Sandbag Carry
Athlete: Krysia Waterhouse
The sandbag carry is a perennial strongman event and for good reason. Picking up a large, amorphous blob and walking with it on your diaphragm is the heart of what this sport is about. This simple yet soul-crushing event requires proficiency and strength in the majority of muscle groups.
Table of contents
Warming Up
Setup
Stance
Pick
Lap
Load
Distance for time
Max Distance
Specs
Brands and Differences
Gear and Accessories
Energy Systems
Accessories
Recovery
Basic Execution
Warming up
Warming up for sandbags is easier if you have smaller ones to get started with, but you run into the same issue as stones; that lighter bags are far smaller than heavier ones and thus feel completely different.
Mobilize and warm your biceps, lats, glutes, quads, and thoracic spine. Hip stretches and mobility drills are also never a bad idea.
Stance
Stand over the sandbag with the center of your feet in line with the middle, or slightly behind. You want to avoid having it too far in front of you, away from your midline and center of gravity.
See how in the first photo the athlete keeps the bag just inside his feet, and note how his arms are vertical right in front of his knees on the pick.
In the second photos, he is too far away from the bag so he has to reach in front of his center of gravity, creating a longer lever between his hips and the bag.
In the last photo, he has gotten too far over the bag, so he will not be able to clear his knees with it as his body is in the way of its vertical path. This is a more common mistake since it is natural to try and shorten the lever between your feet and your hands,
Picking the Bag
The starting position in competition for elongated bags is typically on its side making it higher vertically. We will cover picking from this position as well as from the horizontal position.
Vertical Start
There are two primary arm positions for the vertical bag. The first arm position is a “bear hug” style grip, while the second is a mixed grip where one arm is extended underneath the bag, while the other arm hooks around the body of the bag
Bear Hug:
If you can touch/adjust the bag forward and balance it as far forward as possible without the bag falling over. The closer to a 45 degree angle the better, that will allow you to get lower and grip the bag more effectively for a fast pick. If you are not allowed to adjust the bag before the event, this will be your first step in your time.
Squat down and wrap your arms around the middle of the bag. Bag diameter will determine if you can interlace your grip in some way (grabbing alternate wrists, laced fingers, etc). your shoulder should be pressed against the highest part of the bag as you squeeze the bag with your arms to help brace against rotation during the pick.
Horizontal start
Squat down and reach around the bag with palms facing each other. Pull up on either side of the bag to get your hands under it. You may need to lift the bag a little on each side if it is heavier and filled tighter. Spread your fingers and press your forearms and palms into the bag. The idea here is to maximize surface area in contact.
Keep your hips relatively high and engage your glutes and hamstrings while bracing your core and push off the ground with your feet while you pull upward. As soon as the bag passes your knees, you can push them forward while rolling it into your lap position. For heavier bags, you may have to be patient and stay over the bag for longer than you think while it gets past your knees, some “shimmying” might help for those last few inches before its center of mass clears your knee.
Extra Large Bags
If the bag is very large for your body size, it will need to be at least partially vertical to get your hands under it and begin your pick. A good way to determine this is simply stand and spread your feet, straddling the bag. If you do not feel comfortable or balanced getting low and pulling from the ground at this width, you will need to do some planning. See our description on the pick slide.
Lap
Once the bag is lapped, if your stance was particularly wide, use this opportunity to work your feet closer together and more underneath the bag. This will raise get it closer to your chest, give you more to grab while also gaining a little more distance from the ground. higher off of the floor.
This also is a great time to shift some of the sandbag weight. Ideally you want to adjust the largest and heaviest part of the bag so it is in front of your chest and on top of your knees. Sometimes the bag can get too far past your knees into your hips making it impossible to extend into the proper walking position. Any weight that is hanging below your knees when you go for extension will be hanging low and pulling laterally on your center of gravity.
If you will be loading the bag, double check your proximity to the bar or platform that you will load to and adjust as necessary from this position.
Your arms should be across the bag at approximately the 10 and 2 position on a clock, or on the sides if it is a larger bag. Keep your elbows pointing away from the bag, never down or “underhand”.
Extension
Grip the bag with a “pec fly” or “bear hug” style while keeping it as tight to your upper chest as possible. Ideally your hand position should be in a neutral or somewhat pronated position on the bag. This may cut down stress on the biceps brachii, and balance the load with the brachioradialis, while putting a large amount of real-estate (read: skin) on the bag. Once it feels secure, explode upward pushing off with through your heels and mid-foot legs maintaining the braced upper body. Notice how in the pictures the bag is centered high on the chest under the chin. Keeping it there as you stand up is important.
As the bag gets higher in front of you, extend at the chest and hips, while keeping your knees active. You do not need to have full triple extension or any lean of your body since you will not be loading it
Walk
Now that you have stood up with the sandbag, the next step is to get walking with it. If you have ever felt the soul-crushing weight of a heavy sandbag on your diaphragm, you know that getting to where you need to be quickly is important. Since you have done the pick and extension correctly, the bag should be in the proper position for a (relatively) quick walk. Not how the pictures below show that a high bag puts more distance between the bottom of the bag and your hips, clearing the way for an uninhibited stride and aligning the center of the bag’s mass with yours.
For your stride, like most moving events, take quick and deliberate steps. You likely will not need to do any forceful steps like with yoke and possibly farmers since the weight will be relatively lower. You just need to be able to balance and walk smoothly. Look straight ahead, find a point in front of you and train your eyes on it. Let your spotters give you the cues to turn or finish instead of worrying about how far you have to go.
Breathing
We decided to make an entire heading for breathing just because it is so important for sandbag carries. Usually these are for a reasonable length, and sometimes they are for max distance. The soft nature of the bag makes it a little different than other front carries in terms of pressure on the diaphragm. The weight is more distributed, but you also have less room for adjustments if it sinks into you.
Take short and fast breaths to make up for the fact that your lung volume and inspiration potential will be decreased. If you have never done any diaphragmatic breathing exercises, and feel that you do not know what you are doing, here is a great tutorial from the Cleveland Clinic. Learning this technique is also useful for stress management, bracing, and more.
The absolute best way to train for this part is practice. More time spent getting comfortable taking short breaths the more your brain will get used to it rather than trigger the “drop this now” response that often follows feelings of potential asphyxiation.
Turning
Turns are typically only seen when it is a max distance carry on a finite lane. You walk until your feet touch the line and then turn to go back. Unlike farmers carries, turns can be done quickly and are more forgiving. They do not require a lot of planning leading up to them, which is good since your vision is usually skewed by a giant bag. To execute you just lead with the bag, swinging it's weight to whichever side is comfortable and letting it carry you around.
As mentioned in the walk section, it is best to let your spotters tell you when to turn. If possible, have a friend give you warnings leading up to the turn, such as "10 feet, 5 feet, turn". This will give you an idea when you should plan on turning, but we still suggest listening for the "turn" command. You could try to time it so you turn as soon as you step across the line, (so only one step is past it) but this is very hard to do and puts you at risk for having to go back if you miss the line. It is best to be prepared to begin that tight turn as soon as you hear the command as the mistake is not worth the step or two in most situations.
Common Mistakes
See the photos below for examples of common mistakes in the sandbag carry or load.
Cradling. This hand position (pronated) should be avoided fully as it puts unnecessary stress on the biceps tendon and shoulder which results in at best a weaker hold, or at worst sets you up for injury.
Not getting the “meat” of the bag in your hands before standing up. In the second photo the athlete is about to stand up with only the top part of the bag in his hands. The majority of the weight is below where his hands are, and will likely slip downward on the extension, or soon into his walk.
Not keeping the bag high as you extend/stand up, or letting it roll down your chest. This leads to walking with the bag on your stomach or hips, neither are very good for speed and endurance. It also will surely cause you to miss during loading events.
Keeping feet too after lapping before standing up. If you had to use a very wide stance to pick the bag, you will want to bring your feet in a little while it is lapped before standing up. This will make for a smoother transition from extension to walking, as well as give you more leg strength and height for loading events,
Event Variation and Technical Alterations
Distance for time
Probably the most common sandbag event, this involves you moving a bag, or several bags, from one place to another. These bags may be similar in size, descending in size, or ascending in size and distance may be the same or vary.
Setting up the bags
Most contests will explicitly state if the bags can be adjusted before your run or not. If they do not have that written, they will almost certainly allow you to go position the bags. Try to do so quickly and respectfully or you might get a warning for taking up too much time. Use this opportunity to re-pack floppy bags (explained in more detail HERE), Tip them diagonally, lay them over, stand them up, or rotate them for more efficient picks. Milliseconds count on events like this one, so it is well worth the time if you’re given it.
Transitions
For bags that are relatively light for you, approach the bag only as far as from the side. From the side quickly dip down and scoop, driving off the back leg to reverse your direction.
For bags that are heavy for you, you will want to run all the way back to the bag and around it for the new pick. You want to accomplish turning around while unloaded.
Max Distance
A simpler event than the series, max distance simply involves you picking up a single bag and walking for distance. The is most certainly going to be a turn and a good sandbag carrier might have to turn a lot of times. There is not as much technique to turning as in, say, farmers carries, but we can definitely say practice turns at the distance it will be on competition day. You can get away with a tight turn but take your time, we have seen more than one person fall or at least lose their balance.
When it is max distance, you should play to your strengths. If you are good at holding bags for a long time, then don’t worry as much about speed unless you know you will outlast your time limit. In general, it is best to go as fast as you can since every second that goes by is more time your diaphragm is crushed and your glutes are supporting a giant bag.
Programming: You will want to do least a few distance-for-time trial runs, as this is really the only way to train the event optimally. You have to experience the feeling of complete and utter exhaustion and how your body responds, and what leverage tweaks you might make or not make to be truly prepare for gameday.
Load portion
In some competitions, you may have to load some or all of the sandbags in a series. You may need to walk down with one bag, load it, go back and get another to walk down and load, and so on. These are either done for time or there is an “AMRAP” at the end where you load the final bags as many times as you can for the given time.
The load itself is going to be identical to the carry from a pick, lap, and extension standpoint, except you will want to make sure it is as high on your chest as possible. If the bag is too heavy to pick horizontally, you might be able to pick it vertically, and load half of it over the bar and get your bodyweight under it to push it all the way over.
Your best opportunity to breathe and catch your breath will be when transitioning between bags. Whether you have to run back to get a new bag, or the next one is nearby, use the opportunity to focus on breathing while you’re not holding weight near your diaphragm.
Gear considerations: a grip shirt with sleeves will protect your shoulder, elevated heel shoes may also help with your stability and power out of the lap position, and give you a better base.
Programming: If it is a max reps event, make sure to do some AMRAPs in your training, but not more than 1-2 per training session. If it is a max weight or heavy load, try a couple heavy singles at the start of your sessions and follow them with your volume work.
Picking Second Bag in Medley
When training for maximum speed and minimum transition times, it becomes more and more important to pick a bag with minimal footwork when transitioning from running toward the bag, picking the bag, and running in a new direction (usually back the way you came). We’ll describe some possible footwork patterns for second picks here:
Equipment
Specs
“Official” strongman sandbags come in either specific sizes meant to be loaded to a certain amount, or in variable pillowcase-like bags that can be filled to variable amounts and tied off. The third category is the “homemade” sandbag using an old duffel (or even a dog food bag wrapped in tape) filled with sand. The type of bag and how tight it is filled with sand can and will make a world of difference when it comes to every portion of the event. Be aware that the bag you use at the competition might be different than one you have used in training (and it is not uncommon to end up being a different weight entirely anyway).
Specific or Variable?
If you are wondering which one to buy there are a few things to consider. Specific sized sandbags make for a much easier lift since they are packed relatively tight and hold a good shape. Variable weight bags tend to be much floppier, even if you do your best to tighten the opening. Plus they also end up with a duct-taped knot on one side, (which also makes them significantly harder to change the weight of, if you were thinking that is a benefit of this type). If you are purchasing a bag for a competition coming up, it may be worth asking the promoter if it is not specified so you can get the right one. As a word of caution, at the end of the day if you train on a variable size bag and the competition has the specific ones you will be in for a real treat. This does not work remotely as well the other way.
Brands and differences
Specific sizes
Fill to size
DIY guide
You can actually purchase duffel bags in different sizes fairly cheap, though their shape may not be ideal and it is hard to tell how much sand will fit in them when purchasing. We have had great luck with sand in our Rothco bags purchased online. Just remember double contractor bags inside.
Alternatives
This is a difficult implement to find an alternative for. You will get some carry over from atlas stone loading and carrying, Husafell stone carry, and to a lesser extent, kegs. None of these will mimic the amorphous nature of a sandbag, especially a truly soul-crushing floppy under-filled bag.
Gear and Accessories
Gloves
Gloves with silicone grip on them, such as wide receiver gloves, can give you a little extra grip that can help with the pick, or with your ability to hold the sandbag for a long period of time. Mileage varies, but they are more likely to be helpful with very large bags, or for those with shorter arms and/or smaller hands. Dust can gather on the silicone. A damp low lint cloth can help return their grip.
Chalk
Chalk is not especially helpful for picking sandbags, but a small amount of chalk on the hands and forearms might make you feel more comfortable if your hands are sweaty, or the bags are slippery or wet.
Grip shirt
Grip shirts do not help as much with sandbags as they do for slick metal objects, but they offer a little more grip helping pin the bag to your chest and prevent slippage as you walk. If your competition allows them, it is worth training with one on, especially for the harder days.
Lifting shoes
For loading events, you might want to wear elevated “olympic lifting” shoes to get better positioning and a stable surface to load from.
Programming Considerations
Energy Systems
Phosphagen - Will be used for very heavy bag picks and extensions. Nothing to do to prime this system other than rest enough between sets.
Glycolytic - The primary system used in most sandbag events as you usually have to lift, sprint, and lift again. Make sure you have decent carbohydrate availability from a pre-workout snack or a generally moderate-high carbohydrate diet.
Aerobic - 1 minute max distance or max loads events will require more aerobic conditioning than max weight events. To train this system, simply add timed sets to your program. Carrying and loading lighter bags allows you to train the conditioning aspect without overtraining the event.
Skill Level
Medium
Re-Packing a Floppy/Loose Bag
This is a special technique when working with loose or floppy “Fill to size” bags (the ones with an open, tied-off end). Over time these bags will probably shift the knot further out and creating more space for the sand to move within the bag. This ultimately leads to a floppy bag that is far more difficult to handle than a well packed bag. Everything about a floppy bag is more difficult; the pick, extension, load, and carry.
Method:
Grab the bag by the knot with both hands and pull it upright if it isn’t already.
While holding the knot pull upwards slightly and shake the bag side to side. This pulls the fabric sidewalls up and maintains tension while the sand packs.
If you are capable, lift the bag by the knot and stomp it into the ground while still holding the knot up. This further packs the sand and forces the bag walls to expand slightly and increases the rigidity of the fabric.
At this point the bag is essentially as good as it will get before you’re allowed to pick for the event.
When you are good to go, grab the knot with one hand and quickly fold it over as you tilt the bag on its side. You should now have the knot and fold pinned between the bag and your arm.
quickly get your free hand under the opposite side of the bag and pick it as normal.
*With this method you have to transition the bag to a horizontal pick. If you spend all that time re-packing the bag, you’ll only undo it if you attempt a vertical pick. The bag will immediately return to loose/floppy.
Accessory exercises
Rows - Any type of rowing exercise will help you build the ability to squeeze and pull the sandbag in on a pick, or keeping it tight to the chest for the load or carry..
Classic barbell will work, but plate rows are a solid variation, or even implement rows like with a sandbag or block.
Pendlay style probably transfers better. This is where you allow the bar or implement to hit the ground for a pause before your next rep, simulating lifting a Bag from a dead stop.
Front squats - These mimic loading exercises by putting the weight in front of your center of gravity, and require back extensors to keep you from bending forward and dumping the weight.
Pauses - Paused reps can simulate coming out of a lapped stone position.
Zercher squats - These will have a similar effect to front squats, forcing you to actively stay upright against a load, while applying force with your lower body. They have the added benefit of transferring the load in front of your center of gravity, which is much more similar to a sandbag carry or load than a front squat. Additionally, we have seen these benefit client’s hip and ankle mobility, especially if you make a point to sit as deep as comfortable on each rep.
Chest flys - These might allow you to get a greater squeeze on the sandbag. This effect is not going to be as strong as others, but might help especially if you are a novice who may not have sufficient baseline pec strength.
Reverse Hyperextensions - Higher rep sets of reverse hypers may help improve the time to exhaustion for the glutes when they are the limiting factor, while also helping develop more power for faster strides.
Recovery
Musculature
Glutes, hamstrings, quads, spine erectors, and biceps are all used significantly in sandbag events. It is best to allow at least 1 full recovery day after heavy sandbag sessions, and if they are your focus during a block, at least 1 rest day before as well.
Connective tissues
The Biceps tendon is at significant risk during this event. Some things you can do to protect it would be:
Slowly build your sandbag reps and weight through a training block, whether you are new or coming back to training sandbags after some time away.
Keep your arms as straight as possible when you pick the sandbag, like in a deadlift. Additionally, if you can get closer during the pick to get forearm and/or elbow contact, this will reduce direct load on the biceps tendon. Make sure your arms never become “underhand” from the pick to the load.
Warm up your arms and biceps prior to sandbag lifting.
