all and I didn’t take care of my health really. Of course my back was hurting all the time from lifting heavy luggage and not having core strength. My journey back to stay fit lead me to do pilates and in 2010 I started to do DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training.

When people come to me with similar problems I really feel for them and understand what they’re going through. My issues were not really life threatening at all however going through pain that affects every day activities sucks, especially being only 28. So I guess real world strength as a phrase comes from things that we take for granted. That is a big reason DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training has become the staple of what I do and use with others.

Simple things that we take for granted, like get into the car, picking up a child or carrying odd objects without pain. DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training continues to be a leading source of giving real, applicable solutions for not just athletes but most importantly every day people. Doing so in a way that is rather simple. If you understand the system and how we create layers and sophisticate movement then it’s almost like 1,2,3.

I know I do a good job of explaining something when my personal clients start to create their own version of a DVRT exercise and progressing further.

Solutions like the Core Strap makes my life as a coach so much easier and I can get people understand what is it that they need to do and more importantly Feel it.

“The Core Strap strap is a game changer. It totally takes your Ultimate Sandbag from a gravity based device into a multi[plane multi directional load tool. I love it.”-Jason A Glass BHK CSCS TPI Advisory Board

It starts as simple as a Good Morning which is a hip hinge exercise and perfect for strengthening both anterior and posterior chains. For a regular person who is not familiar with hip hinging the Core Strap makes all the difference to really ‘Get’ the movement. In terms of coaching the Hip Hinge I personally like to start with the Good Morning as the resistance band gives perfect feedback on bracing the core and the hip hinge comes relatively easy from there.

Keeping functional training easy and straight forward is what makes me exciting with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. I loved reading Jessica Bento’s post a few days ago about helping her Mum with her shoulder issues and using the Core Strap again to create tension in the core through gripping the USB and doing a Half Kneeling Arc Press. It isn’t about making you great at Ultimate Sandbag Training for the sake of the implement, but what it can teach us about movement!

When I say easy and straight forward solutions then this is a perfect example. The very same exercise used for increasing range in the shoulders makes the core tight through gripping the Ultimate Sandbag, creates lateral stability through the external force (resistance band) and also builds a very important movement pattern, the lunge. It’s amazing how our body is connected through the core  and concepts like this have an affect on the whole body. What else would you need for a great functional exercise.

Another example is how we teach rotation in the DVRT system. Rotation starts with the feet and doing a pivoting action which goes along the chain to engage the glutes and core. Doing this with a Core Strap attached to the USB comes very handy when introducing this concept. One of the great ways is a Front Loaded Rotation where the band comes from the outside and force the user to pivot through their feet and use the thoracic spine to rotate. This way the core stay tight when pulling the Sandbag actively in and rotation occurs safely. It is a simple yet effective way to get started with rotation. Understanding this concept we can then change the direction of the load and create different progressions of rotation. Bracing the core and pushing into the feet however remain the same regardless of the position or the direction of the load.

Being strong in real world comes down to some of these easy concepts that are available for all fitness levels and makes coaching easier than ever before and get people successful in their training program. That’s why I’m excited about bringing you a new workout program called ‘Dynamic Core Warm Ups’. Keep an eye out next week, big things coming to give you better solutions to your fitness goals!