Where to Start with Ultimate Sandbag Training

Greg Perlaki, DVRT UK Master

When I first came across with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training, it immediately caught my attention as it was something completely different that I’d ever done before. Of course I jumped on the most advanced movements as they all looked really cool.

So I started to do all the different cleans, single leg exercises, Around The Worlds and the combinations of all. For a long time using the wrong handles…

When it came to lunges I did the MAX Lunge first, yet I still had a decent form. Probably because of my martial arts background and my overall body awareness. It was a great experience as I was doing things that I had never done before and it was all really exciting until I started to coach people and realized that not everyone has the same abilities like I do. I’m sure this is a mistake that we all make at some point. So I needed to take a step back and start to think about how to use DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training for them!

I need to think of coaching DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training in a more structured way. To be honest I was only thinking about exercises and not movement patterns or regressions/progressions in my programming. Luckily whenever something didn’t work out in training other people I went back to the my DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training library and researched, looked for a solution.

Going through Level 1 DVRT qualification I learned quickly how to start with certain movement patterns, what compensations do I need to watch out for and most importantly to stay patient and let clients earn their progressions. Something that Josh said, it stucked with me forever and I remembered many times when training people. It goes like this:

`You’re more of a hurry than your clients`

So keep that in mind, I decided to learn as much as I could about DVRT and focus on mastering the basic principles of the system. I needed to understand that to be able to coach other people. In my experience, the biggest challenge is to simplify cues to get people understand what they’re meant to do. The good news is that the DVRT system covers all of this in a wide variety of progressions step by step.

It all comes down to a couple of simple things that I cover in my upcoming DVRT program called Dynamic Core Warm Ups. These are nothing new that haven’t been said before here or through other DVRT platforms.

1. Start from the ground up: use the feet and hands
2. Create tension in the Ultimate Sandbag
3. Move slow before go fast

This is especially true when warming up or getting started with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training. So going through all of the progressions is key for long term success. Why not starting right from the warm up and build a solid foundation with proper core engagement to create stronger knees, shoulders and healthier lower backs.

Instead of starting with a Lateral Bag Drag why not mastering the Bird Dog first. Learn how to use the hands to grab the floor, how to create tension in the lats by pulling the handle of the Ultimate Sandbag, how to brace the core without tilting the pelvis either side or tuck the toes under to be more stable not just to lunge better but engage the glutes, brace the core more and even press stronger.

A lot of things we do in DVRT look really simple and they are as long as we understand why are we doing them. Take a look at the below picture of an Isometric Bird Dog Pull with banded Leg Extensions. Looking at this from an outsider point of view, it seems like nothing. Whereas for someone who knows the whys this could be so transformative in many ways. Where others see an exercise I see opportunities to make people better. The DVRT Bird Dog leads to so many benefits:

1. Grab the floor with the hands – corkscrew the shoulder, lats engagement leads to healthier shoulders
2. Both hands are active – stronger core through the lats again by pulling the handle of the USB
3. Tucking the toes under keep the pelvis aligned and the glutes working more
4. Learn how to brace the core by using the floor with our extremities
5. Opposite lats and glutes create better locomotion without standing up
6. Stronger core means, healthier shoulders and lower backs when the glutes are firing/functioning better
7. Learn to Press over head better

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