The sandbag is an interesting piece of equipment. I personally like inner tube home made types for those needing added resistance during general leg training because they are conforming to the trap area, and that helps those that are young and built with very little upper back muscular for a barbell. They are nice for weighted drills, such as Cuban Walks and other exercises that purposely don’t use your arms to enhance the core. Gerard Mach used them in Poland in the 60s and they have value. But, when I hear that they are used for power I get confused. Devloping transferable power needs both a velocity and a sufficient load, and when I read that Sandbags training has certifications I was puzzled and left shaking my head. If Advanced athletes (classified as burly) were using 150 pounds for explosive exercises, were the athletes that were cleaning 150 kilos not explosive because they were using a bar and bumper plates? When people talk about power in sports, the legs are often the topic of choice as leg power is so vital. You still need overload and 150 pounds is still 150 pounds. Sure grip training needs an external device and opponents are likely not just still like a bar on a platform, but a sandbag is not squirming around or sprinting either. A 250 pound linebacker isn’t going to get better transfer of lighter loads if his max strength and total wattage in power is not there in the first place. I am no alchemist, but I do believe people tried to turn iron into gold and not sand. It’s a case that of people looking at the minor and compromising the major.
