Under the category “most useful single piece of workout equipment” the sandbag is reigns supreme. Sandbags offer some of the heaviest and most versatile movements around. My sandbag is heavier than my kettlebell and I can do many of the same movements. The sand moves around in the bag and so creates an intense instability which taxes the muscles in a very unique way. Many movements which seem unique to a barbell can be replicated with a sandbag and so if you cannot afford a squat rack or your gym is still on lockdown, perhaps a sand bag is for you. To be honest, my sandbag is 30kg (66lbs) and its a bit too heavy for me. There are a lot of movements that are just too heavy so I use it as a chunky barbell more often than not.
Here are four exercises anyone can do. I chose these because they are compound and effective. I feel that they best replicate strength training and should be a good way to maintain your gains. You can perform an entire workout with these 5 exercises alone in less than 30 minutes. This is a total body workout and if done correctly you’ll feel annihilated.
1) Front Squat Lunge (backwards)
Hold the sandbag in your arms in front of you. Lift your arms until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle above your torso. Try to keep this position through the whole exercise without dropping your elbows and the sandbag.
Now perform a lunge. I like to step backwards for these instead of forwards. Typically lunges always go forward but going the opposite way will introduce a whole new way for your body to move. I feel this brings the idea of a compound exercise to whole additional realm.
2) Squat and Shoulder Press
Fairly self explanatory. With legs wide apart you will hold the sand bag with both hands like you would with an over head press. Allow your momentum to send the bag above your head. Bring the bag slowly back down and then go into your squat.
3) Dead Lift and Squat
Yes, more squatting. This time begin with the bag on the ground. You will perform a normal deadlift but with enough speed to bring it to your chest. Allow the bag to arc over your hands and land in your arms and then squat down with the bag. Come back up and perform the reverse of the deadlift until it comes back to the ground.
4) Over the shoulder Lunge
The great thing about using one weight such as a kettlebell or a sandbag is that you must support it with one half of your body which requires the other half to work in a very different manner. With a barbell the weight is always distributed evenly and so you miss out on the instability a single weight can provide.
With this exercise you will simply sling the sand bag over one shoulder and perform lunges. Perform an equal number with the bag on either shoulder. You will feel the side of your body which does not have any weight having to work over time in order to keep your balanced.
And there you have it! Four exercise anyone can do with a sand bag. The are leg dominant but since I would not necessarily perform them in the order I have written about, here is a workout you can follow with the sets and reps included:
(I made this workout with my 30kg bag in mind. For my strength that is quite heavy, and so I will be working in the 3×8 range. If your bag is lighter then perform more reps. Don’t forget that this is a circuit workout and one set of each exercise should be performed back to back before you rest. Allow enough time to get your breath back but not so long that you drop your heart rate significantly.)
Backwards Front Squat with Lunge- 3 sets of 8 reps
Deadlift and Squat 3 sets of 12- reps
Over the Shoulder Lunge- 3 sets of 8 reps, each side
Squat and Shoulder Press- 3 sets of 8 reps
SWF 
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