Adjusting Your Training Sandbags for Maximum Effect

Not all training sandbags are created equal, to borrow a very well-worn but often appropriate phrase, and picking the correct configuration for your sandbag can help you achieve the exercise goals you are aiming for. The differences are not necessarily huge, from a visual standpoint, but you will be able to feel the divergence between these sandbag variants when you are carrying out certain exercises.

The first thing to consider is sand size. When you are constructing the internal bags which will be contained inside a duffel bag, the size of these bags will depend on what type of sand you use. Very fine sand has less air space than larger grains of sand, and a given volume of it is therefore denser and heavier. A small bag of fine sand will weigh the same as a noticeably larger bag of coarse sand. If you have a large duffel bag, then you may want coarser sand so that more of the interior is filled with bags of this substance.

On the other hand, fine sand (assuming that space is left in the bag, with about 25% empty space being optimal most of the time), tends to make a floppier bag as well. Since it occupies less space, fine sand can make a more concentrated “center of mass”. More of it can fit into a small area, meaning that training sandbags with bags of fine sand in them will be potentially more challenging than those with coarse sand, since you will be dealing with the shifting of a more concentrated weight.

The tightness with which you pack the sand into the individual internal bags, and the amount of space these bags occupy inside the duffel, will both have an important effect on how the sandbag performs. You usually do not want extremely tight packing. In both cases, this will make the sandbag more stable, firmer, and less able to give you the all-round workout it is supposed to. On the other hand, it is also possible for the sandbag to be too loosely packed, in which case it will become nearly impossible to handle because it will simply wrap around your arms and dangle freely towards the floor, regardless of position.

A long, slender sandbag tends to be somewhat easier to handle than a more compact one, because it is easier to control it by draping. You are usually not looking for ease of handling, of course – it is the very instability and awkwardness of the training sandbag that makes it so useful for developing all of your muscles and leaving no weak points in your overall level of fitness.