Personal Trainer
Add the Sled to Your Workout
You’ve likely seen fellow gym members pushing or pulling a sled up or down the turf. Maybe you’ve wanted to try it but felt intimidated by the intensity. This article will delve deeper into the benefits of using a sled and explain how you can start using it to support your goals.
Benefits of Adding the Sled to Your Workout
A sled push or pull are excellent additions to your workout, offering benefits ranging from improved cardiovascular health to increased strength. For athletes, using the sled can support improved motor patterns and performance. For the everyday gym-goer, if performed properly and efficiently, the sled can offer improvements in:
- Unilateral lower body strength
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Lower body power and speed
- Upper body strength
- Acceleration sprint mechanics
- Core strength
Levelling Up With the Sled
One of the best aspects of the sled is its versatility. It can be used by people at most fitness levels and can grow with you as your program requires more intensity and difficulty.
Adding Weight
By adding more weight, also described as increased load, the exercise will recruit more fast-twitch muscle fibers. Building these muscle fibers can improve power, speed and strength.
Lowering Weight
Lowering the weight on the sled will focus on slow-twitch fibers which are required for endurance and cardiovascular training. Depending on your area of focus, sled exercises allow you to add variety while maintaining effectiveness.
Starting Out: Reverse Sled Pull
For your first adventure into using the sled, I recommend trying out a reverse sled pull. To get the most out of this movement, be sure to focus on driving through your feet while maintaining alignment in your spine.
As shown above, you can attach a belt to the sled and position the belt at your hips. Maintaining slightly bent knees, walk backwards making sure you step directly behind you. As mentioned, posture is key, so keep your torso tall and aligned while engaging your core to protect your spine. Drive through your feet with every step.
Next Level: Sled Pull with Bands
Once you’ve practiced and perfected the reverse sled pull, you might be looking for the next challenge. Try this sled pull with bands for a full body workout with increased intensity and difficulty.
This version of a sled pull is a full body exercise and can help develop strength in both your upper and lower body. Specifically, you will feel this working your quads, glutes, hamstrings, core and back.
Get the most out of this exercise by keeping your torso low and your spine aligned from head to hip. Be sure to engage your core to protect your spine, drive through your feet, and step directly ahead.
Challenge Yourself: Sled Push Into Pushup
The last sled variation is the most challenging, requiring explosive power, endurance and strength. Try this sled push and pushup combination to get your heart pumping.
To perform this variation, hold onto the upright bars and, while standing in place, push the sled forward with force. Let go of the handles and allow the sled to move ahead of you. Immediately drop down and perform a complete bodyweight pushup. Repeat this for the entire length of the turf.
The difference between this and the other variations is the explosive power needed to drive the sled away from you and to then perform a proper push up. Power, speed, strength and endurance are needed throughout this movement.
Conclusion
Now that you know a little bit more about using the sled, you can confidently add it to the end of your next workout. Once you’ve practiced enough and built your strength, try making this a team activity. Ask your gym buddy to stand on the sled!
Begin Your Journey
If you’re finding it challenging to get started on your journey, feel free to reach out to us for a complimentary consultation. We would be more than happy to offer some guidance to help you move forward. Sometimes taking the first step is the hardest, so don’t hesitate to get some help to kickstart the process. We all start somewhere.